[OOC] [Serpentine Horizon] Belos's Research Notes

[pyrighteous]

This is also a fanfic, because why not.

CW for mentions of child abuse. We're delving into Charlie Day levels of fandom theorycrafting nonsense, just FYI.

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[pyrighteous]

Finally. A breakthrough.

Just when I’d nearly given up, as well. It seemed all too plausible that this was merely another trick of this place. Countless times I’ve uncovered a text that looked promising, only to find it a mere wisp of smoke and trickery.

The key lies in the quality of the galdorstone itself. My first four attempts were with the initial set I discovered - inferior specimens, it seems. The six I’ve recovered since have a fine sky blue color to them and are reach roughly the size of a human heart. A clear contrast with the originals, which were pale, powerless things. Even the most vibrant of them cracked down the middle during the growth acceleration process; the other three shattered completely. I’ve set both the cracked stone and the fragments aside for now. They may yet prove useful someday.

For now, the specimen I’ve created is sufficient.

It is uncanny how close the resemblance is, and yet how glaring each of the differences are. Its hair color is a shade darker than its ortet, and of course there is the matter of its eyes. Unsurprising. Every text I referenced mentioned how stubborn that magenta color would be. Something to stamp out, perhaps, given enough iterations.

Most concerning is the state of the creature’s limbs. Its arms and hands are fine approximations of flesh, as the differences are invisible to all but the most invasive examinations. But its left leg is terribly atrophied. It cried from the moment it clawed its way out of the pit of muck and material I’d prepared. This is, perhaps, a failing on the part of the specific formula. Inferior palistrom wood, or an inadequate quality of selikdomus scales.

The other problem, of course, is the rounded ears. Unsurprising, given the ortet; I’ll have to try some alterations for future versions. For now, though, the plan is to cover rather than modify. A full mask to match my own, and something to cover the head as well. A cowl? Yes … we’ll both wear gold and white. The colors of our “family.”

Ugh. The wretched thing is sniveling again. What a loud thing it is; when it isn’t nattering on about some nonsense, it weeps with a vigor I find apalling. One drawback of the acceleration process: it appears to be weighted far more towards the physical side than it is the mental. I shall have to seek out the further assistance of illusionist witch to properly falsify its memories.

In the meantime, I’ll start the next batch. The work should go much faster with an extra pair of hands.

*

Despite its crippled leg, the first functional grimwalker is proving to be an able helper. When I undertook this mission, I was uncertain as to how well these creatures would be capable of using this realm’s witch magic. This one has managed a few basic construction spells to brace its malformed leg with minimal prompting from myself. And during the encounter with the selkidomus cow, it was able to form projectiles out of the surrounding rocks and fling them at the marauding beast with surprising accuracy. My brilliant work has provided life to a creature that was able to guard my own in turn.

I think the creature has earned some semblance of a name. It shall become necessary anyway, once I have finished cultivating its ramet, and it will help us pass among the witches that surround us on all sides. The question being what.

It does not deserve to share a name with its ortet. It will not. I am loathe to provide it any sort of virtuous human name either, lest it entertain inaccurate ideas about its place in the world. Something simple, yet descriptive.

I have it. I had always planned to identify the grimwalkers produced by their various stones by a letter to begin with - this first success being my A lineage, the one currently in progress being the B lineage, and so on. This also roughly corresponds to my estimation of the galdorstones’ quality levels, as well. Given this one’s capabilities with projectiles, I shall call it Archer. As for the next, well. We shall see what inclinations it shows.

For now, we wait. Archer is still a rather simplistic creature; it is safer to leave it behind when I make my visits to Bonesborough. It can watch over the B lineage’s development until I return with the illusionist I’ve convinced to assist me with the memory problems my … “nephew” is having.

*

Two successes and one failure. I shall catalogue each in turn:

Success the first: the B lineage has produced another adequate grimwalker.

As with its ramet, the likeness is close but not perfect. Its hair is nearly the exact shade as its progenitor; however, it has the same issue with the extremities having significant defects. In this case, one of the creature’s arms does not have the correct amount of skin stretched over it, resulting in a limb that is functional but distinctly vegetal in appearance. There really must be something in the palistrom wood mix that is causing it, given it seems to be a commonality between lineages.

The failure, singular: the B lineage seems to be unable or unwilling to speak. I have exhorted the creature using every method I can think of, including the corporal, but nothing works. Archerseems to prompt something, at least, but none of its excited requests for the new grimwalker to “play” or “shoot rocks at that weird tree from increasingly improbable angles” resulted in anything more verbal than a grunt. Even once it was led to said tree to participate in playful (and improbable) impalement, it never spoke so much as a single syllable.

There is a silver lining, however. When I returned with the witch illusionist in tow, I found it reading through my journal. A mistake, of course, and one it quickly regretted, but the fact that it shows such perspicacity is a welcome development. Archer has proven to be strong and chattery but rather dim-witted; if this one is silent but intelligent, then I welcome the quiet.

Booker seems a most appropriate appellation.

Finally, success the second: the illusionist I convinced was able to show me a simple method for memory manipulation. Apparently, this is such a simple spell that children often use it as an introduction to mental magic while in school. Horrifying. These monsters truly indoctrinate their children from a young age. Using their own methods against them is simply the nature of dealing with such witches.

The tool is easy to use, even for a human, and the method simple enough. With a pair of enchanted calipers, one simply delves into the ear canal of the subject and removes small illustrations that represent memories. The clearer the image, the more emotional the underlying memory. The illusionist grew increasingly alarmed when the only illustrations that Archer’s brain produced were blurry sketches of its time in the muck pit. Unsurprising, given that the acceleration process seems quite traumatic, but one that I had not been fully prepared to explain. I found myself confiscating the tool, despite her protests. It was actually quite satisfying; normally I have more trouble dealing with the locals, but with two grimwalkers at my back, she was rather more inclined to acknowledge the wisdom of my commands. In this, Booker’s unsettling silence proved especially helpful.

From here, the solution is easy enough. I shall withdraw their memories using the tool and replace the sketches with a storyline that far better serves all of us. Perhaps something about wild magic destroying our family. Yes, that seems simple and effective enough.

Once that’s done, it will be time to start on the real work. We’ll begin with the unconscious illusionist. I have some ideas on what forms the sigils should take…