Lauder — Roleplayer Guild

A Tattercon Production

(Tatter and Lexicon)

While possessed of very little interest in whatever Lexicon might have to say, Tatter dutifully fell silent when he began to speak, though her woven face took on a snarky blend of derision and boredom. Truth to be told she couldn’t fathom why Volaris wanted the kid around, since it should’ve been obvious that Tatter needed no help in this task, but there could be nothing so unconscionable as questioning a Supreme Lord. Tatter could do nothing more than put up with the snake-eyed hindrance.

Despite her contempt, however, she did-half listen to the boy, and when he suggested that Tatter thought of Volaris as an experiment of hers the geist’s eyes went wide. With frantic energy she shook her hands back and forth. “Ohnononono, I never thought…! Not for a moment, Lord!” Her loose strands wriggled incessantly, writhing in the air like dying serpents, giving silent voice to her distress.

A moment later, Volaris spoke again, his overwhelming cacophony of haunted voices causing Tatter to freeze in place. Fists clenched by her chest, she took in everything the horrific chorus uttered. When he mentioned the singular word ‘fun’, a chill swept through her unnatural body, and she steeled herself just in time for the nightmarish laughter that followed. Though shaken, she composed herself enough to nod furiously following his last imperative. “Yes, Lord! We’ll get right on it!”

Volaris vanished. In an instant the atmosphere of the room felt less heavy, and though she did not need to breath Tatter couldn’t help but to release a sigh of relief. Yet, when she turned her face toward Lexicon a moment later, it bore only cold anger. “Catty suckup. You trying to make me look bad?” Her eyebrows narrowed. “Keep it up if you’re tired of having just one curse.” With a final look Tatter floated toward the door, pushed it open, and glided through across the balcony and into the open air. “Anyway, I guess we better get busy. There’s plenty of test subjects locked up in the rooms on the bottom floor. The center area’s perfect.” She glanced back at Lexicon to make sure he was coming.

Lexicon could only chuckle at the ghost’s feeble threats, knowing that she could do nothing to truly harm him, at least not currently. ”I suppose it is in my nature to maintain a high degree of relation with the Supreme Ones, after all they are the most powerful beings we know of, save for the Mad One,” the child stated, slowly walking along with Tatter before stopping next to her and giving a sadistic look. His face morphed into something of pure evil, a face that would chill most normal men and cause those who were more weak willed to merely flee. ”As a child of Lady Ladata, you should know the power of the artifacts that I can possess, for instance…” He reached down into his satchel and pull out an eye. It floated in the palm of his hand before looking at Tatter.

Lexicon laughed evilly as the eye grew red for a split moment as the corrupt child willed for it to not use its power on someone as worthless as a bookworm. ”The Eye of the Mad One was her latest gift to me and with it, I have become one of the most powerful guardians,” a threat most vile made to the floating tapestry. Without another word he continued forward, the same scary look on his face as he continued.

The Necromancer’s display made Tatter snicker, although she couldn’t declare herself unimpressed. “Nice of you to dampen the effect, but I’m pretty resistant. Still, gotta appreciate the hustle. Maybe we can have some fun together.”

”Regardless, your intellect is needed on this task, though not of my own volition. I must ask, would you not feel as if your magical essence were being suppressed if we were not able to cast our magic? Lord Volaris was able to teleport, I assume, which means our magic does still work, and the eye that I possess can still be used,” Lexicon explained as he went down the hall before continuing, ”I do not believe that our magic is hindered, at least not in any noticeable way.”

Hovering alongside him on the other side of the dusty wooden railing with arms crossed, Tatter shrugged. “Yeah, that seems right. The material this body’s made of is only malleable when magic flows through it. But we’ll see for sure in a minute.” Eyes glinting, she unraveled into a shapeless spear of cloth and shot downward. Her disembodied voice echoed across the Thaumaturgium. “First there, first cast!”

For a moment, Lexicon looked over the edge and judged the velocity one would gain to have to splatter against the ground. Though such dark thoughts were for another time, as he simply walked off the age in a nonchalant fashion, diving down and feeling the wind rush past him on the descent to the Thaumaturgium. He could see the magical glow of Tatter and he was tempted to cheat a bit so that he may be the first one down, however, it may prove better to let the inferiors have their morale boost.

However, that did not mean the child was going to merely let Tatter win, it would be too obvious if he threw the game now. And yet, there he was, feeling that childhood glee that most commonly came from playing a game so simple as race. ”Fly,” he simply commanded, a magical aura encompassing his form as he then willed himself to go faster. He was right behind her now.

”I have you now,” he laughed.

Tatter’s giggle reverberated through the air. “I might not be as fast as Fly, but you have nothing, kiddo!” One of her woven tendrils flicked out and brushed against one of the many tapestries on the wall as it passed, and without a second’s delay her body went limp, unraveling to drift slowly down.

At the base of the Thaumaturgium, the towering central pillar split into four, the arches pyramid in formation, and beneath the great beams lay an open area of checkered tile and stone walls.  In the center of the square space the floor gave way to ringed stairs, a pool of what appeared to be water in the middle.  Sixteen doors lined the four walls, and between them stood tables laden with equipment both surgical and alchemical, as well as a number of their labors’ fruits.

Above one of the tables, a silken tapestry stirred, surging with ghostly energy. Its threads sprang to life, exploding outward from the wall and knitting itself into the shape of the sixth floor’s guardian. Not quite fully formed, the vaguely humanoid bundle flopped off the table’s edge and onto the floor.

”Now that’s just not fair,” Lexicon grumbled to himself, narrowing his eyes at the still forming mess that he viewed Tatter was. Gently drifting into the ground, the effect of fly dissipated and he merely looked away from the girl, though he did remember he had wanted her to win for morale’s sake. He let out a sigh before he walked to one of the tables and sat down, watching the girl for a few moments. ”Where do you believe we should begin? We both know that the great evil Magics that hold the Cathedral together are still active. Perhaps it would be in our best interest to catalog a number of things before we come to the conclusion that our magic does indeed still work the same.”

Her new shell complete, Tatter floated off the ground and dusted herself off. “Sure. We can run the gamut of our spells of all kinds. Should be a pretty good starting point. ‘Course, gotta get ready to record first” She reached out a strand toward one of the locked doors, using it to undo the latch before yanking on the handle. With a pronounced creak it swung wide open to reveal a medium-sized hospital bedchamber. “Out, now!”

A jolt of movement could be seen inside the dark, windowless room. Seconds later four figures emerged, three orcs and one elf. They looked diseased, pale and malnourished, their leather garb threadbare and ill-fitting. As they shuffled out, sunken eyes wild with fear, Tatter cast a glance at Lexicon. “Helena caught this bunch while on patrol, before we moved. Far as I can tell the orcs kidnapped the elf, then escaped into our marsh for cover. Huh, talk about bad luck! ..There were two more originally.” Her sepulchral emerald gaze returned to the prisoners. “Can any of you read and write?”

The elf’s hand shot up, though the orcs’ weren’t far behind. Recognizing the desperate ploy for what it was, Tatter rolled her eyes. “Alright, elfie. Sit down at a table with a stack of paper and a quill. We’re going to be using magic, and I want you to write down spell name, spell type, and our comments. Got it?” Tripping over herself, the elf complied. Once she appeared ready to record, Tatter began again. “Alrighty. Utility hex, Fetch!”

Above the geist’s hand, a swirling eddy of magic sprung to life and resolved itself into a disk-shaped instrument in a flash. Tatter affixed the Crystal Dial to her chest, then held out her hand again. “Fetch!” A brief moment later, a 50-pound totem of carved wood popped into existance and crashed down on the floor in front of her. Unphased, Tatter nodded and spoke again, “Fetch!” This time a wand manifested in her hand, and she pointed it at the totem. With a little concentration it lifted into the air, and with a flick of her hand she moved it out of the way. “Alright, Fetch works perfectly. Add a line saying that the Steward’s Wand works too.” With a swift motion she passed the wand to one of her free strands to hold.

She then eyed Lexicon. “Guess you want a turn, huh? Use the orcs if you want. There’re more guinea pigs in the other rooms too.”

A mere utility spell did not interest the likes of Lexicon, it was not in his nature to be interested in spells that were minimal in the grand scheme of thing. He looked to the orcs for a moment before stepping towards them, before pointing a finger at one, a crooked smile coming onto his face. One word was uttered, ”Death,” and from his gloved hand came a small, dark bolt came from his finger and struck one of the orcs. Suddenly, the pale orc dropped dead without a word, causing the others to back away from the corpse out of fear. 

”Glad to know that works,” Lexicon mused before walking up to the corpse, laying a single hand upon it. ”Raise Dead,” he uttered as an almost holy light enveloped the corpse, for a moment nothing happening. The child took a step back and the once dead orc took in a violent inhale, sitting up in shock and confusion as he looked at his hands then up at the child. 

”Now then back to business,” he said before he suddenly jutted out his hand and said ”Gravity Maelstrom.” A dark ball launched itself from his hand, energy striking out at the ground as it flew directly back into the orc that had been revived. The poor thing was practically disintegrated upon contact, letting out a last howl of pain before being sucked into the black hole. ”Gravity Maelstrom works as intended, along with Raise Dead and Death,” he mused before looking back Tatter, with his crooked smile as wide as can be.

”Back to you then.”

“Hmph. Didn’t you say you wanted to try many different kinds? And not even bothering to help out our poor little scribe, tsk tsk…” Tatter’s composition made the clucking of her tongue sound more like the hiss of sandpaper. Her attitude, remarkably casual given the traumatizing circumstances, led her to almost miss the two remaining orcs as they made a break for it. Of course, she could only titter. “You dolts don’t even know where to run, while I know this place inside and out.” She sighed as her strands shot outward, snaking through the air after the fleeing orcs. “Primal instincts, I suppose. Can’t be helped when dealing with such base life-forms.”  Shrieks of terror echoed through the Thaumaturgium as the strands coiled around the orcs’ legs, tripping them before dragging them back. Their jagged, yellow fingernails scraped against the tile as Tatter hauled the pair her way. “Status curse,” she intoned as they grew near, the words resounding above their cries. “Bloodcurdle.”

The orcs spasmed, reduced to no movement except for a frenzied twitch. “Success,” Tatter noted as she let them go. Her strands moved to make loops around their middles, picking them up into the air. Tatter came closer, a pleasant grin upon her face. “Status curse, Merge.” The air in front of her shimmered as though in a heatwave, and the orcs’ very bodies appeared to fluctuate in a similar fashion. With deliberate slowness the Soul Twister brought the two together, back-to-back, and when their skins touched they fused together. 

Still gripped by total paralysis, the orcs couldn’t so much as scream as their bodies sunk into one another, until all that remained was a single monstrosity with a face on either side of its head, an arm that split into two forearms in different directions, and a single two-sided torso with four legs.

“Success.” Tatter seemed pleased with the result, although her lack of satisfaction suggested that such a horrific accomplishment was, for her, rather mundane. Meanwhile, the elf looked as though she’d been struck by Bloodcurdle as well, too traumatized by the sight to move her quill. Not noticing, Tatter released the creature to fall stricken upon the floor before approaching it 
To lay a hand on its head. “Status curse, Vital Extraction. Siphon!” A muddy greenish substance surged from the monster’s head, making it jerk violently. The jelly-like vapour pooled in Tatter’s hand, and the more she took the less distinct her victim became. It lost color, feature, and definition, until it nothing remained but a goopy-looking gray horror of the same bodily layout as what came before. Its melted faces could barely be categorized as such, being little more than recessed holes and slits where eyes, nostrils, and mouths had been.

Vitae in hand, Tatter floated back. “Success! And what a funny-looking Failure. Almost like a spider. Yep, works as good as before. Maybe even better!” She glanced at the elf, who appeared to be hunched over on the table, hands clasped over her face. “Hey!” Tatter called. “You get all that? I’ve got the essence of two orcs here, so unless you wanna be big and green I’d get writing if I were you.” Behind the geist, the gray husk stirred. Moving with an idiotic, bumbling simplicity, it staggered to its feet and began to wander away. It tripped on the stairs in the center of the room and rolled into the ankle-deep pool of water at its center, making Tatter chuckle.

”Poor thing, lost and afraid…” the child began before raising his hand a hex forming on the floor, ”Let’s exploit it’s essence. Create Greater Undead!” From the giant, black hex that formed in front of the child, two death knights rose. Their dark armor giving a polished gleam, their shields and swords ready to serve their master. ”Success. Bring another to us, alive,” Lexicon ordered. 

The knights moved forward, marching as one to one of the cells that held another orc, who was now trying scrambling to his feet to try and back away from the large undead beings only to put his back against the wall. Making a mistake, he began to stagger away only to be hit in the back by the massive shield of one of the knights. The two sheathed their swords and grasped each arm of the orc and dragged him back to the two sadistic casters, Lexicon with his smile and Tatter with her laughter. The undead threw the orc onto the floor, the pale figure knowing not to fight the knights.

”I suggest an experiment. Why not inject this fighter with that essence and see what comes out of it? I believe, that if it is useful then it can be used,” Lexicon requested, looking at the poltergeist with a gleeful look on his face. After a moment he looked back at the orc, stating ”I hope that it will be painful for it.”

A smirk greeted Lexicon’s stated wish. “Pff, physical pain is so basic,” Tatter explained. “But I’ll give it shot. Other overdoses I’ve done have been interesting.” She laid herself down on the ground beside the pinned orc, elbows on the floor with her hands propping up her head. “You look scared. Weren’t you the leader of that little band? Courage is important for leaders. But then again, you look pretty generic. Consider this a blessing. Instill!” Without a moment’s hesitation she slammed her palm into the orc’s head, pumping him full of vitae. 

The demihuman cried out, more shock and discomfort than agony, and began to change. He swelled up in size, muscles bloating as his green skin grew darker. His snaggletoothed fangs extended upward, lengthening past his eyes until they were halfway up his forehead. The orc’s cranium shrunk, while his jaw grew larger. As he writhed on the floor his entire bone structure changed, arms lengthening and legs shortening while his torso bent into a huge humpback.  As the changes slowed, Tatter remarked, “The essence of orcs--brutishness, barbarism, savagery. Much stronger, I’m sure, but slower, and dumb a sack of bricks.” Fairly nonplussed, she hopped up and looked around. 

”I am sure we can use it as a laborer, no doubt we have some heavy things that need lifted. Yet, I would love to see how this thing performs in a battle. If it can lift a club or weapon then no doubt it can be used as an attack dog, if needed.”

Out of the fourteen remaining doors, one led to a staircase downward, two opened into elevators upward, and at least three served as storage for samples, equipment, books, and research. “Don’t think I have any more of them,” Tatter mused. “A couple random monsters and a bunch of Failures. But husks are fine for experiments.” Another strand shot outward, unbarring one of the doors before pulling it open. Inside milled a handful of Failures, two humanoid and four quadrupedal. As the door opened, they turned to fixate on the orc leader, hungry for his vitae. In the pool, the spider-husk also seemed intent on somethough, though it seemed more fixated on the terrified elf.

Lexicon looked over the husks for a few moments before looking back to Tatter, never having actually seen Tatter work before. ”I find it impressive that you have made all these. Perhaps you are not the mere bookworm I thought you were,” he commented before stepping towards the husks, his knights turning to face them as well. ”Line them up,” he commanded, watching the knights step past him to do the bidding of their dark master. 

They did not draw their swords instead grasping them with their decrepit hands, to drag them against the wall. Granted the husks rarely stood in place for long but it was certainly a sight to see two large behemoths rush back and forth we to try and line them perfectly. Though, through look of Lexicon, it was enough of a line for him to look at the spider husk. ”Undead Flame,” he said flicking his hand out and forming a green, fiery circle in front of himself before it spread in the ground around the husk. When the husk began to walk towards the elf, it came into contact with the flames, which jumped onto the form of the creature to engulf it. In mere moments the creature died to the flames, though not before letting out horrid screeching of pain. 

”Success. Anyways, I suspect this is enough on personal magic. Perhaps it is time to start on our items? Or shall we have some fun on experimenting?”

Tossing her woven hair in a smug manner, Tatter replied, “Already on it. The Steward’s Wand work, and this diadem…” she tapped the Crystal Dial on her chest. “...Lets me know whether or not my spells work on my targets. Hasn’t shivered yet.” She punctated the explanation with a wink at Lexicon, then stroked her chin. “That said, there is one thing. Another type of magic we haven’t tried. The Deepwood Idol’s been collecting leftover magic all this time, so we’re good to go.”  She sped over to the totem and heaved, picking up with with both arms. With it secure she headed for the biggest, most ornate door. As she passed the elf, the curtain of strands that composed her lower half reached out and grabbed her, wrapping her up in a cocoon and bringing her along with minimal struggle. “Deal with the Failures however you want,” she told Lexicon. “Then follow me.”

”Slaughter the failures and put the orc back in its cage, I wish to run some tests on that one, after that go up the Cathedral entrance and guard it alongside Xirphi and Sagi,” Lexicon told his knights, walking to Tatter so that they may continue their task. Behind him the death knights drew their swords and set about slaughtering the failures. Their sword cleaved through them, cutting them in and or decapitating them. They were wordless and completely obedient in their objective, completing the slaughter in no time at all against the likes of the failed experiments. The knights went back to the orc, this time finding it harder to force the creature to move, granted it was still malnourished and weak, but it was stronger than before. Yet, they did their job.

Meanwhile Lexicon walked alongside his floating companion, commenting in a persuasive manner, ”You are a curious being Tatter. Also powerful in your own right, and smart. The Cathedral is not a place of trust, Xirphi does what she wants and I doubt that she will allow either of us to continue our fun without attempting to destroy us, nor can I guarantee that Lord Volaris will be able to protect us from that brute. Among her there are other unstable types, such as Rule34, and Garlock who is far too unpredictable to be trusted.”

He paused to allow Tatter some time to process his words before continuing on in his same tone, ”I suggest that you and I form a sort of alliance to aid each other should those types turn against us. We are both some of the brightest minds within the cult, and so it would be advantageous for us to work together. It would also allow us to further advance our positions so long as we remain on the side of Lord Volaris.” His offer was made so that he would not have to worry about the likes of Xirphi, knowing that if it came down to a battle between them, he would win with the help of Tatter. Though, he knew having Tatter’s mind on his side with allow him to progress with his ambitions, after all, she was a bookworm with vast amount of knowledge to help her. 

As the pair descended, the style and architecture changed. Stone and wood gave way to gold-bronze metal, emblazoned with bizarre patterns and alien designs. Tatter, focused on her burden while making sure not to drag her captive elf, did not respond for a moment, but when she did she began with a derisive titter. “Look at you, being all conniving. Proposing a secret alliance when we were threatening eachother ten minutes ago? Well, first let me say what, are you some kinda idiot? Volaris can do whatever he wants. It’s not trust that binds us guardians together. It’s the will of the Supreme Lords.”  Eyes-half shut, she slid Lexicon an insufferable grin. “But then again, it sounds like you don’t even get along with Ladata’s other Guardians. Meanwhile me, Helena, and Jack are a great team, but even if we weren’t, I can fend for myself. Besides, it’s not the dumb ones you need to watch out for. It’s the smart ones, especially the ambitious ones.” The geist’s implication rested for a moment before she flashed a smile and started to move on. “Heehee! Maybe if you tried being likable up-front you wouldn’t have to worry so much about being stabbed in the back.”

In front of the pair, the curved hallway opened up into a larger room. The sickly light of the yellow braziers washed over undulating walls adorned with spikes, pillars festooned by primeval embellishments, and a rounded altar beneath the inverted dome’s heinous sculpture. An otherwordly, noisome vapour filled the air. Tatter flew over the rail and into the center of the Ritual Chamber. “Here we are.” She deposited the elf on the dias before rising up to insert the Deepwood Idol into the pupil of the hanging sculpture above. Magic flowed from the object into the structure, and the very room seemed to inhale in anticipation. Tatter then flew off with great haste, muttering something about materials.

”Likeable,” that was a word that he had not considered for himself for a long while, and while sure he could pull the appearance of a “likeable” child enough, however, it was never in his cursed nature to be that way. The book does not like hiding its dark nature and Lexicon knew that well enough, after all he and the book were practically one in the same at this point. He contemplated it for a moment before looking over at the elf, simply waiting as Tatter went off to get her materials. He approached the elf who took a step back out of fear, and he merely stared at the elf with a more than neutral face. It wasn’t until he suddenly pulled his knife did he make a noise of anger, not a roar of attack but merely a grunt as he stabbed the poor elf through the stomach.

When he pulled the knife out, he merely extends his palm forward and uttered ”Open Wounds,” and watched as the area around the elf’s wound grew and grew until the elf collapsed. Still breathing and alive but accepting death in silence as the knife’s effect took place. Lexicon snarled for a moment before snatching the paper from the dying elf, writing down the success of both his spell and his blade. However, in the middle of writing, he stopped for a moment as the feelings of a scared little boy came back to him, a scared boy in a cursed cathedral. It took effort for the curse to will itself over the mind of the boy once more but for a moment he had felt true fear and sorrow for his actions enough for tears to have formed in the edges of his eyes. Wiping those tears away, Lexicon refused to show that side to the damned poltergeist who had the gall to call him an idiot.

He would make sure to get back at her, teach what it meant to not accept this conniving boy’s offer. Though he would need to make sure that no other soul would find out, but then again, who’s word would most likely be trusted when he was a master at manipulation. Lexicon looked back down at the now dead elf before laying a palm upon the corpse and using the Raise Dead spell. The elf eventually came back to life, looking worse than when he had killed her. 

”Your duties may continue,” Lexicon said to the elf, handing it the paper back, and silently contemplating the best way to deal with Tatter.

A minute later the other Guardian returned, carrying with her a veritable horde of materials. Crystallized demon’s blood, a branch from the Bloodwood tree, a black heart, a jar of undead cinders--all high-level ritual catalysts. The moment she laid eyes on the elf, however, her look of anticipation turned to digust. “Ugh. Well, if I didn’t think you were short-sighted, impulsive, vengeful, and petty before, I do now.” She bundled up the materials and placed them on the ground between the staircase and the nearest pillar. “Here I was, gonna make a new servant to put that gross orc to shame, all while testing ritual magic, and you turn that poor elf girl into a stinkin’ zombie.” A strand snatched the paper from the undead’s hand, at which Tatter leveled her palm as she approached. “Useless.”

”Far from a mere zombie, Tatter. I control both life and death, and thus I am able to retire those lucky few back to a full life. Such as this elf. She has all her cognitive functions and can understand your rather rude gestures. However, I would not expect a mere ghost to understand the concepts of bringing things back to life,” Lexicon snickered, glaring at Tatter before looking once more at the elf. He walked forward and gestures to the elf, ” However, if you do not wish to try and one up me, as pointless as it is, I guess I’ll just destroy her,” he sighed readying the gravity maelstrom at the elf.

Something Lexicon said seemed to disturb Tatter, and she froze mid-cast. Her eyes, false though they were, seemed to be focused on something far away. “Ghost…” For the first time since returning she noticed the terror on the elf’s face, and her fearful cowering. “...Oh.” Only when Lexicon mentioned destroying her did Tatter jump into action. “Wait, hold on, you ass,” she blurted out, waving him off with furrowed brow. “I didn’t know, okay? Treat!” From her hand came a beam of soft green energy, sending countless tiny sparks of life into the elf. Immediately her wounds began to heal, her skin and hair regaining their color and vitality. After a moment Tatter cut off the stream and floated backward, and the elf collapsed in relief.

The child suppressed a smile coming out, noting her distant gaze for the time being, but not saying anything to allow her to go on with what she wanted to do.

Tatter avoided eye contact with her counterpart. “...Guess that spell works too.” A number of her strands extended to grab the ritual ingredients and start placing them. She fixed her eyes on the elf and in a clear, firm voice asked, “You can speak, can’t you? What’s your name?”

A few seconds passed before she could begin to stutter a reply. “S-S...S-Selussa.”

Nodding, Tatter told her, “Well, Selussa, I’m not going to torture or kill you. Or do what I did to the orcs. I want to know where you came from...who you are.”

Still shaken, Selussa got to the point quickly. “Daughter...of our clan’s lord. Orcs invaded. So many elves killed...I was taken as...as a prize. After father was slain.”

“I see. You’ve lost so much. Think of this, then, as giving you something back. New purpose, new strength. You might not be able to take revenge on your dad’s killers, but you won’t be broken...anymore.”

The last ritual ingredient fell into place, and Tatter backed away, murmuring incantations. Dark energy welled up within the icon above the elf’s head, and a moment later it flooded outward upon her and into the floor. Closing her eyes, the elf bore it in silence, and her body disappeared in the deluge of purple, red and black.

Lexicon merely watched the proceedings of the ritual, finding it dull, but flashy. He supposed that there may be a chance that Tatter would fail hilariously. He waited for that moment in silence.

When the arcane energies died down, Tatter rushed forward. The elf lay upon the dias, though not exactly the same. Her skin had turned a blackish purple, and from her head sprouted long, thin horns that turned a burned gold toward the tips. A similar tail stretched behind her, as well as the braid of her much-longer rose-red hair, and when her eyes opened their irises shone a brilliant, uncanny white. “A more ‘interesting’ demon would have resulted with more sacrifices, but she’s not half bad,” the geist commented. “Best I can tell, she’s a bit over half as strong as you, Lex. Without items, at least.” Tatter reached out a hand and helped pull the new demon to her feet, looking closely as she did. “Hm. Not quite the same as usual...in the old world, a ritual with no extra sacrifices would make a generic demon, but she’s totally unique.”

”Unique, eh?” Lexicon pondered for a moment before merely shrugging at the fact, continuing on, ”I suppose that it is worth writing down.” He walked towards Tatter and the demon looking her over before letting out a yawn, ”I guess you are good at making things, but you lack the knowledge over the power of life and death. You merely alter the living and change them to things you desire, perhaps stronger and more useful, but ultimately all roads lead to the same place...”

He contemplated killing the newly born demon for a moment, merely to upset Tatter, but he restrained himself. ”Death,” he finished simply, with no extra theatrical stunts that one might expect to happen at the point in time. ”Or they become ghosts like you, which I guess is a form of torture somewhere but that is something I don’t know of yet.”

Though tense for a moment, Tatter seemed to relax. She threw up her hands idly, as if to say what can you do. “And you lack knowledge of biology, alchemy and the occult. Gee, it’s almost like we were have different jobs and were given different skillsets by our creators. We’ll just have to agree to disagree.” Tatter clasped a hand on the demon’s shoulder. “I’m sure this is all a bit much for you, but don’t worry. I’ll find you a room for now and eventually send you to Helena. She’s a lot more personable and can figure out what your gifts are. For now, just get used to the new you. And welcome to the winning team, Es.”

A few minutes later, Tatter was back in the Thaumaturgium. Beside her, Es stood nervously by with a small stack of papers, unfamiliar with her new body. The ubergeist stretched, unraveling her arms as she did. “Guess we’ll be giving Volaris a report of complete success when we see him again,” she concluded.

”Indeed. Though I do believe that our next task will be to survey the guardians and then the outside world,” Lexicon commented before casting fly on himself. He narrowed his eyes at Tatter before going on in a far colder tone, ”I look forward to playing with you some more.”

With that, the boy flew upwards from the base of the Thaumaturgium and away from Tatter and her play thing.
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