[The character Atlilla was used with permission of her player YukiAya. I was also helped with a particularly difficult section to ‘word’ by DJSpectre (nee DawnCharger) The number of hours they have had to continue to spend convincing me that a better way to write a line was actually my idea 
The three sisters are regularly played PC’s of mine and Atlilla is played by YukiAya. We hope you enjoy.]
The Eye Of Truth
As soon as Thryl had heard of the price Rya had agreed to, her rage had become near incandescent. Rya could see it in her–though biologically Thryl’s elder sister, she’d been more of a mother to her since they had been abandoned by their birth parents nearly two decades ago. She knew Thryl did not trust or even like Atlilla, and that the agreement she’d made would not help that in any way.
The three sisters had talked about Rya’s acceptance of the sacrifice, and finally Thryl had reluctantly promised that she would not speak of this decision with anyone other than Aath. Rya had managed to convince Thryl that it was her choice and that she could have declined at any time right up to when she accepted.
Rya had presented the negotiation as if she’d actually conversed with The Allfather and Lofn. Of course, as far as she was aware, she had not. She had gone into a meditative trance and just knew that this deal was done–the short version being that Odin was happy to entertain Rya’s request for the knowledge and power required to perform such an enhanced Circle Magic Ritual, but there would be a cost.
Rya knew there would be some sacrifice required but had never considered this as an option. The Allfather’s reasoning for the price she was to pay, should she wish to proceed, was that in his quest for greater wisdom and knowledge he was required to sacrifice an eye. How could he expect her to sacrifice any less?
True to her word, Thryl didn’t mention what she knew to anyone. This didn’t stop her frequent glares at Atlilla. Ultimately the ritual went off without a hitch and the results were spectacular, certainly beyond what Thryl thought would be possible. Atlilla had been significantly brutalised, to the point that Thryl thought she’d be left with significant scaring despite Rya’s evident skill. Atlilla had been left with no obvious sign of residual scarring after the ritual–the extra power granted by her sister’s sacrifice had certainly produced results.
While an excellent result, the fact the Atlilla had elected to rest before thanking Rya did nothing to quell Thryl’s anger and resentment.
In the short time before the ritual took place, Thryl had consulted with Aath and received her blessing to try and reduce both Rya’s disablement and disfigurement. She hoped that even the Allfather wouldn’t be so pernicious as to intervene … directly or otherwise.
Thryl presents a plan that will require Aath’s blessing as head of the family (her Bretava) and also her skills as an Enchanter to complete. She proposes a sphere of platinum with a mechanism consisting of gold, with an iris of flaked emerald supported by barbules from raven feathers and the lens and humours salvaged from the eyes of Deep Ones. In time, she shares further revisions of fine details and highlights formed from various metals and gemstones.
The project was ambitious and after many weeks of smelting, shaping and cutting the precious metals into their various shapes. The crafting required a number of attempts as any failure in accuracy required her to start again from the beginning, each failure teaches her something new. Thryl had to craft a number of cogs and gears of various sizes and also source the many small diamonds that will be required to act as spools and spacers. The construction of the eye is more akin to watchmaking than weaponsmithing.
The shell of the eye was very complex with the inner lining detailed with blood vessels formed from finely drawn strands of copper and tin. Having harvested a number of eyes from Deep Ones, she chooses the best one and puts it aside. From this she will dissect out its lens. The others she harvests the thick clear gel that gives any eye its shape and ability to transmit light untainted. A number of the eyes have their gel harvested until she finds one that supplies the amount she needs and has the clarity required.
The salvaged lens is laid carefully onto the surface of the gel and from the raven feathers she collects runs of the finest barbules and combined with cogs and gears, makes the ciliary body and muscles to drive the iris. Flakes of emerald are laid over the iris, cut to be as close to identical as possible. Once enchanted, these structures will allow the iris to expand and constrict as would a normal eye.
The most difficult part of the project was the creation of the eye’s center. This required the finding of a diamond large enough to be able to be cut, shaped, and polished to form the clear piece required to form the cornea. This last piece is attached using a simple organic glue consisting of a mixing of water, aloe vera, sugar and a small amount of the Deep One gel.
After many weeks of effort, she is rewarded with an artifact that looks like a mechanical eye.
