Board Thread:Roleplaying/@comment-25828117-20191018075609/@comment-7262318-20191019204220

Delusul poked at the soul gem that rested in the center of the creature’s chest. In response, the glow emanating from the gem grew and grew, before slowly returning to its original state.

“… That looks good,” Delusul murmured. Soul magic was not an exact science like the mind was. Souls within the gems, though captured, tended to act erratically, like a rabid dog trying to shake its chains free. This, of course, did not matter much when it came to using soul gems for enchantments and such, but when trying to bend the souls to your will, then it became a problem.

It was especially a problem when one was trying to control 700 of them.

“You’re certain that he is… docile, correct?” Haskill peered underneath the hood of Sretnuh. Most of his face was covered by the cloth and leather mask that Delusul had outfitted him with, but he could see clearly his eyes, and the flesh around them. Green and glazed over, and his skin wrinkled and appearing as if it was melting off of his face.

“Why, of course I am… I would not put myself at risk by having him in my lab, if I thought it was not completely safe,” Delusul remarked.

“But when he is sent out?”

“He’ll be a killing machine,” Delusul laughed.

“… I suppose he is your answer to Shrava?”

“Not specifically, no. First and foremost… could you hand me that scalpel, please?” Delusul interrupted himself. Haskill picked up the bloody tool, holding it in between his index finger and thumb like it was used tissue, and cautiously putting it in Delusul’s hands

“Thank you… first and foremost, he is my attempt at an entirely artificial soul-mage. The soul, as I’m sure you are aware, is the most important aspect of any mortal man or woman. It is the source of our magic, our character, and even lays the foundation for the mind and it’s processes, which I am an expert on.”

“So you keep telling me,” Haskill scoffed.

“Thus, I reason that of all the schools magic, ranging from destruction to restoration, that the study of soul magic may be the most powerful. At least, in the psychological sense. And yet, very little work has been put into the study of the field,” Delusul sighed. “The ability to manipulate the very fibers of a persons being, and all those dim-witted fools at the Mages Guild have been able to discover is that you can stuff a soul into a gem… blegh!”

“I am fairly certain that your studies would violate their ethical codes, sire,” Haskill mentioned.

“And that’s the problem, Haskill,” Delusul shook his head. “… Hand me that needle, would you?”

Haskill rolled his eyes and handed him the needle.

“… You see, once you get to a certain point, the pursuit of knowledge stops,” Delusul explained, as he diligently stitched up his newest creation. “Eventually, those ethical boundaries that are focused on… at the very least, they will have to be stretched. Otherwise, it stalls out. I mean, take Sretnuh here for example… do you think I would have been able to create this powerful entity, this machine that can level entire armies… if I stopped myself to think about the laws of man and god that I’m defying?”

“Probably not,”

“Of course not! No one in their right mind would be doing something so heinous and morally unsound!” Delusul grinned, wiping some blood off on his apron. “Yet, here I am, on the precipice of yet another grand achievement in the field of magic, because I have the courage to defy my most basic instinct to follow the ethical demands of a world that is simply not ready to embrace progress…”

“… Because you’re mad.”

Delusul snickered. “Madness, Haskill, is a tool. In the wrong hands, that tool leads to depravity, ramblings, and foaming at the mouth. In the right hands, it opens the mind to numerous possibilities and achievements… I’m sure our humble prince would agree with me.”

“Fair enough,” Haskill yawned. “How close are you to finishing?”

“Close… I think I’ve finally managed to wire the gem down to control the other functions… In fact-“

Suddenly, the abomination’s hand shot up and clasped Delusul around his throat. Haskill jumped back and cried out in surprise, as Sretnuh quickly slid off of the table and pushed the Dark Elf back towards the wall. His green, pupil-less eyes darted around the room, desperately trying to take in its surroundings and make sense of it’s new-found existence. He had, after all, only been born seconds ago.

“Sheo’s Beard… kill it!” Haskill exclaimed.

“Not… not yet!” Delusul managed to get out, in between his gurgling sounds.

Sretnuh glared at the Dark Elf in his grasp, wondering what he should be doing right now. He wasn’t sure what he was doing, but this felt correct. He analyzed his face, and something seemed to register in his brain.

“Master,” Sretnuh uttered, a garbled and distorted noise that sounded like many voices speaking at once. Sretnuh relaxed his hand and Delusul dropped from his hand, sliding down the wall.

“Yes… good, very good…” Delusul wheezed, rubbing the welts on his throat. For a bone-thin mummified corpse, the creature certainly had a strong group. “You know I am your master.”

“You are our creator,” Sretnuh said. Wisely, Delusul had managed to pre-record knowledge into the mind of Sretnuh. He made provisions to ensure that Sretnuh understood that the Dark Elf in front of him was his creator, and thus, his master and ruler.

“Our?” Haskill said.

“Ah, yes… many souls are fused into that gem. A painful process, but… I have them all speaking in unison. They all bow to my will.”

“Your will,” Sretnuh repeated.

“Very good, Sretnuh…” Delusul grinned. “Finally, an apprentice that doesn’t backtalk me… I should have had this idea centuries ago.”

The Dark Elf picked himself up and moved back over to his main research table. “Now, Sretnuh… I presume you know your primary purpose, yes?”

“Collect souls. Protect Delusul,” Sretnuh mindlessly repeated.

“Yes, good… let’s make sure both of those functions are working…”

He gingerly grabbed a soul gem off the table, and held up in the palm of his hand, slowly making his way towards Sretnuh. “Now… inside this gem, is the object of which I am tasking you with collecting. You-“

Sretnuh responded immediately, his hand jutting out and yanking whatever spiritual essence was in the gem and into his hand. The process lasted about 5 seconds, and a purple energy traveled down his arm and towards the gem that was embedded in his chest. The gem in Delusul’s hand grew cold.

“We have completed the task,” Sretnuh said.

“…. So you have,” Delusul looked over the gem. He was not anticipating Sretnuh to have this much control over his cognitive functions already, but he was certainly not complaining.

“Alright… now, Sretnuh,” Delusul went on. “Haskill over there? You see him?”

“Yes.”

“What are you doing?” Haskill asked.

“He is a great threat to me,” Delusul said.

Sretnuh’s dead glare snapped over to Sheogorath’s servant, and once again he extended his hand outward. Haskill found himself being lifted off of the ground and slammed back into it repeatedly, his limbs flailing about as he was whipped around the room and throne into the stone floor repeatedly. Still, Sretnuh could detect life.

Delusul leaned back against his table and gave it a few moments, checking his fingernails as the floor vibrated under his feet with each slam. Eventually, he said “Okay, he’s no longer a threat… drop him.”

Sretnuh did as he was told and let Haskill fall back to the ground, a small crack in the floor where he had been slammed multiple times. The daedric servant did not look harmed, however, and he simply sat there on the ground with his arms folded, looking none too pleased with Delusul’s antics.

“… I will see to it that the master reincarnates you as a rat when you die,” Haskill warned.

“Good thing he doesn’t have any control over that,” Delusul waved him off. “You have done well, Sretnuh… I think after a few more tests, I’ll be ready to send you out to deal with our… little problem.”

“What is the problem?”

“Shrava… you know her, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Then you know what you will do.”

“Extract her soul.”

“By any means necessary. As painfully as possible, Sretnuh,” Delusul looked his creation in his lifeless eyes. “Kill anything that gets in your way. I want Shrava dead, Sretnuh.”

[https://mp1st.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Beneto_Fanart_Ermac_B.jpg The soul-filled monster nodded. “We will end her.”]