A Nice Day in the Park for Necroratsy 10/26

Maertock would appear from the sahdows of the nearby market stalls, offering a theatric bow as his cloak of inky, flowing darkness billowed around his broad shoulders. The Captain of the Deep Company had never been to Achyon before, there were firsts for every experience it seemed.

He had never been one to adhere to another's moral sensibilities, he really shouldn't be surprised that his path upon the great sea of intrigue would lead him here at last. Beckoning the old rat with his webbed, massive palm along with his swabbie Than, the captain would take a comfortable, lazy seat at the nearby park bench with a hum of consideration and relaxation.

"Greetings and salutations my friend; it has been a few years since our last chat. As you might have expected, our intrigues continued in the direction we implied, how have recent events faired for you old rat?"

His clawed hands would dig into the flowing cloak of shadows, removing a large bottle of Valmasian brandy as three tendrils of darkness clasped three glasses from its black depths. Filling them swiftly, Maertock would immediately drink his glass whole before lighting a cigar; as any pirate was like to do before any serious business.

"Beyond hearing news of your recent efforts, I've arrived at last, my noble teacher; in our academic practice of the dark arts. Let the necroratsy instruction begin in earnest."

Minty smoke rose steadily from his dry, reddened gills, but the captain appeared at home in his seat.
(Maertock Reave)
 Her gaze focused on a very clear individual: Maertock Reave, Captain of the Deep Company sitting plainly in Achyon's fountain area.

"All ties to the Moxtli and Grimmores must've been released." She states in passing before turning to Mania. Her path to the plaza is blocked with the passing of a remote.

"Oh. Thank you." The remote is plucked away and placed into her satchel.
(Matryona pyr Aertas)
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Trik just waddled onto the scene!

Beckoned and called forth, Trik waved over at the Sirenian Captain. It seems it was time for them to converse and do their grim business. A casual chat by a fountain, a wonderful place to relax.

As well as debate the nature of dark magics.

"Greeting-hellos, Reave-captain. Trik glad to see-see in Achyon-city. Seems things pan-work in favor of Company-Deep. Have been... slow-stalled for Trik, however.

Not that it matter-important. Is time to teach-show, yes-yes?"

A wide grin, a waddled movement to the seats.

"Now-now... Tell-tell Trik what know of circuit-mana. Most basic-simple."
(Trik Gutterrunner)
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 In the midst of their, apparently, slow walk away to the plaza since she wished to hear Maertock's response, the Lieutenant withdrew the remote collar.

Hm...

With a click of the button did its mechanisms whirl off, allowing for its removal.

"Be on your way." But, on thin ice.
(Matryona pyr Aertas)
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 Maertock would appear in high spirits on the topic of dark magic. It was a rare and satisfying pleasure of his to actually get to delve into the practice of a new black art to add to his arsenal of deep sorceries. The old rat was a crafty teacher, and a fellow black hearted rogue. They were kindred spirits in that manner, and the captain of the Deep Company showed a willing pupil's respects.

"It is the benefit of being a pirate, old boy. No one expects you not to rob people, it's just a matter of who we're robbing at a particular time. The Osrona tribute deal was convenient while it lasted, but in the end the Deep Company always comes out top out of any deal we cut."

The captain would nod firmly at that. He was a reaver; his blood, heart, and soul were the deep's. He was fearless in that manner; his actions from the shadows were merely his nature as a magi of the abyssal depths.

"I have a loose understanding from some of my novice medical experience, but let's pretend I'm a completely novice student here. I know next to nothing of applications in this regard in a finer sense beyond murder, so it will be an......academic experience."

The ancient cutlass of Captain Saltspite was raked from its leather scabbard at that, set upon the table with the vaguest remnants of necromantic, deep sorcery that had animated the skeleton captain. The theory was all there, in truth.
(Maertock Reave)
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 Gareth Vasern says, "If you feel in need of escort, Councilor, assaultmen can be dispatched to your side. Pray, enjoy your conversation. An' Captain Reave--pray enjoy your time in Achyon."
This would be his first time within the great city of Achyon, and to call him impressed would be a bit of an understatement. Yet, he wasn't here to sightsee.

Nope!

He was here to learn something alongside his captain. Whatever that may be... His captain was a little vague on whatever it was he would be learning.

"Hello, Hello! I'm Than! It's a pleasure to meet you!" The youth would state as he offered a wave towards the rather old Razuka. Though before he says more, his attention shifts towards the glass of Valmasian brandy being offered to him. He was fifteen, but he was also a pirate, sooo…!

Of course he drinks it! Chugs it even, and once the contents had been thoroughly emptied, he'd let out a loud, and satisficed burp.

"Not bad."

With the drink emptied, his attention once more returned to the Razuka, head tilting to the side, as he pondered their question.

"Mana circuits are what allow us to cast magic. It's the lifeblood of all magi."

Tragically, that's... About all the youth knows on the subject.
(Than)
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 Trik snapped a finger at Than.

"Wow. Rude man-thing is most correct! Is only because man-thing is correct that Trik is not stab-stabbing man-thing! Trik asked Reave-captain!"

There was a wide grin, a face of malice as the Razuka twitched in his seat. A pause to pull up his chunk of blue mercury, gnawing upon it for a moment before tucking it back into his pocket.

The sword of necromantic hint was... noted and it intrigued Trik. A slow reach out towards it before pulling it back, rubbing a dark wound on his shoulder. A click of the tongue and a frown from the Fleshcrafter.

"However... it is more than that-that. Circuit-mana is also... path-entrance to soul-self. Necroratcy is... about manipulating circuit-mana. To make-make the flesh-meats move as Necroratter want-wants."

A thumbs up to both as he clapped his hands, calling forth what appeared to be a trio of humanoids. However, upon their heads were strange, fleshy growths and a long length of flesh from their backsides.

Cruel mockeries of Trik's own form, inflicted on what souls he ran afoul.
(Trik Gutterrunner)
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Maertock would flash his jagged toothed, serrated grin as he leaned back heavily in his seat at the fancy Achyon park table, kicking his massive boots up on the table as his shadow stretched forth to support the chair, ensuring he could recline in peace without a care in the world while he continued to drink directly from the bottle of Valmasian Brandy, refilling the pair's cups whenever they were emptied.

"Yes, the rude man thing is a bright lad. He is my apprentice in the dark arts, young Than. Than, this is Mister Gutterrunner, my mentor in the fabled dark art of necroratsy."

The captain would nod steadily at that, barking out in laughter as his cold blue shark's eyes fell once more upon Trik. He'd consider his words for a time in introspection, mana circuitry being visualized in his mind. So his shadows flowing not unlike his own body's blood, the tide, or the circuits? As a siren, the concept of a a webway of pressure in the depths of a being was not foreign.

With a few minutes time to hum, he'd nod firmly as he dragged from his cigar again.

"So you're saying a corpse's mana circuitry doesn't disappear in the etheric sense when it's slain. The old pathways are still....mana run throughable, like fixing up an old ship..."

The captain would tap his chin at that in consideration.

"So the key step would be being capable of forcing your own mana to flow through another body without destroying it...repairing broken pathways if possible so your control isn't disrupted?"
(Maertock Reave)
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 Rude man-thing.

That was a first! Yet, it was almost certainly rather accurate. He had butted into a conversation that wasn't his own, yet he didn't seem to care. Not in the slightest.

Even as the rodent threatened his life.

"Ah, but killing me would be so lame! I've got so much potential. Dying here because I answered a question before my captain could, would be rather lame. Plus, I think that'd make quite a few people sad!"

Not that the rodent probably cared. That doesn't stop him from sagely nodding, as he leans back in his seat with a wide, and smug grin on his face.

"Oh, so there's more to it than just that?" A tilt of his head follows, as he ponders that. Yet, before he can say anything more, his attention shifts over towards the three abominations lurking towards them. Olive hues study each of them for a moment, before slowly nodding his head.

"Impressive."

Nothing more needed to be said in regards to the trio of abominations.

"So, you use their circuitry to make them move, and act as if they were still alive, or... Something along those lines."
(Than)
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Trik just gives a nod to them. They were both on the money. I nthe end, it was about seizing control of the mana circuitry, to manipulate and fill with one's own energy. An exertion of will over the absence.

"Yes-yes... Much like that-that. Most important-critical... find-seek the circuit-mana!"

And like that, he gestures to the Achyonite that was intruding on his lesson. Trik was not one for interruptions, it was rude and it bothered him.

"Trik glad man-thing has volunteered! Will be good-good lesson for Fish-pirates to find-seek circuit-manas! See... need to trace-find! Critical ways but... Tri kwant fish-pirates to learn-develop on own! If Trik tell-tell, it just becomes Trik style! Necroratcy is personal-important!"

And then a squint at Nathaniel, a gesture to Trik's own arm and a roll of his sleeve. Hopefully, he got the message.
(Trik Gutterrunner)
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 "Wel-"

And he was gone. It seems like he hadn't understood what Trik had meant in the slightest, which causes poor Than to simply sigh, as he glanced over towards Trik.

"Well, seeing as he's gone, and was not picking up what you were putting down."

And without fear in his heart, the teen would roll up the sleeve on his right arm, before placing it onto the table for both Trik, and Maertock to see.

"Use me instead."

It would be more fun this way.
(Than)
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 Maertock's serrated teeth would widen into a jagged grin as he considered Trik's insight on the matter. He had a clear and defined goal now after all. If he finished his medical studies entirely; his skills as a doctor could greatly aid in the application of this dark sorcery.

The Captain of the Deep Company had presumed the corpses were a sleight of hand. But now it was all coming together in the reaver's mind. The flowing circuits within were not unlike veins; the body a vessel to be repaired the same as a ship. He was used to rending corpses asunder, not stitching them back together....but perhaps he didn't need to use just....one corpse.

If he could get a firm grasp on necroratsy, he could stitch a web of mana circuitry and muscle fibers of a sea leviathan and a dragon together. The apex predator of land, sea, and sky...

Dreams in the deep, black sea.

"So the key steps are becoming a bit clearer for me. Once you understand mana circuitry and their flow...you flow your mana in the absence of theirs considering the corpse's lack of life, and flow your own in its place? That would make it not unlike a marionette, a puppet. A master of shadow magic like myself could get used to that."

Maertock would nod slowly.

"But does a soul not vanished when a being is slain? Or can we just force our mana inside a corpse and become its new gods by replacing the soul with our own immense, foul blackness?"
(Maertock Reave)
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Maertock Reave says, "Indeed."
 Maertock Reave says, "Than is a go getter. Take off your shirt Than."
 Maertock Reave says, "Trik, use him to demonstrate mana circuitry in a humanoid body."
 Maertock Reave says, "Limbs grow back."
 Than says, "I'm doubtful, but I also don't care in the slightest."
 With that, Trik rose. The four and a half foot tall Razuka just reached out with a clawed finger. Long and vile, to press into the chest of Than. A surge of mana, the pulse from the Razuka, all to exert his own hemomatic mana to surge through the teen.

Would it be allowed? Or would it be rejected?

Trik already knew where but it mattered not. He was going to show off. To make the blood vessels of Than glow so bright.
(Trik Gutterrunner)
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 Olive hues stare at the rodent's long, vile clawed fingers at they approached his chest. Yet, no attempt to resist is given. Though perhaps that would prove to be quite the... Horrible decision for the youth.

Yet, it's one he was willing to make!

The surge of mana within his body is met by a slight wince from the youth. Which would no doubt get worse, and worse as this continued, but for now he was fine.

He was stable.

For now.
(Than)
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 Maertock would watch with consideration as he watched over Trik's instruction, his predatory eyes falling upon the flow of the rat's mana through the willing and or unwilling subject Than as he made clear and keen notes of where the light glowed. He could almost feel it sliding into place; all the nice tidbits of information that made the rumor a practicable art.

He would nod slowly as he tapped his chin, taking a firm drag from his cigar as minty tendrils of smoke rose from his dry, reddened gills in amusement. It was gonna be an entertaining future for the captain of the Deep Company, of that at least there could be no sort of doubt.

"So I should be paying attention to where it glows, get a good idea of location throughout the average body. Are there any keypoints or landmarks of this circuitry I as a necroratster should look for in particular?"

The reaver was a curious pupil after all.
(Maertock Reave)
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 And with that surge, came something else.

A move to seize control of something, anything. From the vessels of blood to the limbs of the youth. All to highlight his very circuitry. They wanted Trik to show off, and so he was going to show off.

Than would become little more shiny.

"Yes-yes... Key points where circuit-mana leads! Brain... heart-organ... vessel-bloods! Look-look!"

And like that, the cessation of mana.
(Trik Gutterrunner)
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 Than had always thought of himself as something shiny. Something special, and whatever it was Trik was doing was almost certainly making the teenagers dream come true.

Yet, there was something off about it.

The feeling of control that the youth normally had over his body was... Fading, or at the very least becoming weaker, as whatever it was the necromancer was doing was evidentially working.

"This... Is new."

Yet, the feeling would eventually fade away as Trik's funneling of mana came to an end.
(Than)
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 Maertock would tap his chin steadily as he sat up a bit in his place at the Achyonic park, the captain of the Deep Company paying close attention to his lessons as to best not just puppet them, but understand their meaning. That would take further questions, but then, there was no pride in the greed for knowledge.

It was a craving nonetheless. The black arts would be his to control.

His eyes trailed over the places that appeared to resonate with the most light over Than's body contemplatively, more minty smoke rising in grim tendrils from his dry, reddened gills as the pirate considered how his own inky shadows would infiltrate a corpse's husk.

Flowing through the same, illuminated passages as those upon Than. Ones he would avoid destroying in a hunt unless he had a spare of course. Probably. He could always stitch bodies together and go for gold.

"So the brain, the heart, do they serve any particular purpose in the process of sustained animation? What about the stomach? I assume there are purposes for the organs, or else we'd remove them and replace them with more weapons."

Crossbow ribcages were not out of the question yet.
(Maertock Reave)
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 And like that, Trik shrugged.

No longer poking about Than's circuitry, the Fleshcrafter was just sitting back on the bench. Just a simple shrug to the questions of Maertock.

"It matter not-not. Circuit-mana unique to each man-thing, but all over body-flesh. Trik just suggest that each man-thing find-seek own path to learn. Trik style works for Trik. To have Trik show-show only reveals existence of circuit-mana. Can point-point out many things but in end...?

Fish-pirate have to do for self-self!"

A slammed fish upon the table, a soft grunt. In truth, Trik was not keen on everyone asking him for all his secrets. It made him so exposed, but more importantly, it just felt like he was going to end up doing all the work.

Having them perform the same style.

"Go find-seek circuit-mana for self. But organ-limb not matter too much. Brain-mind and heart-organ most important... But... Trik usually remove-taint anyways.

Canadd-add more weapons, yes-yes."
(Trik Gutterrunner)
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 Maertock would hum softly to himself as he tapped his chin in genuine scholarly consideration, the captain of the Deep Company not often moved to silence so regularly from the input of information. It was clear to the sharkman that it wasn't entirely set in stone; variations of style were key in the grow of the black art and its evolution.

The usually prideful captain would bow his head deeply in respects to Trik, click his rows of serrated teeth together in a pupil's admiration from what he'd gained. Maertock understood the process in the abstract now; the rat's words had brought it all together into steps.

Now it was a matter of mastering each.

With a light click of his teeth, he'd set the ancient cutlass on the table before Trik to admire, showing its dull edge with careful grasp.

"You have my thanks Mister Gutterrunner, it all has become clear now. With the brain, it can be stimulated to act of its own volition without being forcefully marionetted. The heart stores the mana that ensures the animation. Any further pursuits outside of those organs would be...variations of my own style. For the growth of the art."

The blade was sat pint down upon the table at that.

"This is the Cutlass of Saltspite, an ancient skeleton pirate that was reanimated by what I presume to be a form of deep necromancy. It was long forgotten, I suspect, as much of the Deep One's old ruins are, but this blade my noble mentor. In restoring this blade, I believe a powerful conduit not unlike a choir's baton can be made manifest."

The captain would nod sagely at that.

"So if you're stitching different creature parts together; like for instance a kraken and a dragon....would you need to make sure their mana circuitry overlapped? Or could you craft new connections in the flesh to supercede the old?"
(Maertock Reave)
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The fact that more weapons could be freely added to the corpse brings a smile to the youth's face.

Knife fingers, gun eyes, and other such ideas.

Should he actually chose to pursue this sort of path, he had a fair amount of cool things that he could do. Much like with his Uncle Stavros' offer to teach him riftmancy, he now had something else he could learn!

How exciting!

"Find something for myself. Yes. I should be able to do that!" Probably. Odds are he'd need to remove someone's limb at some point, but surely he was capable of that.

"Heart, and brain. Yes-yes. Those are important."

A swift nod of his head follows, as he turns his attention over towards Maertock, and whatever it was he was doing with his fancy cutlass. Honestly, he wanted to question it, but he wouldn't.

Instead he simbly observes.

Though the idea about combining creatures together does catch his attention.
(Than)
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 Trik looked over the sword of the darkened seas. What a curious weapon. Still, he had no doubt that it would prove to be a powerful focal point. With that, Trik pulled out a strange shard. It glimmered with unlight, reflecting the lost realities of a forlorn deity.

"Trik have-have this. All Trik have, yes-yes. Going to use in creation-spawn of new vat.

But Trik imagine fix-restore blade will help-aid! Trik hear-hear of great smith-artificer in dragon-temple. Could trick-convince to help!"

Hands clasped behind his back, the slow rising to look over the area. A glance over at Than as the Razuka thought for a moment.

"Hrm… Trik could use-use Than-thing in experiment-test."
(Trik Gutterrunner)
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 Once more, the whole situation with the weapon was ignored. It had nothing to do with him, and thus he'd focus on something that did actually involve him.

That being Trik's last statement.

"Hm..." A finger would move to idly poke at his chin, before he'd slowly shrug. "Yeah. Sure. I don't really care."

There is a pause.

"Though I suppose I should probably ask what sort of experiment-test you want to perform."
(Than)
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 Maertock would nod steadily at that, clicking his rows of serrated teeth together in genuine contemplation as he already began to theorize upon the information he now had as a novice necroratster. It was all still just theory of course; he'd need a variety of corpses to practice on.

Luckily, the simplest way to ensure a body had minimal damage was also the most blessed in his lord's vernacular. The ideal of drowning. With lungs full of salt water, ideal cadavers could be laid forth to make Maertock's macabre toy box to experiment.

Oh yeah, it was all coming together.

"Feel free to experiment on Than as I take notes to further my understanding of the dark art. No fear, he's about it. Also not a bad idea, I'll keep it in mind when I begin the restoration process. I believe at the least once I actually become a successful necroratster, it will help amplify my powers if properly restored."
(Maertock Reave)
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 Trik Gutterrunner says, "Another time-time! For now..."
 Trik Gutterrunner says, "Trik need to sleep-rest."
Trik Gutterrunner says, "Than-thing safe for another day-time."
Maertock Reave says, "Of course."
 Maertock Reave says, "I have learned much."
 Maertock Reave says, "This was a grand lesson old boy."
 Trik Gutterrunner says, "Trik advise grab-taking random man-thing."
 Maertock Reave says, "Indeed. I'll return after my own experimentation."