A Skull Full of Souls

“That shtill doeshn’t change the fact that you’re being mean to shomeone recovering from being dishected alive–well, I shay alive but…reforged? No, that’sh what those conshtruct guysh are… Reborn? Nope, thoshe thingsh are weird. Unalived? Eh, my point ish what you’re doing ish sherioushly not okay.” Julius says.

Krop doesn’t retort. He grunts and stares at the building they are approaching. “Hwwraa, Julius?”

“Yeah?”

“Krrrow, you have the memories from all of your previous lives, right?”

“Yep, well, at least, the shouls that went into my creation. I wouldn’t gain the memoriesh of shomeone whoshe hand I cut off and attached to my wrisht. I have to gain their shoul ash another anchor. And alsho, I’m pretty shure it would take shenturiesh to function again with each shoul added.” Julius replies.

“Hwwroorak, that means you remember when they felt pain? What that feels like?”

“Uh-huh.” Julius agrees cautiously. Wondering where this could be going.

“Hwwrea, how did this compare?” Suddenly, he realizes that he might trigger a flashback and tries to offer an out. “Kro, you don’t have to answer if you aren’t ready. I’m sorry I asked.”

“It’sh ok. I can talk about it, even though my mind often triesh to mimic my old bodiesh reshponsesh to shtressh it ishn’t the shame. I can remain calm even ash I remember. Let me think of how to reshpond.” Julius replies before falling silent. They walk in the comfortable silence that only those who suffer together on long trips with no respite can. The ability to give others space and time while remaining in the same room is harder to cultivate than it sounds. You get the urge to change the subject or be distracted. The balance between patiently giving attention to someone without non-verbally communicating the pressure to talk can feel like a tightrope. After a few blocks, Julius speaks up. “It ish’t identical. When your arm ish cut or shomeone hitsh your jaw, the pain that reshultsh ish hot, sharp, and additive. Have you ever shuffered shoul damage? The creaturesh who can do that are dangeroush and hunted immediately.

Krop grunts in the negative.

Well, I think it’sh different even between ush. Your shoul ish in you. Treating your body ash an egg or vesshel. It’sh like a tiny pilot hidden within that, controls you like a puppet. I am very different. I am the shcaffolding. My shoulsh runsh through my every bone. Andendor–My creator. Shtudied many bodiesh. He found that all beingsh have theshe tendrilsh that run from the brain in little branching rootsh through every inch of your body, brow to toe. He called them nervesh. He noted that theshe rootsh are how you command your body to move, and they relay what you feel. For you, it’s just another kind of flesh. Your shoul commandsh it and interpretsh it through your brain. But ish different. You can have your hand removed, and your shoul wouldn’t even take a shcratch, even though your nervesh are gone.

Krop nods, following so far. Then cocks his head. “Hrooo, does that mean our souls are in our brains?”

Julius releases a laugh. “You’d think sho. Wouldn’t you? That ish a theory that hash been teshted many timesh by Andendor. I have hoursh of memoriesh of him shwearing and lamenting about the imposshibility of him finding it. One shecond it’s in the body, and the next, it’sh in the gem with no trace of it’sh path. He’d pull out wishps of hish hair in frushtration every few experimentsh. But I’m different. My shouls are channeled throughout my bonesh. The shilver runesh function ash a form of nervesh, but instead of the information being channeled into my brain, they channel that information to and from my shoul. The gemsh function ash nexushesh–or brainsh, and thus my shoul ish channeled through the runesh like nervesh and controlled by the gemsh, each one containing the shoul of a shentient being. Through theshe connectionsh, each coordinatesh with the othersh. Due to placeshment, each gem hash more control over different functionsh. For inshtance, Willow’sh gem ish in our head. Where mosht of the persheption runesh are carved–not all, mind you, my form wash made with multiple redunanshiesh and backupsh sho that I can function with misshing limbsh and the like. What’sh even more intereshting ish that sho long ash the runesh are undamaged. My shoul can broadcasht my commandsh to dishconnected limbsh. A good example of thish wash in the foresht. When you took my arm and I shtill casht spells through it ash you touched the prishonersh with it. I can do that becaushe my gemsh to shome degree are broadcashtersh. That, and each gem ish connected pshychically and deshinged to function independantly over dishtancesh.

“Whroook, if I understand you, then so long as the gems aren’t damaged your body functions over small distances?” Krop asks.

“Correct!” Julius replies. “Therein ish where I shuffered. For ash they damaged the runeshcriptsh, bitsh of my shoul were losht. Hold on, I shee your worried fashe. That ishn’t what’sh worrying. My shoul ish Reshilient, Regrowing, and Redundant–That sounded like a put-down. It hash redundanshiesh. I wash made with the capability to loshe limbsh with little trouble. Much, much more dangeroush wash when that bashtard began removing my gemsh. An enormoush amount of runesh on and around my gemsh connect them together and to the resht of the body. When thoshe were cut and the gem pulled free, the main shoul in that gem, let’sh call him Voracity–He likesh being thought of ash a him– wash removed from the resht of ush. Each shoul hash jobsh that they primarily do. Willow cashtsh mosht of our magic, coordinates information, and ushually arguesh for the thoughtful and careful approach. Orgthar, ish reshponsible for movement, Tactical thinking, threat asshesshment, and the lishp. Voracity, managesh the aetherflesh, communication with othersh, and ish the primary shpeaker. He shervesh ash the tie-breaker between shoulsh. If Willow want’sh to shcout the area, and Orgthar wantsh to charge in headlong, they explain their logic to Voracity and let him pick. He’sh talking right now. When operating in shync, you could shay that Willow and Orgthar are lobesh of Voracity’sh brain, and he ish the corpush calloshum in charge.

“Hwhorrk, Willow was an elf, right? Orgthar was an orc. Then what is Voracity? Why do you lisp? Why is Voracity in charge? And why the hell do you lisp?” Asks Krop.

“Yes they are. Voracity ish, a Mind Eater Larva. I lishp bec–”

“AN EATER LARVA!” Krop roars. His webbed fingers reach for his ax.

“Oh calm down, you uneducated amphibian. He’sh no longer an eater, no more than Willow ish a shexy elf lady. He doesh’nt even have a body with which to infiltrate your brain. Plus, he’sh like a child. An extremely hungry child that conshtantly feelsh the deshire to devour the mindsh of othersh. But he can’t–couldn’t and wouldn’t do that to you.”

“Whhhrook, couldn’t. Are you saying it can now?”

“Yesh–well, not really, but for the purposhesh of thish convershation, yesh. But back to what we were talking about. When those runesh were damaged, we losht connection to Voracity and he losht connection to ush. Hish particular nature makesh him exsheptional at pshionic control. Shuhch ash our mental flesh and telepathy. Without him, we were almosht unable to move our body. We couldn’t communicate and struggled to maintain contact with each other ash well. Additionally, it felt like our contact with the body we inhabit wash drifting away. Like our shoulsh were evaporating and controlling it wash like trying to grip shteam in your handsh. It alsho hurt. Imagine if your very shelf wash impaled by an ice knife while alsho being shtruck by lightning and a third of you had been cut away, leaving nothing but an aching void.” Julius shuddered. Remembering the terrible sensation of losing part of himself. “Alsho, with the pshionic shoul misshing Orgthar and Willow had the unfortunate realization that they were unable to even maintain shtable communicationsh between themshelvesh, let alone control their limbsh. Imagine if inshtead of being able to ushe your current methods of moving your finger, you inshtead had to manually put all of your attention on it and manipulate it like you would the empty finger of a glove. By having it on your hand, it’sh eashy. You move your finger and it followsh by the natural effect of being attached to the shyshtem you already have in place. Now try grabbing it with your other hand and attempt to do the shame actionsh. It’sh far lessh efficient. Now, imagine that you had to ushe your brain to form the hand controlling the limb that you can no longer jusht command to move from the inshide. Then add the problem that your mind wash’nt made to do that. The mosht they managed wash a few twitchesh, spashmsh, and garbled half-wordsh.” Julius fell silent. Just remembering the terror and difficulty is enough to derail his thoughts.

Krop can sense that Julius is struggling to continue. He knows he should be patient. He can’t, Mind Eaters are apocalyptic threats that cannot be ignored. He can’t just wait while everyone might be in danger. “Hewrrrk, and can the Eater consume minds or not?

A flash of irritation flickers across the link they’re using to talk. “It’sh not going to eat anyone right now, jusht shut up and lishten beetle breath.”

Krop’s hands creak on his ax, his instincts screaming to kill such a threat. But he sighs and waits. For all of his annoying traits, Julius is rarely wrong about monsters and magic.

“While my body wash languishing in the cage, Voracity wash experiencing the shingle greatesht moment of helplesshnessh of hish life. Without a body, he wash unable to do anything but shcream. The gem itshelf hash no shcriptwork to channel hish energy into shtrength. Only hish inherent telepathy functioned. Sho he schreamed. It wash a good shcream too. It took out a few guardsh outshide the room. That wash when Carrie-Anne shaved ush. She hit the cretin, clawing him right in the face. He fell back and embedded Voracity’s gem right into hish shkull. Sho, here’sh the part that your loincloth ish sho twishted about. Up to thish point, Voracity hash never managed to eat anything. Mindsh, tacosh, not even babiesh he couldn’t shlurp up even one thought of anyone’sh noodle. Truthfully, he really ishn’t that bad. He’sh like a shuper-shmart toddler who’sh firsht inshtinct ish to shay shomething creepy and shove it in itsh mouth. After you get pasht that, he’sh pretty nice and likes to be helpful. Here’sh how weak he wash before now. For the firsht decade that we were combined, he kept trying to conshume ush. He couldn’t, not even if we gave him permisshion and didn’t fight. He wash like a toothlessh puppy, gnawing at ush. Sho no. I don’t fear he’ll eat everyone’sh mindsh. But, well, unlife findsh a way. When that Gnome’s cranium crashed into hish gem. It broke the shkin, even cracked the shkull, but that ishn’t important. It wash the blood. By connecting the gem to the bloodshtream, it formed a pshionic link between them, and when that happened… Well, he ish alwaysh hungry. It wash’nt the shame ash a traditional Eater attack. They invade the mind, taking control and asshimilate the mind, conshuming the entity and leaving a vesshel for themshelvesh. Voracity couldn’t move in. couldn’t even really warp him into a vesshel. Inshtead he jusht ate all of hish memoriesh. Hish experiencesh.”

Julius pauses, thinking about how to describe what Voracity had done. “I don’t think we took hish shoul. He ishn’t here with ush. I guessh we could have conshumed it. Though, I feel like the godsh would have shaid shomething if he hadn’t made it to whatever afterlife he wash going to. I think we jusht consumed his mind whole. I remember hish whole life, probably better than he could. Not only that, but I remember hish every thought, every emotion, even the shenshation he felt ash we ripped the very thoughtsh from hish brain. I remember it all, jusht ash I do my own pasht. But, there’s no feeling of another mind. They’re shtatic. Like a memory. There’sh no will, no whishpersh of anothersh mind.”

They walked in silence. Each thinking about the skeleton’s words. Finally, after a minute, Julius resumed the story. “Well, I undershtand that you probably find that terrifying and a validation that Voracity ish a threat. But what happened after that will give you hope. Ash we shaid before, hish inshtinct when encountering everything to thish point wash to try to eat it. But now that he had eaten, He had abshorbed a mind entirely, and it changed him. It wash like hish own identity wash aged and enlightened by the feeding. By the time that Carrie-Anne had gripped his gem, he finally undershtood the difference between food and friend. He wash overjoyed to feel the mind of hish familiar and for the firsht time, he didn’t want to eat her. Inshtead, shending out feelingsh of joy, relief, and a wish to return to hish body. Of courshe Carrie wash happy to oblige. Ash hish gem returned to thish body, our functionality wash greatly reshtored. He re-eshtablished our inner mind nexus and charged hish avatar into oursh. We embraced him in relief at hish return, and he jusht shobbed. Bursht out into bawling tearsh and apologized for hish abshence. He shaid he undershtandsh the difference now. Now externally, I’m pretty shure it looked a lot like I’d passhed out. Even with him back in contact, we were pretty weak. It’sh alsho hard to deshcribe how rapid thinking ish ash a geshtalt entity. Imagine watching two people convershe. Now imagine that their entire shtatement could be communicated and comprehended at the shame shpeed ash your eye’sh can flick between them. Now imagine a three-way convershation where your eyesh flick between each member ash fasht ash you can, and that each flick can convey up to a full breath’sh information, plus the emotionsh and mindshet that went into it.”

Krop did so, looking at nearby people standing and talking. His eyes flicked between them several times in a second. Then he thought about the hours Julius had spent in a near catatonic state during his rescue and since. “Krro, you’ve been communicating weeks worth of information since your rescue three days ago?”

Julius let out a mental noise somewhere between a snort and a cough. “More like two monthsh. Don’t forget that I don’t shleep. Well, I am accounting for the mortal tendencshy to need breaksh and tashk changesh. Call it about a thoushand hoursh of verbal communication. Though honeshtly that’sh an incredibly arbitrary concshept and deshcription. How doesh one tabulate how long it would take to communicate the background feeling intent and shaping of each thought transhmitted? Pure shingle shentenchesh only accounted for like a tiny fraction of the concsheptsh…”

As Julius continued attempting to create an accurate number, Krop’s brain decided that the only way to prevent a migraine was to ignore the salvo of slushy S’s sluicing like slovenly slush from the skull. He tried to comprehend just how much information could pass through that skull in just a minute of thinking. His defensive ignoring had come too late. His head hurt. Desperately looking around for a way to silence the chattering source of brain-pain, he realizes that they’re less than a block from the prison. “Hwrok, We’re here. Why don’t you take the lead?” Krop reaches into the pack and grabs the skull, planning to pull it out and either carry him or set him on his shoulder. The skull is slippery however and his webbed fingers scrabble to find purchase. Finally, his fingers poke into some holes and he pulls. At the same time, Julius makes some truly strange mental noises. If Krop had to describe it, he’d say it sounded like someone trying to sneeze and cough while gagging and clicking their throat whilst trying not to swallow liquid in the back of their mouth. He pulls the skull in front of him and sees that his index finger is distorting the glowing rings in one of the eye sockets, his middle finger is in the nostril cavity and his thumb is poking up under the jaw. Embarrassed, he quickly fixes his grip and places him in the crook of his arm.

Julius releases an unending mental torrent of the sounds of him gagging, coughing, and blowing his nose. His jaw flaps in concert with the sounds in near-flawless mimicry of being fleshy. “Oh godsh, that wash awble! Pleashe neber do that again!” His lisping words are garbled further. Sounding like he is trying to talk with a stuffed-up nose.

Krop fishes out the envelope and digs back into it. Still tucked inside is a small card bearing the glowing sigil of the council on one side. On the other is a small declaration. Julius Willowsong Skullreaver has permission from all ruling bodies to speak with those pending execution, or those with terminal diseases, in order to offer certain services to those left behind in exchange for rights to their corpse upon death. This requires him to have an official witness present. These include but are not limited to a Guild Scribe, a Lawyer, a notary, or any elected leader. “Hrwoak, crap. Julius, we can’t go in yet.”

“What? Why not?”

“Krwoook, It says you need an official witness.”

“A what?” Asks Julius.

“Hrwooork, someone like a Guild Scribe or lawyer to record and witness the contract. The pass says one has to be there for you to talk to them.”

A ghostly, but globby set of fleshy fingers reaches out from Julius and he snatches the card. “Give me that,” he snarls, “Juliush–dee daa et-shcetera, thish requiresh him to have an officshial witnessh preshent.” The simulated grip slaps the card back into Krop’s hand while Julius groans. “Of all the shtupid bureaucratic nonshesh. My new ballsh are turning blue becaushe they’re being shtrangled by all thish red tape.” Julius sniffles for a second before his jaw opens wide and he begins to cry. “I want my body now. I’m tired of being shtuffed in bagsh and boxesh–ooh argh, Pleashe get your fidgersh out of by doshe.”

Krop bobbled Julius as his jaw snapped open for the tantrum. He almost drops him before just catching him. Once again shoving his fingers into his nostril cavity. “Then stop flapping about, you ass!” Krop growls once again too frustrated for polite Bulfoninan grammar.

Julius sneezes a few times before calming back down. “Well then, I guessh I need a lawyer.”

Krop Grunts and asks “Krroaawk, the usual?”

Julius grins as the glow from his eyes intensifies. “You know I’d never passh up a chancshe to patronize a fellow man of culture. Let’sh go find Bonesh!

***

Many of the city's legal firms all have offices near the jail. It pays to have a short commute to where the majority of their clients end up. Thus, it was only another two blocks walk to the offices of Leomund Bones Esq. Adventuring legal advocate and public defender. Krop quietly steps inside their offices and carries Julius to the smiling secretary at the desk. “Krroownk, hello, Ms. Wurkoon, how are you?”

“Crriik, hi Krop! It’s good to see you too. My day is going well, and the clients are steady. How can I help you fine adventurers today.” They smile broadly and pay zero attention to the skull in his arms.

Julius begins to speak but gets cut off as Krop answers over him. “We were looking–”

“–Krrroooomk, we were hoping to borrow Bones for a couple of hours. We need a legal witness.”

“Criaak, looks like you already have more than you can handle!” She and Krop chuckle while Julius scoffs in outrage. “Well, sorry to say boys but he’s out on a lunch meeting. Would you like to schedule a meeting?”

“But thish ish importan–” Julius whines before Krop cuts in again.

“Krruuk, my friend here really would like to speak to him. Any chance he’s marked his meeting as drop-ins welcome.”

“Crruuk, hmm, you’re lucky you’re so cute. Yes, it does say available for preferred interruptions. But it also says Participants only. So how’s your Protas Vita skills these days, handsome?”

Krop chuckles and begins his reply but Julius cuts in. “Yesh, yesh, we will play. Now would you two love toadsh either get a room now or make plansh for later? I’ve got a lawyer to shee!”

Presroak Wurkoon flushes a bit and winks at Krop. “Crreeeank, I get off in five hours. Want to meet me outside yours in Six?”

Krop flushes as well. His throat pouch bulges with surprise. “Hrwwooooook, Ahem, I think that sounds lovely. I’ll see you then. Now which court is Bones in today?”

“Crik, looks like Westing House B has been reserved. See you tonight.”

“Kruk, See you then.”

Julius is bouncing in impatience. Chattering angrily about ‘washting time’ but Krop isn’t listening. He wanders toward Westing House and chuckles. “Hwrook, you know Julius, you're not so bad of a wingman. For a self-centered asshole.”