Devon crested the hill, the moonlight filtering through the canopy illuminated the hill containing the strange bunker. He looked around and had to admit that the area was beautiful. That richie really did choose a good location. A clearing with a hill deep in the forest crowned by a small flat topped boulder, ringed with dense trees, and a small overgrown dirt road leading past. In the crescent moonlight it looked ethereal and sinister, as though the slight silver light had unlocked the true nature of the area.

Devon made his way to the slab and set down his pack. Digging around in it, he took out the book and ritual knife he borrowed from Morgan and the chalk he bought at the store. Flipping to a page near the back, he began to draw the circle and diagram he found on the page. He heard a coyote cackle in the darkness far from him and nearly messed up his line, but he took a deep breath and methodically inscribed each line, curve, symbol, and letter until it was finished and his hand was cramping. He took out the supplies: incense, burners, candles, little coals, quick-light, a mini brazier, a baggie of weed, his grinder, a makeshift wand, and a container of roast he'd saved from dinner.

"Alright let's see if this works," the young man whispered under his breath as he lit both of the incense sticks and put them in their places. The candles and brazier were next to be placed and the coals were lit with the quick-lite before he moved to light the candles in a specific order. Once the candles were lit he blew out the coals and ground up the herb he needed before taking the knife and tracing the circle clockwise, chanting what he read in the book by the flickering candlelight. Once the circle was cast he felt a change in his environment immediately - making him hesitate. He'd sat in on and helped with Morgan's (and occasionally Ross') rituals and workings, but the times he was there the change was minuscule at best, to the point he could easily dismiss it as a trick of the mind. This... was different. He had a feeling the ritual might work better near the bunker and it appears he was right.

He took a deep breath to center himself and took the wand, tracing the circle once more and chanting a different verse as he did so. Once again the environment changed and once again he had to steady himself. He cast a small amount of the herb into the smoldering brazier and called out to the stars as the pungent scent filled the clearing.

"Arkanyct, hear my call. First Spark of being and architect of the gulf beneath and between. I call to thee under the yawning sky and the brilliant stars as a seeker of wisdom. Oh, Great Voidborn, I humbly ask that you appear before me and take the offerings and the price you would enact."

He felt the air around him grow more electric as he spoke to the stars. The hair on his skin beginning to stand on end both due to adrenaline and the strange charge in the air. He cast more of the herb into the brazier as he ended his call and knelt before it to wait, the charge in the air vanishing in an instant. The slight breeze had stopped and the night was calm as the smoke rose into the sky, the scent of marijuana, frankincense, and jasmine intermingling and spreading out across the clearing.

Minutes passed as a slight tension filled the air, though whether that was simply his own perception or not, he couldn't tell. He heard the yipping of coyotes nearby and sucked in a breath as the bushes at the edge of the clearing rustled. He realized they'd get to him before he could make it to his car and felt his heart leap into his throat as a small pack of them emerged from the shadows. The balloon-skin of the air was tangible as the coyotes creept towards him, a sitting duck in an open position. Suddenly the forest went quiet, the sounds of birds and insects stopping abruptly, as the coyotes froze like statues with their ears flat and their tails between their legs. The candles, incense, and brazier were seemingly unaffected by the strange event.

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Devon glanced around the clearing unable to believe what he was seeing. His breath stuck in his throat, unable to move as the very air itself mummified him like plastic wrap from the pressure yet to be released. He couldn't tell where it was coming from but it felt as though he would be crushed into paste unless he could break the surface of whatever was causing this unseen swell. He strained to take a breath yet couldn't seem to move his muscles against the force and, terrified of dying from suffocation, he gave a pleading look to the stars. Then froze in fear and wonder. The stars were no longer twinkling, rather they were glowing like faraway spotlights. Glancing down he noticed the soft light of the candles appeared as though miniature bonfires in luminosity, the incense resembled LEDs, and all were getting brighter as he watched.

Just as he felt he was going to pass out there was a snap from somewhere both within and all around the circle that reverberated across the clearing beneath the still air. The pressure was gone in an instant and he took deep sucking breaths as the pack of coyotes fled back into the treeline, yipping and yowling to warn even demons to flee. Though the pressure and tension had disappeared in an instant, the stars still shone bright, illuminating the clearing in a soft silver light that made it seem to be closer to evening than midnight. Slowly a melody drifted across the clearing, quiet drumming and panpipes, though it was a sound from beneath the wind that permeated his very being as if it was slipping between the very material he was formed from. There was a rustling at the treeline and Devon's attention snapped to it, desperately scanning to discern exactly what was happening.

Two glimmering star-like orbs stood out from the shadow of the treeline, slowly joined by points of light spreading away from them and marking out the shape of a strange - almost dog-like - creature as it slowly loped into the clearing, the emptiness between the stars that composed its body drinking in the light and giving its form a facade of physical substance. The creature locked eyes with the terrified man and he nearly fainted, barely managing to stay upright and cling to coherency despite everything. As the creature opened its jaws and revealed teeth made of the same material as its spots and eyes it uttered a high-pitched cackle that reverberated against the canvas which reality itself was painted on. Feeling the sound resonate within his bones, Devon struggled to his feet, closed his eyes, and breathed deeply to steady himself before once again locking eyes with the being before him.

"Who- What are you?" Devon managed to croak out from the fear constricting his throat.

The creature appeared to grin.

"Oh?" The voice of a young man similar in age to him reverberated inside of his head with just the barest hint of a smirk playing amongst the words, "And here I thought you called* me *here."

Devon sucked in a breath and swallowed, "A-Arkanyct?" he stammered out, his knees growing a little weaker.

"The one and only. Though this form is... not my typical."

"My... My friends... They think you're bound."

"They do. But is that what you really want to know about?"

Devon hesitated as the creature made of stars and void smiled and loped closer to him. Glancing away to reorganize his thoughts he came to a decision.

"No. I have other questions and am willing to pay their price."

"Well then, Child of Time..." the primordial beast tilted its head to the side and stepped up to the slab, placing a paw onto the stone as it continued, "we have much to discuss..."

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Devon:

Perk gained [Class: Avowed - Rank 0]