Lost Pages of the Journal of Zintar Mortalis

Day 173

Subject 102 Water Naga — The transmutation didn’t take. Subject appeared to undergo sharp pain, then it led to disfiguration, fins blackened and fell off, and lastly the tumor cells spread rapidly. Subject appeared in a state of turmoil and lost coherent speech. Essence extraction was performed unsuccessfully to alter inevitable outcome of the Burn. Subject’s life was terminated gracefully for peaceful rest.

Day 175

Subject 97 - Goblin Shaman - Subject died mid way through the extraction procedure. Attempts to extract essence were mostly unsuccessful. Tumor cells spread like subject 102, but something about Ferexia or the fire born seem to produce longer resistance to the illness. Boils appeared on the surface of the skin often bursting with puss.

Day 178 - New Subject 108 was admitted today. A burn infected centaur was captured near East Haven. Subject is in good health and not currently experiencing excessive symptoms of the Burn. Eyes appear deeply recessed and dark. Immediate efforts to remove elemental essence have been resisted, but upon blunt force subject became more cooperative.

Essence Extraction- Siphoning is continuing at a steady pace. A steady slow drain seems to keep the subject in tact. Thus far subject has provided 1.4 grommuals of green fluid, which has been able to stay relatively stable and not decay on exposure to air or other magics. It’s too early to tell if Dragon Glass is a suitable container for long term storage. Storage trials in quartz and obsidian are underway as well. It is worth noting that essence extortion does appear to expedite the spread of the burn. Centaur’s eyes especially look deeper recessed.

Essence Delivery- Micah did not stir from his recent coma even upon delivery of 0.2 grommuals of green magic essence. No apparent change was witnessed upon doubling the dosage up to .4 grommuals either.

Micah Condition- Micah seems to be stable and the Burn is not further progressing. I’m unclear if the essence of the Centaur is helping my beloved son. It does not appear to be hurting either so I will continue extraction and delivery until host is incapable of supplying more.

Day 180 - Centaur appeared remarkably resistant and held up for two entire days. A total of 7.8 grommuals were extracted and the entirety has been passed into Micah. Centaur is now deceased. Micah shows the slightest hint of wellness. It’s unclear at this time if it was reflexive or purposeful, but Micah opened his eyes briefly. It may have been a blink… could the centaur essence have helped?

Day 181- Exploring the possibility of wider siphoning

It’s been many moons since my pathway down this road has started. Initial attempts to extract life from my entire surroundings where grim at best. Many were needlessly lost. I’m coming to terms with my fear that I may have to rethink the approach of trying each one of these creatures individually. The Burn infecting Micah seems to not quite heal as different essences are delivered individually, and I’ve still yet to be able to procure any essence of dragon. I fear that may be beyond my capabilities. Especially my current capabilities as I’m still scarring over and occasionally bleeding from the first attempt on day 73.
I may be able to keep Micah alive by alternating between the various essences, but I don’t believe I can heal him until I have all of them stored separately and ready to be delivered at once. This is of course just a theory.

Micah, many will die so you will live. I struggle with this choice every day, but they will die to the burn regardless of my actions. I hope and trust that my work will bring you back to me. Maybe I’ll discover more about this plague upon us all. Such is the nature of my work.