• Closed • Be Still, My Beating Heart (Tio)

[Rakvald]

20th of Saun 720


Rakvald had only just bought his house in early Ymiden. t was a very fine house, in one of the more affluent areas of Almund. Of course, being in an affluent neighborhood in a town such as Almund meant some of Rakvald's neighbors may not have come by their significant wealth so honestly. Where the rich got by on the misfortune of others. Rakvald was only a little worried about the scrutiny moving into the old manor house would earn him, yet he was confident he could handle himself. He'd have Ildred bake some cookies for his neighbors, that'd probably get him into their good graces.

He hung the sign for his soon-to-be business outside. When told what the business would be, the artist designing the sign had given him a strange look. To be sure, what did one put on the sign of a business that offered replacement organs, replacement limbs, and various other services to improve on the natural design of their bodies?

In the end, they opted for a sign that depicted several severed arms, and the vague shape of a heart and kidneys. Rakvald was satisfied, but the artist seemed less convinced at the time. At any rate, he did the job so Rakvald paid him well.

Rakvald waited in the reception of his house, a large gambling room that was fully equipped with all manner of games and tables for entertainment. Here was where he supposed he'd entertain potential customers while they waited for their turn to go under his knife.

The Lotharro wrung his hands nervously, wondering if anyone would show, or how fast word would spread about his business. He second guessed himself once or twice, and cast a question to his sort-of wife Ildred, "Do you think anyone will show today?"

To which she merely rolled her eyes, "I'm going to go check on the pigs. Just... occupy yourself."

Having been thus instructed, Rakvald shrugged uncertainly, and then drew out a book from his satchel. He'd been studying really hard for University, learning more about the anatomy of people. Of course, Rakvald had plenty of experience cutting into pigs in the past and had some talent for surgery. But this would be different!

Changing the fundamental workings of a humanoid was a daunting task, but he thought he was up for it...

So he took a glance at his book, opening a page to the diagram of a humanoid heart.

[Tio Silver]

Tio looked up at the sign with a raised eyebrow. That was certainly an... interesting design choice. In the same way that serial killers were interesting. Sure a bunch of severed arms and organs were relevant to the profession, but it didn't exactly scream family friendly.

It had been two trials since one of his spies had dropped a report on his desk about a business opening in one of the nicer parts of Almund: The Master-at-Arms. According to the paperwork submitted it was a healing service that apparently specialised in body modification and replacement services. Now unless the scientific discovery of the century had passed by without him hearing anything, whoever owned this place definitely held a Graft spark. It was always handy to know where a Graft mage could be found, but also worth keeping an eye on them. Tio's old master was evidence enough of what damage a Graft mage could do if they went mad. He'd filed that document away, and given his agents orders to keep an eye out for anything suspicious happening around there.

It was later that night when the thought of approaching the Graft mage had occurred to him. He knew next to nothing about what his Immortal biology was like, and Graft could provide a way to better understand what he was capable of. Maybe he could even discover new powers? Or perhaps even discover something the other Immortals weren't able to do? Who knew how many of them had been willing to let themselves be magically experimented on.

And so today he'd found himself outside the soon-to-open shop, and after judging the choice of sign pushed open the door and stepped inside. The welcoming room was pretty nicely decked out, though his eyes immediately locked on to the man in the in the middle. It was hard not to, considering that his arm was a mass of freaking tentacles! He'd seen enough art from Sirothelle to know not to get too close to those.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for the Graft mage who works here." He said, standing in the entrance with a neutral expression. "I'm Tio Silver, the Devout. The Scalvoris Council has business with the Graft mage. Where can I speak with them in private?"

[Rakvald]

Rakvald was fiddling with a deck of cards before his first customer came in. He was turning over the greeting he'd give to his first customer, trying to get it right. His common had improved significantly since last season, and Ildred had taught him to at least hold a decent conversation without sounding like an idiot. But he still struggled with bigger words, converting them from Vahanic. And he still spoke in a thick Vahanic accent.

"Greetings friend, I'll be your butcher today... no wait..." Rakvald mumbled, trying to get the phrasing just perfect. It was then, however, that the bell rang on the door to his gambling room reception. He shot up, knocking over the Suits table, and started stumbling toward the customer, leading with his tentacle arm before he knew what he was doing.

He shook the customer's hand, and grinned a little too wide. "Welcome to... er... Rakvald's Chop Shop, the Master-at-Arms! How may I rearrange your internals today?" He thought about that phrase a little after he delivered it. Then nodded to himself. Nailed it.

After shaking tentacles with the man, he invited him to take a seat at one of the upright Suits tables. "Wait... you're from the council... Uhh... I haven't seen to the merchants guild yet... Shit! I swear, I meant to get a license to practice in town, I just never got the paperwork! Damned beaurocrats... No offense."

Rakvald laughed nervously, and then took a seat opposite Tio if he chose to sit. "I'm Rakvald! What does the council want with a Graft mage?" Rakvald's eyes narrowed, as he looked over Tio's shoulder, searching for a crowd of torch-bearing villagers outside the window. It was then, as he took a closer look at the Devout, he saw he could float! Wow, what a trick. Was he a mage?

"So.... You aren't gonna shut me down are you?"

Rakvald clutched a kukri that was fastened ust under the table, for these occasions. He'd anticipated Guild attention or something like that. But he hadn't thought they'd send a damned Council member to shut him down personally! It was a strange sort of honor, if that's the game they were playing...

"I'm sure we can come to some sort of arrangement..." Rakvald said with a smile, readying his grip on the kukri, if this meeting went southways.

[Tio Silver]

Tio fought against the urge to wince as the man, Rakvald, shook his hand with his tentacle arm. The slimy appendage wrapped around his arm felt like a coil of greased rubber with a worryingly firm grip. Just as off putting as Rakvald's arm however was his introduction; the threatening words contrasting horribly with the slightly over-enthusiastic politeness he tried to show. Already he could picture a small child in need of a transplant bursting into terrified tears at the thought of having this man come anywhere near him.

Rakvald led him to a table, and as Tio sat down he checked around to make sure the other workers weren't close enough to listen in. "Don't worry Mr Rakvald, I'm not here to shut you down. The Council does have an interest in any mage openly practising in public, but unless you do anything illegal you needn't worry about us doing any more than keeping a close eye on you. Honest healers will always be welcome here, especially those so uniquely talented. Hell, we'd propably be willing to fund you for any special projects. It's only if you start experimenting on unwilling people or doing things they haven't consented to that we'll take issue with you." His eyes narrowed. "And on that note I would advise you to pay very close attention to your paperwork. I'm sure you understand that it only takes one customer complaining that you gave them a body part they didn't ask to cause your business serious trouble."

He leaned in a little closer, dropping his voice down a notch. "No, I'm here regarding a project I think you might like to get involved with. As you may know all matters of religion fall under my jurisdiction. Recently an opportunity has come up for a matter of religious research, however it requires the participation of a skilled Graft mage." He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a folded sheet of paper, which he spread out across the table. "What I would like to tell you is classified information. If you share it with anyone you will be thrown in the deepest level of Slag's Deep for the rest of your life, and I will personally make life very difficult for you. Trust me, I'm good at that." He forced up a little smile to disarm the tension. "But of course that's only if you tell anyone. Stay silent on the matter and you'll be fine. There will be no consequences should you listen to what I have to say and decide not to get involved, so long as nobody learns that this conversation ever happened. And of course if you do get involved..."

A sly grin crossed over his face; the first real drop in formality since he'd walked in. For a brief fraction of a second a spark of silver light danced across his eyes, so quick it was gone before you could even sure you'd seen it. "I believe that this research might revolutionise the world as we know it. And you, Rakvald, may well become the most power grafter to have ever lived." He produced a quill and held it out. "If you're interested in knowing more just sign your name on the dotted line."

[Rakvald]

OOC

Skills possibly relevant to finding any wrinkles/loopholes/weirdness with Tio's contract.

Business Management: Competent: 31
Detection: 10
Linguistics: 11

Rakvald calmed visibly when the councilor revealed he wasn't there to put the kibosh on his business. His hand moved away from the handle of the kukri attached to the bottom of the table, as Tio went on to describe an interesting research opportunity. Something related to his magical talent? Rakvald was always one for pushing the envelope when it came to his discovery of what Graft could do. But the fact of the matter was, Rakvald, since achieving mastery in Graft, realized his journey with magical experimentation and research was only just beginning. There were so many mysteries about even a mortal body and animal body that he'd yet to discover. Things that he wanted to explore in detail. The idea though, that he might work on someone marked or cursed by an immortal? For that is what he presumed the councilor was talking about. It was an interesting thing, that Rakvald might be asked to meddle with flesh that has been marked. So he was eager to get underway.

Yet when Tio pushed over a paper, Rakvald was careful to read it over. Although he put on the show of being a bumbling clumsy oaf, and in some ways he was, he was not by any means stupid. Even a Grafter had to fight and have wits in order to survive, and Rakvald had survived for many centuries and lives before this current, and final one.

He read over the contract, trying to discern whether there was any strangeness about it. While he was no politician or legislature, he could read a business contract well enough. He scanned the paper for any attempts to seize his property, his life, or that of his child and sort-of wife Ildred. If there were no threats perceived, he signed on the line indicated. Then he looked up at Tio with a messy bat-like smile on his face, fangs and all. "So, what is this about? What's next your honor?"

Rakvald was excited at the prospect of experimenting on divine-marked flesh. Why, he hadn't done anything so interesting or exciting since he ate Vri in Emea! The very idea of meddling with the stuff of the gods made him giddy with excitement and nostalgia.

[Tio Silver]

The contract contained nothing that looked suspicious or like a trap. If anything it seemed like the person who wrote it didn't actually know what Scalvoris' laws were, and the small illustrations of stick men enacting out the clauses described made the whole thing seem a little childish. All the legal signs and signatures were there, making the document suitably binding, but by the looks of it they had been added on afterwards by someone else; like a parent correcting their hyperactive child's homework. A dark smile spread across Tio's face as Rakvald signed.

"Excellent." Tio crowed in a voice that sounded like he might break out into an evil laugh at any moment. He took the completed document and returned it to his jacket pocket, looking around as he did to double-check once again that nobody else could hear. "I'm glad to see that you're interested. In that case let me be blunt Mr Rakvald. I would like you," he leaned in closer, "to graft the flesh of an Immortal into a human."

"You see Mr Rakvald the secret that I am so keen to keep is that about an arc ago something unusual happened. Through a strange series of events too complex and dangerous to repeat again I, who was human, was transformed into an Immortal. I possess the same natural abilities as the other gods, and even rule my own domains." A frown flickered across Tio's face. "But make no mistake Mr Rakvald; though I have the body of an Immortal my loyalty is to humanity. You see if there's anything I've learnt in my career, it's that if you take all the mythos and legend away the Immortals really are just another race. They are more naturally powerful, I grant you that, but in terms of their personalities and mindsets they are much the same as humans are. And the fact that they really are just another race means that the boundary between mankind and divinity is not nearly as impassible as people think."

He took a sheet of blank paper out of his pocket and picked up the quill again, drawing a straight line across the page. On one end he wrote "Human" and on the other "Immortal." "As I'm sure a grafter can understand forms are not as fixed as most people think. With the application of the right kind of magic one can transform from one race into another, become a hybrid of the two, or ever become something entirely unique altogether. My apotheosis proves that, under the right conditions, a man can transform into a god." He drew an arrow going up from human to Immortal. "Now the conditions of my ascent can likely never be repeated, however I have also observed another undergo apotheosis via a different method. This suggests that there are multiple methods with which to do so; or perhaps a single method that can be enacting in different ways. I wish to study the process of apotheosis. I want to make a science of it; to understand it; to harness it. Just imagine what it could mean for mankind if we could turn ourselves into gods and wield their powers! It could revolutionise everything!"

In the middle of the line Tio drew a circle, within which he wrote the letter "M." "Have you perhaps heard the term 'Mortalborn' before Mr Rakvald? They are a special type of mixed race: the offspring between an Immortal and a mortal. Though mortals themselves, they have enhanced capabilities and can call upon their own set of godly powers. You could say that they exist halfway along the line of transformation: 50% man, 50% god. If there is a way to figure out the process of apotheosis I believe that it lies within them. Thus it seems to me that the natural first step is to figure out a way to transform a regular person into a pseudo-mortalborn." Tio began to drum his fingers idly against the surface of the table. "As far as I know this has never been attempted before, and as such I'll admit I have no idea where to start with such a thing. So I thought that the best place to begin might be by simply fusing Immortal flesh into a mortal and seeing what the reaction is. Mortalborn are proof that mortal and Immortal biology can co-exist in fusion after all."

"Thus what I propose is this. I would like you to run a few tests on me now, to see if it is possible for you to grow additional organs from my body: eyes, hands, hearts, that sort of thing. Then with my intelligence network I will locate willing volunteers to undergo a surgery in which you will implant these organs into their bodies. These people must not be made aware of the exact nature of what is being implanted into them, but will be told that it is dangerous, experimental and may give them extraordinary powers. I will attempt to use my knowledge of alchemy to raise their chances of survival as much as possible for whatever that's worth, but even so we needn't deceive or force people into doing something so... unusual. Nothing we do will be illegal." A humourless smile spread across Tio's lips. "I will not pretend that I know what to expect, but I swear that I'll take full responsibility for whatever the outcomes of these experiments are. And if we are successful Rakvald then you will have been the first mage in history to figure out how a human might ascend into divinity. I dare say you'll be remembered throughout all of time. So what do you say? Interested?"

[Rakvald]

Rakvald slipped a piece of drawing graphite from the breast pocket of his shirt. Padding down his chest, he tried to locate something to write on but when he came up short, he lifted his head, shouting, "ILDRED!!!"

Soft footsteps fell on the floorboards, as the woman appeared at the threshold that led into the hallway circling the rest of the house. She leaned against it, and quirked a brow at her 'husband'. "What?"

"Something to write on!" She rolled her eyes, but within a few moments retrieved a ledger from the shelf, that was set to be used in his business. Rakvald nodded in thanks to the woman, and then waved her off.

"I'm going to go check on.... er yeah..." So she left.

Rakvald nodded to Tio, indicating that he should continue his explanation. But when the councilor dropped the bombshell, Rakvald lost his grip on his pencil. It fell onto the gambling table.

"Graft the flesh of... an Immortal. Onto a human." Rakvald furrowed his brow. Had any Immortal tried such a thing? He didn't know that there was a grafter alive who would turn down such an opportunity. More likely, the difficult thing would be getting an Immortal to put their existence at risk by putting themselves in the care of a mortal mage. But then, was it a risk for the Immortal? Or more so for the mage? Rakvald decided the mage was an easy sell. Grafters tended to be inquisitive, whereas Immortals were said to be set in their ways, more or less.

Rakvald was dead silent through the rest of Tio's explanation, an uncharacteristic silence for him. The man claimed himself to be an Immortal, and that he'd been transformed from a human into a divine being. Certainly Rakvald had experienced, seen, and heard of strange things. But nothing quite so strange as this. It was almost his inclination to dismiss it as the ramblings of a megalomaniac councilor, perhaps an insane one at that. But the more he spoke on the nature of Divinity, of how it worked, the less convinced Rakvald was of his initial estimation. He wasn't quite qualified to comment on one's mental state, having no training at sussing out madness. The man might be mad, but madness and godhood weren't mutually exclusive, were they? His own experiences with the gods had called the sanity of some into question.

In the end, Rakvald was taken in by the confidence and certainty with which Tio spoke on his divine nature. Yet as he went on, Tio seemed to ascribe to Immortals a certain immutability. Yet in the following breaths, he then tries to deconstruct that, with his own personal experiences. Something about it didn't ring right to Rakvald. While he'd already accepted the premise that the man in front of him was a young god, he wasn't sure he was the best source to go to on the nature of his own divinity.

Still, it was worth exploring. But Rakvald had to be careful. While Tio continued his explanation of forms and physicality of Immortals, he began drawing a somewhat messy outline. The outline began with the most basic of rigors, and what could be done with it to an ordinary mortal.

He made a laundry list of items to test out from that first rigor, that of Energizing:

Process Step 1

• Make a small incision, heal incision.
• Grow a small piece of nonfunctional flesh, a wart.
• Stimulate the wart to create an area of pain and/or pleasure.
• Remove wart flesh. Observe the results.

Process Step 2

• Adhere the excised wart back onto the flesh of the Immortal.
• Start over with Energizing a more functional piece of flesh from the Immortal's wart. Repeat process #1 with the functional flesh of the Immortal.
• Reattach functional flesh to the Immortal.

Process Step 3

• Change the function of the flesh with Corruption.
• Repeat Process step 1 and 2 with corrupted flesh.

If all of this works, begin to experiment with the structure of flesh, create a muscle or organ, such as a heart or stomach. Observe the functioning of the flesh.

Process Step 4

• Repeat Step 1 with the stomach/heart/whathaveyou.
• Rouse the detached organ/muscle, observe it's enervations and see if it continues to function.
• Attach the flesh to a mortal.

Having compiled his list of processes and shoddy planning, he slid the paper over for Tio to observe, after the latter had finished his explanation. Rakvald shook his head to the subject of Mortalborn. He knew of them, having been marked by Jesine at one time, but he didn't know much else. Although he was well aware of marks and that there were more or less tenuous connections between mortals and Immortals, he didn't realize they were biologically compatible. He just presumed they used some Immortal magic to make their will manifest in reality, not that there was some underlying compatibility between the two 'races'. Perhaps he wasn't qualified to do this procedure... but then, he had to! IT was the chance of a century! What a wonder they could create together...

"No, your honor, I don't expect anyone will know what will come from such an experiment. Only, I beg you please not take my unconditional acceptance of your proposal as confidence of success. I have no idea if any of this will work, or how it will work. I don't even know if you will even remain an Immortal at the end of it. The question is, what are you willing to risk to find out what this process yields?"

[Tio Silver]

A pleased smile crossed Tio's face as Rakvald wrote down a four-step process of experiments he would like to run. It was logical and well thought-out, exactly the sort of thinking that Tio himself had trouble with, and showed a clear progression leading up to the final experiment of grafting Immortal flesh into a mortal. Some of the terms, such as energizing and corruption, seemed to be grafting terminology that he was unfamiliar with, but he could make a close guess as to what they did based on the names.

"You can call me Tio if you prefer. If we're to be working closely together on this then honorifics are going to get tedious really fast." He replied. "And don't worry, I'm aware that we're venturing into completely unknown territory here and that we can't even guess how likely this project is to succeed. I won't hold you responsible for any failures or unintended consequences, nor do I mind risking my divinity for the sake of research. I have certain ambitions that rely upon this project; ambitions I desire more than godhood." In truth the idea that he might be transformed back into a mortal hadn't crossed his mind. He loved being a god of course and loosing that would be a terrible blow, but it would be worth it to have discovered a method for turning Immortals into mortals. He could still survive and thrive as a human, and could even find another way of achieving eternal life again. Hell he might even be able to survive if the process turned him into some kind of fallen god-monster. But the knowledge of how to force an Immortal into a form that even a human could kill would be invaluable. "Whatever the results may be I shall be content with them."

"So then, am I to take this as a sign of your acceptance?" Tio tapped his finger on the slip of paper detailing Rakvald's plan. He rolled up one of this sleeves. "If you have no other concerns then I am willing to process step one right here, right now."

[Rakvald]

"Ah yes, Tio then. Yeah it would get exhausting calling you honor all the time." Rakvald scratched the back of his neck. He listened to the following statements by Tio with interest, thinking as he went through each point. When he came to the issue of possibility of damaging his godhood, his acceptance shocked Rakvald. That he'd be willing to relinquish such power was telling. This man was a creature dedicated to science! Rakvald was happy to have made his acquiantance.

"Of course I accept, I signed didn't I?" Rakvald guffawed as he set the pen down on the gambling table.

"Step one, eh? Let's get to it then."

Rakvald reached out with his right hand, to take one of Tio's. If the Immortal reached out, Rakvald would take his hand, examining it. The texture and enervations inherent within. It was strange, there was indeed something different about his flesh to that of a mortal. But whether that would affect his magic? That was unclear.

He had something that resembled an enervation. Something coursing through him, but it was tasked in a way that seemed very mechanical, almost... set in its ways? It was hard to describe, and Rakvald's imagination was doing much of the observations for him. In any event, he wasn't going to make any further judgments until they figured out if he could perform such magic upon the Immortal.

He guided the Immortal's hand to the middle of the table, and then let go, and unwrapped his tentacle arm from its sleeve. It liked to be free to do its work. His tentacle arm was the main focus of his grafting spellwork, and so it was he began by grastping the Immortal's hand with his tendril-like fingers. Their slimy appendages slithered over the Immortal's flesh, feeling it out and observing the structure of the dermis.

Then, without waiting another moment, Rakvald willed the enervations of the Immortal's skin to catalyze. They began to energize, growing a small lump of flesh from it. When at last Rakvald removed his tentacle arm from it, he marveled at the piece of flesh he'd grown. The enormity of what they'd done, as small as it seemed, floored the Lotharro. What they'd done there, was grow the flesh of divinity. On some level, Rakvald wondered if an entire shell could be grown from such a creature as an Immortal. Well, what they were doing here, was only the beginning.

Next, Rakvald returned the touch of his tentacle hand to Tio's wart. With extreme focus and concentration, he willed the small lump of flesh to separate from the Immortal's skin. Without looking direct at it, he removed his tentacle hand, and out of the side of his eyes gazed at the small wart that lay on the table. He winced at it, as if he almost expected it to explode in his face. But nothing of the like happened. It was merely flesh, to be healed, removed, or possibly adhered.

Rakvald turned his gaze full to Tio, "Will we continue to step two?"

!	Message from: Pegasus
	As the pair of them looked, almost as the words were still echoing in the room, the small lump of flesh seemed to shudder and ..... wobble. Over the course of a few seconds, it grew more.... gloopy .... developing the viscosity and consistency of a thick, mushy, jelly/jam sort of thing.........

[Rakvald]

When the wart-flesh bit of skin began to make it's motions, wobbling and turning into a translucent sort of jelly, Rakvald couldn't help but stare, and gawk as the viscous piece of severed skin began to flatten against the surface of his poker table. He took another few closer looks, from various angles at the piece of severed skin, before nodding his head, as if he had a thought about this. As if he understood perfectly what had happened.

It was evident, however, to anyone with a lick of perception that he had no clue.

"Right... Well the flesh lattice of the enervations has completely broken down. I'm afraid grafting an Immortal could very well be impossible..." Rakvald wasn't sure, but he didn't want to know how sideways the process could go if he prodded further, and tried to warp the muscle, sinew, or Immortals-forfend, the bones! The very thought disquieted him, and Rakvald was not one easily made to be squeamish. He had survived this long to reach mastery in his arts, afterall, Graft being one that required a will of steel, and a heart beating with the strength of a savage beast.

What he saw then, the flesh and skin turning into a viscous goop, it genuinely frightened him.

So with a gesture, he saw the Devout out of the reception to his practice. "I'll need to hit the books, seriously before we can continue to the next steps... we'll be in touch? Yes of course.. Come back in a tentrial or so."

Once he was out of the house, and Rakvald supposed out of earshot, he summoned Ildred, rubbing his face as she entered the parlor.

"Listen, I'm gonna skip town in a few days. I'll need you to hold down the fort until then."

Ildred merely rolled her eyes. He knew he could always count on his dear wife not to care what he did or where he went off to.

It was the thing he loved most about her.

OOC