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Burningoutbright
 
PostPosted: Tue, Jul 15 2014, 6:03 AM 

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Location: Where the She-Devils roam

"If the disease is truly a disease, it should be able to be cured through traditional means, which is obviously not the case. It originates in the Far Realms, according to Sir Ardelyn of Wiltun, who is himself infected and has surrendered samples of his blood to me for testing. He has posited the infection seems to have a mind of its own, and the provided testimony that the infection initially benefits the infected subject, but then drives the subject to madness, extreme rage, and eventually, permanent death. It has the hallmarks of an aggressive and intelligent parasite that eventually gains control of the host and drives them to death, as several hosts do, in order to fulfill a certain per-determined task.

Wilhuff the Half-Orc and Sir Ardelyn have both posited and confirmed that the location of Actland seems to act against certain bloodlines, but Sir Ardelyn insists that the parasite infects all bloodlines. A planar host seems to be the best explanation given the information Sir Ardelyn has shared on other eradication methods: he was vague, but mentioned a symbol being effective in ejecting the parasite from the host, as well as bloodletting with a specific weapon which may be lost to us now, once wielded by someone known as the 'Discordant Truth'.

The third method gives me hope, but also draws me to caution— Sir Ardelyn claims a subject was able to filter the parasite from his body through a mechanized process. it could mean that experimentation could lead to understanding how it is the parasite infects the host, and how to prevent it.

Sir Ardelyn, a male tiefling of mid adulthood with no apparent cardiovascular ailments, has given me five vials of his blood. The vials are labeled 1 to 5. Vial 1 will be a control sample which will not be experimented upon. Vials 2 through 5 will. The first experiment will be the introduction of the sample into a heavily saline solution (in this case, salt water from the coast) to see if the fragments of blood (i.e. 'cells' and 'platelets') will shrivel. Vial 2 will be introduced to water from Nexus Hills which has remarkably little additional solute (see: salt, in this case) to see if the fragments of blood with lyse, or burst, in the solution.

The third vial will be frozen (to see if the cells grow ice crystals, as in the case of frostbite). The fourth may be boiled, filtered via water-vacuum, or another experimental process to try and separate the blood into different 'layers' or fragments."

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"The world takes and takes, even things that aren't offered. Finally, it gave us something back; I wish he was here to share it with me."


 
      
Burningoutbright
 
PostPosted: Sat, Jul 26 2014, 3:35 AM 

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Joined: 17 Mar 2007
Location: Where the She-Devils roam

The regeneration qualities of the quintessence in the blood remain active and potent for days after the blood has been removed from the body and no longer receiving fresh nutrients from the body. The regeneration becomes more pronounced in the tests applied to the vials.

Test one introduced vial 1 to a heavy saline solution which would typically shrivel cells and cause immediate damage. Even after prolonged exposure, the blood cells remain perfectly healthy (despite the parasite) and do not take on any of the salt content. The cell may be infected personally, or have its ability to maintain osmosis and react appropriately to internal and external pressure that would normally be put into equilibrium. Further tests are needed.

Test two introduced vial 2 into pure water from Nexus Falls, rich with minerals, which would typically cause a cell to fill until bursting and causing immediate death of the cell over prolonged exposure. This seems to support the above hypothesis that the infected cells have had their base osmosis abilities compromised. Perhaps to keep the Quintessence inside the cell, and protected?

Test three exposed vial 3 to intense cold until freezing. The regeneration and apparent self-preservation are pronounced in this test. When frostbite would typically occur, the cells spontaneously unfreeze, only to freeze again due to the consistent exposure to freezing temperature. The state, curiously, is subject to a constant cycle of freezing and unfreezing, while causing virtually no damage to the host cells.

Test four exposed vial four to extreme heat until vigorous boiling. The initial results were consistent with the boiling of uninfected blood, and did begin to somewhat separate the two substances to the point where the quintessence's temperature could be taken separately. It remained room temperature and unaffected by any temperature change, despite the change in temperature of the blood. Instead, after approximately two minutes, the quintessence seemed to... metastasize like a cancer, and converted all the blood into apparently pure quintessence. More study is warranted.

Summary: My hypothesis based on observations during the tests leads me to believe the first stage of the infection which leads to the extraordinary abilities of the infected host is an incubation stage for the parasite to mature in safety. Heat, particularly, seems to speed up the maturation process, while cold does not readily seem to slow the incubation, but prolonged study will need to be done to determine if that is the case.

Exposing the blood to a natural anti-coagulant like what is found in the saliva of leeches and bats may deteriorate any external barrier that prevents the individual cells from completing osmosis and self-filtering, which would lead the quintessence to be passed through the body or attacked by infection fighting cells, or phagocytes.

A biopsy of other tissues in the body (such as cheek tissues, adipose, and bone/bone marrow) may help narrow down if the quintessence infects other organs, or just blood and the cardiovascular system. Seek samples from Sir Ardelyn towards this end.

Natural separation may occur in the blood with centrifugal force (i.e. spinning the object at a high rate of speed from a fixed object, like a parent playing by swinging their child by their arms.) This should be attempted with a fresh sample to ensure consistent and exact results.

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"The world takes and takes, even things that aren't offered. Finally, it gave us something back; I wish he was here to share it with me."


 
      
Burningoutbright
 
PostPosted: Sat, Aug 02 2014, 5:31 AM 

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I've been unable to contact Sir Ardelyn for further samples. It seems he has been cured through the use of the Cerulean Symbol, though by means I do not fully understand at the moment. It has become especially pertinent and important that I preserve the few samples I collected from him before. Keeping them on ice stimulates the regenerative properties to keep all blood samples healthy, alive, and viable.

I've moved on to my other ideas to test and experiment with, but with no initial success. Centrifugal force has no effect on the quintessence, even when the blood divides into its distinct layers. It remains uniform throughout, all layers, remaining attached to whatever cellular piece of blood it was attached to before the force was applied.

Additionally, refined oil from the yew tree does not have any effect on the quintessence, leading me to believe that it is of no particular ritual importance for banishment or purification of the infection/parasite. The symbol itself holds power, not the individual components.

Physical stimulus of the quintessence while in blood is hit and miss. Electricity has the same effect as boiling the blood, but it is not unexpected given the intense heat involved with an electric current. The blood is quickly replaced by the quintessence when it has been damaged beyond repair, which correct my previous theory that heat causes the spread of the quintessence to occur more quickly. Heat merely seems to destroy the blood beyond repair.

Vibrations, however, have yielded astounding and inspiring success. I purchased a few drums from Kohlingen's House of the Golden Harp to test my hypothesis. My positive observations started with the bass drum, which, when the sealed flask was in the center, caused the quintessence to shiver independently of the blood in a slow reverberation. Further experimentation with a timpani drum I purchased afterward led to a more dramatic response, as more vibrations were caused by the instrument, and the shivering increased somewhat dramatically. The frequency/rate of vibration seems to be more important than the magnitude, but more study is necessary; however, when I next exposed the blood-quintessence sample to a sound burst spell cast by a low-level magical item, the result was dramatic: the quintessence shivered intensely before splattering onto the glass of the inner vial--separating completely from the blood--and pooling together, completely ignoring the blood for a matter of minutes, as if inert or for lack of a better description, stunned or concussed. After around three or four minutes, the quintessence assumed normal functionality and reattached to the blood uniformly. There were no other observable effects.

Live trials will be necessary to test this new discovery as a potential cure for the infection. Unfortunately, the quintessence has no interest in animal samples. A portion of a frog's heart, rich with blood, was presented to the complete quintessence sample I created, and they remained entirely separate, regardless of how fresh the sample of cardiac muscle was.

This observation, however, leads to some potential for using blood sucking animals, such as leeches, as aids in potentially draining the quintessence without spreading infection or harming the animal. Leeches are currently my first choice, due to the ability to make them harmlessly vomit when exposed to the seasoning cumin after ingesting the quintessence.

While crude, my first intention is to attempt to expose an isolated part of an infected patient to the quintessence (my ideal location is the arm, due to the location of several arteries which are simpler to manage and prevent the patient from bleeding out in an emergency...) to see if the quintessence, when separated, moves to the surface of the skin, or sinks to the bottom. Logic with other liquids is that they move to the top, following the vibrations on their natural outward pattern, but it remains to be seen if this is a consistent characteristic with the quintessence. Further study is necessary.

After introducing intense vibration, I intend to try and control where the quintessence will pool (tests in a burette, funnels and vials seem to indicate that it will obey the laws of gravity when stunned, and even before exposure to vibrations, and that it remains cohesive like liquid mercury) by inverting the patient, so blood with rush to certain extremities (similar to blooding a deer) and then either extracting the pooling quintessence with a large syringe placed directly into the arteries of the arm, or through the use of leeches. Maybe both, since time is essential.

I don't think I'll be able to return those drums...

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"The world takes and takes, even things that aren't offered. Finally, it gave us something back; I wish he was here to share it with me."


 
      
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