Dungeons Are Bad Business

Back at the boarding house, Vee found the notes he’d made with Rortenferry and set them on the table. He’d added to them in the days after initially making them, but had completely neglected to actually start the process of designing their sigils or making them a reality.

He shook his head. There were always too many things to do, and he didn’t have nearly enough time or brainpower to make sure that nothing fell through the cracks.

Getting up and grabbing Reginald, Vee said, “Alright, before we do anything else tonight, you’re going to help me come up with a reasonable ghosthetic for you to use. It’s past time for you to actually start handling your [Majordomo] duties.”

“That’s fine with me, boss. You think I want to just ride around on top of your head for the rest of your life? Let’s get down to it! First off, I want to be at least as tall as the big guy!”

“Not happening,” said Vee. “And beyond that, you’re going to swear some oaths to me that you’re not going to use this thing for any troublemaking. It’s just to help you in your official duties. Got it?”

“Of course, of course. I’d never dream of getting into trouble,” Reginald said in a tone of voice that made it quite obvious he had in fact dreamed of doing just that. “I’ll swear whatever oaths you want, boss. Can I at least be taller than you? I don’t think I’d be able to handle looking up at everything all the time.”

“Just for that, I’m going to make you a foot shorter than I am,” Vee growled. “And see how well you like looking up at everything from there.”

Reginald groaned. “Oh come on, boss. I was just messing around with you. I’m going to be bipedal, right?”

Now that was something. Vee hadn’t actually considered the prospect of making Reginald anything other than bipedal, but now that the idea had lodged itself in his brain, he couldn’t help but consider the possibilities.

Maybe he could make the ghosthetic dog shaped? There were three points immediately in its favor: it was kind of a cute mental image, it added a nice silhouette to their trio, and probably most importantly, it would probably help serve as a safeguard against any sort of oath-lawyering Reginald was sure to get up to.

That last one alone gave Vee a good reason to consider the possibility, though his enthusiasm about dog-ginald was tempered by the fact that his [Majordomo] needed hands to handle his duties in the dungeon. Other than the particularly famous terrier with a penchant for simplifying classic works of literature, dogs weren’t exactly known for their fine motor skills.

Although…since Vee was going to be making a ghost dog, there was no rule against giving it another pair of arms and hands. It’d be a little – or maybe a lot – creepier than just a regular dog body, but that was also something that could be worked through.

“Boss? You okay? You’re looking kind of vacant over there.”

“Sorry,” Vee said. “I was just lost in my thoughts for a second.”

“Why do I get the feeling that those thoughts aren’t going to end well for me?” Reginald asked.

Vee smiled, making up his mind then and there. “You know what? I think you’ll do well as a ghost dog.”

Reginald swore.

Despite Reginald’s protests and pleading, Vee started gathering ectoplasm for the ghosthetic and constructing the basic sigilmancy outline such a thing would require. Mindful of his discussions with Rortenferry, Vee opted into the higher level glyphs wherever possible, since he wanted the ghost to be durable.

He also wanted to test his new Exploratory skills – or at least the two related to making ghosts, [Advanced Ectoplasm Refining] and [Mold Ectoplasm] – so he closed his eyes and consulted his soul’s mirror.

[Advanced Ectoplasm Refining] required Vee to move a cube of ectoplasm through a series of floating wireframe shapes in the air. There were six in total – a square, a diamond, a circle, a cross, a star, and and moon – and each time the [Ghost Maestro] moved his cube through them, he found himself having to use nearly all his strength. By the time he was done, the ectoplasm cube was barely a third of its original size, but it was far denser and glistened like a gemstone.

Panting, Vee wiped the sweat from his forehead and set the ectoplasm down.

“I’m going to have to revise my plan of using that for the entire ghosthetic,” he said. “Unless it gets way easier with practice or the effort remains the same regardless of initial ectoplasm size.”

Too tired to try [Mold Ectoplasm] just then, Vee started making ectoplasm rods that would eventually serve as the basis of the ghosthetic’s body. He didn’t have a super strong idea of what they would look like though, so he simply stretched and pulled the ectoplasm into rough shapes and sizes. There ended up being ten in all, though Vee suspected he’d end up needing to make more before the project was complete.

With those done, he returned to his sigilmancy outline, giving his glyphs a double and triple check to make sure that he had everything right before he started actually drawing them for real. Unfortunately, though he felt like he was in the groove and wanted to keep working, Vee lacked the energy to go ahead and start the construction process that night. Making a note of what he needed to do next, the [Ghost Maestro] put down his tools and headed to bed for the night.

He looked up at the ceiling before falling asleep, feeling content and accomplished with what he’d done that day.

Shortly before sunrise the next morning, Vee’s eyes snapped open. To his surprise, he didn’t feel the least bit tired, and even more interestingly, an image of a hound’s form had formed inside his mind. All the little details he normally only discovered through trial and error were obvious, and the [Ghost Maestro] knew better these days than to waste a bout of inspiration.

Eager to chase the muse, Vee got out of bed as quietly as he could and tiptoed over to where he’d left the pieces of the ghosthetic. Before he actually started working though, he looked over at Alforde – who was sleeping next to an open book – and Reginald – who was ostensibly resting on the windowsill – and decided that he would be better off working in the hall. Since it was so early, it was unlikely anyone else would come and bother him, and he didn't want to wake his friends.

It took a few trips to get everything outside,but Vee managed. With his planned sigils in front of him, he made a circle of ectoplasm on the floor.

“[Vivify Minion: Base],” he said quietly.

Green light covered his hands, and Vee made his way around his circle, filling in the sigils that would be necessary for Reginald’s ghosthetic. First, as always, was Bu, equally spaced around the circle’s cardinal points. Then, he added the curly brackets of high Gu to give the ghost the ability to follow orders and be more durable. Once he was sure that they were properly drawn, Vee added the squiggly sigils of An, Mo, and Un, which would allow the ghost to move its arms, head, and legs. Once again, he was impressed by how much better he’d gotten at this since working in Crestheart regularly. The work went fast and the [Ghost Maestro]’s sigils were smooth.

He paused when he finished for a few moments, admiring his work and catching his breath, and filled in the rest of the symbols with his [Ghost Baton] that would allow the ghosthetic to do everything Vee imagined it might need to after activating [Vivify Minion: Finalize]. His control had improved enough that he had plenty of space left to go back and add more or change some symbols if it ended up necessary; another mark of his improvements.

With the base established, Vee got busy on the actual assembly of the ghosthetic, snapping legs together and adding other bits of ectoplasm as necessary, making sure that each piece was the best he could make it. When the frame was finished, Vee wiped his brow and started adding sheets of ectoplasm to cover it, taking extra care to hide the seams between each sheet and make the ghosthetic’s body look like a solid piece. “Cleaning the lines,” as it was called, was definitely not one of Vee’s strong suits, since ghosts intended for Crestheart weren’t exactly judged on their aesthetics. Still, he did what he could, and was proud of the resulting appearance.

When he decided that he could do nothing further, Vee clapped his hands together and activated the energy inside the circle. The dog’s eyes glowed a perfect green, and Vee grinned as wide as could be.

[Congratuatlions! You are now a level 32 Ghost Maestro!]

[Your ability to shape ectoplasm is now more powerful!]

[Reminder: You have advancement opportunities for this class.]

[Wit +1]

He dismissed the notifications with a wave of his hand – he’d think about advancement later -- and went back inside his room. That was right when Alforde started to stir. The armorsoul tilted his helmet and looked bemused. “Vee? What’s wrong? Is there something going on outside?”

Reginald stirred too, his eyes popping open as Vee all but ran over and picked him up.

“Both of you, come with me! There’s something I want you two to see.”

Alforde followed the [Ghost Maestro] out to the hall, and Reginald had no choice but to be carried.

The ghosthetic was a big dog with little resemblance to any particular breed, reaching the top of Vee’s chest. It had thick legs, a long tail, and a pair of burly arms that were connected to its shoulders. Its head was simple, with only basic eyes and a mouth, since Vee had figured that his [Majordomo] would be able to provide both of those things on a regular basis.

On the top of the dog’s head was a plane of refined red ectoplasm, and this was where Vee set Reginald.

“Well, what do you think?” The [Ghost Maestro] asked.

“It’s…not at all what I wanted, but I suppose it’ll do,” Reginald said with a big grin. “How do I make it move?”

“You’re sitting on a binding that should let you control the ghost telepathically. Go ahead and give it a try.”

Nothing happened for a moment, but then the ghosthetic slowly started to move. Its gait was awkward and uneven – mostly due to Reginald’s unfamiliarity with how to make it do as he wanted – but it managed to make it down to the end of the hall and then back again. With every step, it got a little smoother, and Vee was confident that by the end of the day his [Majordomo] would have it down pat.

Reginald stopped in front of Vee, and slowly extended one of the ghost’s arms.

“Thanks boss, this is really nice.”

Vee took the offered hand, but quickly snatched Reginald up off the top of the ghost and stared into the [Core Spirit]’s eyes. “You’re welcome, but before you do anything else, you’re going to swear those oaths to me. First, on your status as my [Majordomo], promise me that you won’t use this body for anything bad. That means not hurting anybody, damaging anything, stealing, or causing anything else that I would consider trouble through direct action, inaction, suggestion, or lack thereof.”

It probably wasn’t the tightest oath ever made, but Vee didn’t mind. If Reginald tried to get craft, he was confident that he could bring the hat back in line.

Still, Vee was reassured when the hat flapped his brim and said, “I promise.”

“Next, promise me that you’ll use this ghost to help Crestheart in every way that you can. You’ll start talking to suppliers, help handle the menagerie, serve as a messenger when I need you to, and do everything else that a [Majordomo] is supposed to.”

“Sure thing, boss. I promise.”

“Lastly, promise me that you’ll accept any future amendments to these oaths should I deem them necessary.”

Reginald’s expression darkened. “That’s quite the oath to ask of me, is it not? Should I agree, I’m opening myself up to being nothing more than your puppet. Must you insist on such a thing?”

“Yeah, that’s a little heavy, Vee,” Alforde said. “If Reginald agreed to that, there’s nothing that would stop you from changing the oaths he’s already accepted and making him do something terrible.”

Vee hadn’t considered that, though like most oversights it seemed painfully obvious in retrospect. “No, I retract that proposed oath, though I reserve the right to request additional oaths in the future. Is that alright?”

Reginald smiled. “Yeah boss, that’s fine. You just missed one thing though.”

“What’s that?”

“What are we going to name this thing?”

Main Character Sheets:

Vee Vales

Primary Class: Ghost Maestro (Locksmagister University), Level 32 (+1)

Secondary Class: Dungeon Master (Oar’s Crest), Level 23

Tertiary Class: Guy-Who-Takes-Things-WAY-Too-Far (Self), Level 6

Might: 15

Wit: 37 (+1)

Faith: 26

Adventurousness: 7

Ambition: 15

Plotting: 19

Charisma: 15

Devious Mind: 25

Leadership: 20

Guts: 14

Intimidating Presence: 10

Citizenship: 23

Public Relations: 8

Determination: 4

Persuasiveness: 5

Bargaining: 3

Patience: 2

Competitive Spirit: 1

<3<3 Infatuation <3<3

Alforde Armorsoul:

Primary Class: Hammer Specialist (Self), Level 5

Secondary Class: Right-hand man (Vee Vales), Level 17

Tertiary Class: Dungeon Champion (Oar’s Crest), Level 18

Additional Class: Glaciernaut (Sacha Silverblade), Level 10

Might: 56

Wit: 15 (+1)

Faith: 28

Adventurousness (Bound – Vee Vales): 9

Endurance: 29

Intimidating Presence: 14

Heart of a Champion: 14 (+1)

Citizenship (Bound – Vee Vales): 9

Vigilance: 9

Vanity: 2

Reginald:

Primary Class: Core Spirit (Unknown), Level ??

#$&Q#$)(@#$#@#$%!@#$##%#%()@#$**@@##

Secondary Class: Loudmouth (Self), Level 41

Tertiary Class: Majordomo (Vee Vales), Level 19

Additional Class: Announcer (Vee Vales), Level 11

Additional Class: Hyperthymesiac (Self), Level 5

Might: 1

Wit: 37

Faith: 17

Ambition: 28

Greed: 24

Deceptiveness: 27

Manipulativeness: 42 (+1)

$#&*!@!!: !!!

Loyalty: 47

Patience: 10

Irritability: 23

Remorsefulness: 17

Expository Prowess: 23

[#&%%%@%!#@__--#%]

Hop@#!! @#$@!@#

@#$@%%^

#4^5#*&_!+++#(@$#

Citizenship (Bound – Vee Vales): 9