03-09-2014, 05:52 PM
The flight continued in the same silence it had for the past ten minutes before the ruins of Edinburgh came into view. Harry called out over the wind; "What's wrong with this place, anyway?" The captain turned in the saddle, calling back to the wizard in response. "Edinburgh was a forward base for Diablo's forces in the war. Honest folks don't want anything to do with anything about Diablo. Why d'you wanna go there, shorty?" Harry leveled his best glare at the back of the man's head. "Quiet. Rest. The city of Edinburgh holds a lot for wizards back where I come from, and maybe some of it's still here." The captain nodded, visibly relaxed. This Diablo character must have been bad news. "As good a reason as any. Hold on tight, I'm taking her down.
Harry thought he'd vomit up his kidneys as the pegasus kicked into a dive. He held on to the saddle for dear life, clenching his jaw shut and trying not to puke. When he opened his eyes again, the captain was looking up at his from the ground, an amused grin on his face. He slid off the flying horse with deliberate care. Before he could think of something suitably sarcastic to say to the captain, he spoke up. "We're not leaving her alone here." He jerked his head to the armored woman, still unconscious and slumped against a ruined building. They were on the outskirts of the Edinburgh ruins. Harry nodded his agreement. "Sounds good. Either of you got paper? The pair looked at him, confused. "You're a prime, just summon some. Focus on what you need, and let the Omnilium take care of the rest."
That was an interesting concept. The day was just strange enough that the wizard actually shut up to try it. Focusing on a legal-sized pad of paper, he felt something like when he'd summoned the bike earlier. "So, this works with things besides bikes. Good to know." Five minutes later, he had a pad of paper and a stack of metal stakes. He sketched a hasty note on the pad and tore off the piece of paper it was on, handing it to the captain. It read thus;
"Hand that to her when she wakes up, please." Without waiting for a response, the wizard strode into the ruins, driving the first stake into a ruined wall. He continued fairly deep into the city, leaving one of the metal spikes in a wall every couple blocks. They shone in the sunlight; a trail of beacons for the bounty hunter to follow. A pentacle carved into a huge trapdoor in the ground next to a building caught his attention about ten blocks into the ruined city. The door was in better shape than most of the city, and he flipped it open with his staff, leaving a spike buried in the open door and descending the stairs it revealed. Sure enough, the familiar tunnels outside the Hidden Halls of Edinburgh awaited him. He'd memorized the confusing tunnels, but he continued leaving his trail of spikes right up until he reached the end of the tunnel.
The problem that presented itself; it was just the end of the tunnel. The Halls weren't here. "What was it that that guy said, just focus on what I need?" That Omnilium stuff had power, that was for certain. Harry focused on a solid brick of it, and sure enough, the rainbow-colored substance coalesced into a shining ingot of Omnilium after about five minutes. He extended his senses towards the brick and assessed how much energy it had. It wasn't an insignificant amount, but for what Harry intended, he needed a bit more. He cast his observation inward, finding a surprising reserve of the stuff inside him, defiant of the exhaustion the rest of him felt. Harry summoned some chalk, using the time it took to calm himself in preparation for a ritual, drew and closed a circle beneath him, sat himself on the floor and began ordering his thoughts.
First thing he needed; the gate. It stood tall, taking up the entire height of the 30-foot cavern on the immediate opposite side of this wall. Then the Halls themselves; various barracks, bedrooms, meeting halls, and paths that took up the space before the High Council's chambers. The chambers and the Ostentatory were still larger, expanding into the mountainside. Harry examined his memory, calling up every detail of the Halls that he knew and quite a few that he just invented to fill in the gaps. He spent a good hour constructing the blueprint of the Halls in his mind. Then he added a small door in the back of the Ostentatory, replacing the Merlin's tower with a humble stairway down into a simple Chicago apartment. His own, to be precise. The small bedroom with his full-sized bed, his living room with its comfortable furniture, his kitchen with the wood-burning stove, Pre-WWII-icebox and pile of dry hickory, and the sub-basement lab hidden under a trapdoor hidden under a pentacle-shaped rug. It must have taken several hours to assemble all these details; when Harry finally stood, liquid Omnilium swirling around him in a dense cloud, his knees groaned in protest, reminding him that people weren't supposed to sit in that position for that long. Ignoring the familiar post-ritual protest of his leg joints, Harry broke the circle.
The effect of the summoning was immediate. The Omnilium rushed forward, boring through the tunnel walls and replacing them with the reality that he'd constructed carefully in his mind. Harry let out a low whistle as, a half-hour later, the last of the Omnilium constructed the massive gates of the Hidden Halls of Edinburgh. He knew he wouldn't be able to create wards as strong as the real Halls' own protection, but he didn't feel safe until he actually cast some protections on the gates. He walked up to them and realized that the residual Omnilium was practically waiting for him to do something like that. He took out one of the metal stakes and spent a good half hour carving distinct symbols into the door; Norse runes, mock heiroglyphs of his cat and dog, and several other images that he didn't think made any sense but were certainly distinct from one another. After a few minutes, the Omnilium seemed to anticipate what he was trying to do, creating even more symbols that Harry hadn't even thought of. Once the last of the energy from the summoning dissipated, Harry tapped out the key combination on the door with his staff; first the pentacle, then the picture of Mouse, then the one of Mister. The gates creaked open, and the wizard left them such as he stepped inside, leaving the stakes sticking out of torch brackets until he reached the Worry Room. Satisfied with his work and rather winded from the massive summoning, he sank into one of the plush armchairs with a bottle of ale that couldn't really hold a candle to Mac's, but still tasted good all the same.
Harry thought he'd vomit up his kidneys as the pegasus kicked into a dive. He held on to the saddle for dear life, clenching his jaw shut and trying not to puke. When he opened his eyes again, the captain was looking up at his from the ground, an amused grin on his face. He slid off the flying horse with deliberate care. Before he could think of something suitably sarcastic to say to the captain, he spoke up. "We're not leaving her alone here." He jerked his head to the armored woman, still unconscious and slumped against a ruined building. They were on the outskirts of the Edinburgh ruins. Harry nodded his agreement. "Sounds good. Either of you got paper? The pair looked at him, confused. "You're a prime, just summon some. Focus on what you need, and let the Omnilium take care of the rest."
That was an interesting concept. The day was just strange enough that the wizard actually shut up to try it. Focusing on a legal-sized pad of paper, he felt something like when he'd summoned the bike earlier. "So, this works with things besides bikes. Good to know." Five minutes later, he had a pad of paper and a stack of metal stakes. He sketched a hasty note on the pad and tore off the piece of paper it was on, handing it to the captain. It read thus;
Quote:"Off exploring. You're in Edinburgh, a short ways from Minas Tirith according to the soldiers. Follow the stakes to find me when you wake up. I never caught your name.
-Harry Dresden"
"Hand that to her when she wakes up, please." Without waiting for a response, the wizard strode into the ruins, driving the first stake into a ruined wall. He continued fairly deep into the city, leaving one of the metal spikes in a wall every couple blocks. They shone in the sunlight; a trail of beacons for the bounty hunter to follow. A pentacle carved into a huge trapdoor in the ground next to a building caught his attention about ten blocks into the ruined city. The door was in better shape than most of the city, and he flipped it open with his staff, leaving a spike buried in the open door and descending the stairs it revealed. Sure enough, the familiar tunnels outside the Hidden Halls of Edinburgh awaited him. He'd memorized the confusing tunnels, but he continued leaving his trail of spikes right up until he reached the end of the tunnel.
The problem that presented itself; it was just the end of the tunnel. The Halls weren't here. "What was it that that guy said, just focus on what I need?" That Omnilium stuff had power, that was for certain. Harry focused on a solid brick of it, and sure enough, the rainbow-colored substance coalesced into a shining ingot of Omnilium after about five minutes. He extended his senses towards the brick and assessed how much energy it had. It wasn't an insignificant amount, but for what Harry intended, he needed a bit more. He cast his observation inward, finding a surprising reserve of the stuff inside him, defiant of the exhaustion the rest of him felt. Harry summoned some chalk, using the time it took to calm himself in preparation for a ritual, drew and closed a circle beneath him, sat himself on the floor and began ordering his thoughts.
First thing he needed; the gate. It stood tall, taking up the entire height of the 30-foot cavern on the immediate opposite side of this wall. Then the Halls themselves; various barracks, bedrooms, meeting halls, and paths that took up the space before the High Council's chambers. The chambers and the Ostentatory were still larger, expanding into the mountainside. Harry examined his memory, calling up every detail of the Halls that he knew and quite a few that he just invented to fill in the gaps. He spent a good hour constructing the blueprint of the Halls in his mind. Then he added a small door in the back of the Ostentatory, replacing the Merlin's tower with a humble stairway down into a simple Chicago apartment. His own, to be precise. The small bedroom with his full-sized bed, his living room with its comfortable furniture, his kitchen with the wood-burning stove, Pre-WWII-icebox and pile of dry hickory, and the sub-basement lab hidden under a trapdoor hidden under a pentacle-shaped rug. It must have taken several hours to assemble all these details; when Harry finally stood, liquid Omnilium swirling around him in a dense cloud, his knees groaned in protest, reminding him that people weren't supposed to sit in that position for that long. Ignoring the familiar post-ritual protest of his leg joints, Harry broke the circle.
The effect of the summoning was immediate. The Omnilium rushed forward, boring through the tunnel walls and replacing them with the reality that he'd constructed carefully in his mind. Harry let out a low whistle as, a half-hour later, the last of the Omnilium constructed the massive gates of the Hidden Halls of Edinburgh. He knew he wouldn't be able to create wards as strong as the real Halls' own protection, but he didn't feel safe until he actually cast some protections on the gates. He walked up to them and realized that the residual Omnilium was practically waiting for him to do something like that. He took out one of the metal stakes and spent a good half hour carving distinct symbols into the door; Norse runes, mock heiroglyphs of his cat and dog, and several other images that he didn't think made any sense but were certainly distinct from one another. After a few minutes, the Omnilium seemed to anticipate what he was trying to do, creating even more symbols that Harry hadn't even thought of. Once the last of the energy from the summoning dissipated, Harry tapped out the key combination on the door with his staff; first the pentacle, then the picture of Mouse, then the one of Mister. The gates creaked open, and the wizard left them such as he stepped inside, leaving the stakes sticking out of torch brackets until he reached the Worry Room. Satisfied with his work and rather winded from the massive summoning, he sank into one of the plush armchairs with a bottle of ale that couldn't really hold a candle to Mac's, but still tasted good all the same.
![[Image: u17lb3R.gif]](http://i.imgur.com/u17lb3R.gif)