The Last Emperor's Experimental Notes

Table of Contents

Continuation of Experiment 16: Magic enhancing of the hotspot

Objective: Experiment 15 has succeeded in stabilising the Magical Construct for longer, but this makes control over it slip. Experiment 16 aims to achieve a better combination of stability and control.

Experiment 16-131

Objective: The problem is coming from a specific interaction between the stabilising magic of the Construct and the control magic, and the problem needs to be identified.
Method: Chain the construct in the courtyard with enough giveaway to allow it to move around. Give it specific orders to move boulders around in runic patterns and write down how precisely it achieves this and how this changes over time to see how the deterioration of the stabilising magic over time affects the control magic.
Results: As expected, there was a clear improvement of control as the stabilising magic deteriorated, with an acceptable accuracy of 95% in the tracing of the runes achieved after 5h17min. However, after 5h53min, the stabilising magic had deteriorated too much to allow the Construct to continue to move the boulder.
Note: Control in the first 20min was bad enough that the Construct ate another worker despite all the precautions taken to prevent this.
Conclusion: Current control is not good enough for precise work but if the Construct is manifested 30min before the start of a battle, control should be enough to allow for the Construct's participation.

Experiment 16-132

Objective: Identify which elements of the interaction between the stabilising and control magics I should be focusing on enhancing.
Method: Bring the Construct into battle to get a better understanding of its current limitations in a real situation.
Results: The Construct bulked against every order I gave it and snatched any enemies that came by during the battle, but that last point is hardly an impediment.
Note: The Construct already lasted a lot longer than any Father ever used! Control was mixed as expected, for a total of 6h48min. The enemies were thoroughly confused that their delaying tactics did not work, and I'm sure I earned us some time before they make another attempt. By then, my experiments are sure to be a success!
Conclusion: I need to focus on the immediacy of the order, have the Construct start to execute them instinctively without having the time to bulk.

... and then the powder is thrown into the flames so that the fumes mix directly with the center of the magic current. The previously described ritual reaches its paroxysm during this time and allows our magic to be carried through the fumes into the current and to affect its nature.
Nevertheless, your Majesty, I would like to reiterate once again my warnings: my people only practice this ritual during our solstice festivals so as to embue the magic currents of our city with small healing properties. The low frequency and limited effects of the rituals prevent us from affecting the magic badly or from focusing it too much and allowing it to gain sentience.
I might live far from your empire, but rumours of your deeds still reach us here. It is not hard to guess the nature of your experiments or that the dragon constructs you are riding into battle are the results of you interfering with the magic hotspot of your city, rather than believe your claims of them being the results of an extraordinary amount of magic you yourself would possess.
By all account, these constructs hardly count as small or infrequent. Yes, our festival practices are likely to succeed in changing their nature as you wish. However, no one sane can look at the situation with anything other than dire foreboding, and it...

Experiment 16-133

Objective: Trigger the instinctive obedience of the Construct.
Method: Tweak the magic hotspot to affect the nature of the magic carried in the currents that I use to manifest the Construct. Then back to the boulder experiment in the courtyard to observe the results.
Results: I accidentally managed to further increase the size of the new magic current rather than only affect its nature, but this is a happy accident! The stability of the Construct was not affected by this and it lasted 6h47min, within the average obtained by the end of Experiment 15.
The nature of the magic seems to have been adequately changed too. The magic changed colour from a madder red to a cobalt flower blue under the magnifying salience glass, reflecting controlling properties.
During the boulder section of the experiment, the Construct carried out all my orders without delays and did not snap at all at my assistants! The only casualty was a careless worker that got smashed under a boulder, hardly a great loss.
Note: At times, the Construct seemed to even be anticipating my orders. Could it be that the longer manifestation time and the shorter time between manifestations are combining to stabilise the sentience itself of the Construct and to allow it to retain " memories"? This needs to be further investigated, as the potential is fabulous.
Conclusion: Satisfactory results, the objective seems to have been reached.

Experiment 16-134

Objective: Observe how the last enhancement affects its abilities and terrify the enemies again into leaving us more time to finish Experiment Series 16.
Method: Bring the Construct into battle again.
Results: Utter and humiliating failure.
The Construct threw away my orders after the 1h mark and turned against my own army! The only consolation in this is that in the end everyone was killed on both sides and so there is no witness left.
This absolutely cannot be allowed to happen again or people will stop complying with my orders! Hiding assistants' corpses is hard enough without triggering a whole scale rebellions in the city...
Note: The power increase from Experiment 16-135 has been amazing and incredibly effective. Both armies were decimated in a mere 1h35. In this at least I am on the right path.
Conclusion: A further tweaking of the nature of the magic current before the manifestations seems like the right solution. More blue wavelengths I think.

Experiment 16-135

Objective: Trigger the instinctive obedience of the Construct.
Method: Tweak the hotspot to affect the nature of the magic carried in the currents that I use to manifest the Construct. Then back to the boulder experiment in the courtyard to observe the results.
Results: Caeruleum blue wavelength achieved. Extremely positive results on the obedience of the Construct, there has been no fighting against my orders at all this time! No casualties either!
Note: That's it! This is going to work this time!



Conclusion:

To better understand the course of events depicted in the Last Emperor's notes and their consequences, students are advice to consult:

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