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[Morty]

[Lightning Tower]

The monster backs away from the professor and lowers its head to look him in the eye. It seems to recognize him as its creator and master, but it's confused and uncertain right now. This world is strange to it, as is having a body at all.

[bc56]

Lightning Tower

I believe you missed the part in the dream sequence where I said the monster is 4ft tall. It should be looking up at the professor, who is over a foot taller than it. 4ft ~ 1.35 meters

"You're new to this whole being alive thing, aren't you. Makes sense. Do you understand what I am saying? Nod your head if so." The professor is patient, but this is new to him, and slightly more frustrating than he expected.

[Morty]

[Lightning Tower]

((Looks like I did. So yeah, the monster is looking up. Sorry about that.))

The monster stares at the professor. Alive? No, it's not new to being alive. It was alive before, but not... in a body. Not in a world like this. Still, it nods its head when its creator tells it to.

[Recaiden]

"Believe me when I tell you that you do not actually want to know how strange baby magic gets. It is my professional duty to know, but-" She shivers.

Ayako babbles incoherent baby-speech, but it elicits a nod from Cleo.
"That's right, Aya. Here, Mist, for your upcoming birthday-"
She materializes a gift-wrapped box about two-feet across and offers it to the fox.

[Deathkeeper]

[Mist's Suite]

Mist looks surprised. Only his parents and Leah ever remember his birthday.
"Oh, wow. Thanks." he says, deftly opening it with minimal ripping and being as gently as possible. Don't want to give the tiny dragon a bad example.

[bc56]

Lightning Tower

I would prefer it if the monster speaks like this., A52A2A and Times New Roman

"I know you have a tongue, I put it in your head myself. Let's hear you use it. What should I call you?" Now they're getting somewhere.

[Morty]

[Lightning Tower]

"I'm..." the monster speaks awkwardly, unused to having to use a tongue to do it. "I'm not anything yet, but call me Ormizh. The name feels like it fits."

[bc56]

[B] Lightning Tower[/B

"Ormizh, Ormizh. Welcome to Lightning Tower, our home and laboratory. I created you, with help, to be my research assistant, and also my eyes, ears, and hands when not present. I believe in the freedom of choice, that's why you aren't a mindless machine like my other creations. We'll have to get you acquainted with your new body." Where did Ormizh's mind come from? It seemed ancient, but it had never had a body before, or not recently. Prof. Barron didn't think he'd ever find out.

[Morty]

[Lightning Tower]

Ormizh takes a few steps back and forth, as if getting familiar with its limbs.

"If you brought me here, I hope you'll guide me. But what is your name?"

[bc56]

Lightning Tower
"I am professor Barron, but you may call me Professor." Ormizh seems harmless enough right now, at least in personality. Maybe eventually Prof. Barron will allow Ormizh to call him "Marty."

[Morty]

[Lightning Tower]

"Professor. Yes." Ormizh tastes the word. "You are a scholar, yes? You learn, teach and create."

[bc56]

Lightning Tower

"Yes. You are my greatest creation. Come downstairs. I have so much to show you."

[Morty]

[Lightning Tower]

Ormizh nods and will follow the professor wherever he leads. It seems to have accepted the role of a student for now.

[Recaiden]

Mist looks surprised. Only his parents and Leah ever remember his birthday.
"Oh, wow. Thanks." he says, deftly opening it with minimal ripping and being as gently as possible. Don't want to give the tiny dragon a bad example.

Inside the wrapping paper is a lacquered wooden box. Inside the box is a ladder? And a serious lack of the interior walls of a box? It's much bigger on the inside.
If you reach in you'll soon find a light switch, and see that the ladder leads down into an acoustically-sound music-practice room with all the appropriate stands, folios, metronomes, tuning forks... and a case sized for a small woodwind instrument.

[Deathkeeper]

[Mist's Suite]

Wow, no one's ever given him an extradimensional space before!
"Wow..." he says aloud. This is a lot of stuff! Of course, he can't help but peek at the contents of the box-within-a-box.

[Recaiden]

Everyone can use a good extradimensional space.

The innermost box contains Cleo's dragon flute, which has no peculiar qualities, just good craftsmanship and a moderately long history.
"I don't need it anymore." She's mostly been playing Reinholdt's syrinx or her golden fiddle, in recent years. "But maybe it'll help you."

[Deathkeeper]

[Mist's Suite]

Huzzah for no peculiar qualities! Mist tests it out with a quick bar of Reset.
"Thank you, Cleo. This probably has quite the story behind it, doesn't it?" he asks, ascending back to be face to face with Cleo again.

[Recaiden]

"It was given to me by my father, on Terra, and that's the flute I learned magic with, that I played for Zophiel when we first met, that I used to beat the devil in a contest. It's been through a lot but-"
Cleo conjures the set of pan pipes that serve her as the Charity of the Pen.
"-it doesn't suit a dragon. See, it plays perfectly well for you."

[bc56]

Lightning Tower
Compared to the simple upstairs rooms, downstairs is a mess. A simple kitchen and living area sits off to the left, dirty dishes piled high in a grimy sink. On the right, a staircase leads down into a dark room, the dungeon. Nearby, various computers, monitors, and vats of bubbling fluid with the occasional bit of putrid flesh floating inside lie stacked upon each other in a complex array of flashing lights and whirring electronics. "I suppose I should clean up around here, now that I have company. Do you need anything to eat?" The professor gestures to an aged refrigerator in the corner between the lab and kitchen areas.

[Morty]

[Lightning Tower]

Ormizh looks around with what appears to be curiosity. When asked if it needs to eat, it seems unsure.

"I don't know. I've never eaten before. But if you created this body to require it, then I will."

[bc56]

Lightning Tower

"I designed all my creations to run off a combination of electrical power and biochemical processes. You are no exception. Let's see. Ah! I have some steak I was saving for a special occasion! Let me just cook that up." Prof. Barron withdraws the steak from the refrigerator, and goes over to a charcoal burning camp grill under a laboratory fine hood. He lights the grill and begins cooking the steak.

[Morty]

[Lightning Tower]

Ormizh waits patiently, but... hungrily? It seems that the smell of the steak being cooked is enticing to it.

[bc56]

Lightning Tower
After a few minutes, the steak is done. "Here you go. Eat up!"

[Murkus]

[Underside]

Sakura certainly agrees with Cern internally. It is very dark. It's fine for a visit, but she sure couldn't imagine being here for days, let alone living down here. "I think we'll have a bit more light when we get there." Sakura tries to reassure. It does make the sights loose a bit of their impact, though.

[Underside]

"I'm afraid goblins don't need a lot of light," Reelshka says apologetically. "It's why our eyes look the way they do. Like a cat's." Indeed, in the dim light Reelshka's pupils are noticeably wider. "Don't worry, though. I asked my family to provide more light for you once we visit them." To Gwydion's question, she says: "I've never been to the bottom. But I've heard that's where they keep things most people shouldn't go near."

The lizard keeps walking along the edge of the cliff, heading ever downwards. It's brighter down here, as they get closer to the light-columns. They pass other lizards on the way, as well as many goblin pedestrians. Some of them walk alongside small, pudgy creatures with big snouts and small eyes. They seem to come in a variety of sizes and shapes. Another kind of pet the goblins seem to have are smaller things that resemble fish-like dogs, with a pair of moustache-like appendages near their snouts. Eventually, it comes to a stop near a wide tunnel entrance.

Ooh. A shiver of curiosity, fear and wonder passes through the boys as they stare down into the deep pit and wonder what things lurk there. Gwydion tries to watch the wall they pass along the ledge, searching for all the gleaming stones that are supposed to be secreted away underground. He probably doesn't quite see any.

Cern's eyes light up as they pass the small, pudgy things. "Mole rats?" He asks. Gwydion seems much more interested in the fish-dogs. They look like catfish, and he thinks catfish are funny.

[Morty]

[Lightning Tower]

Ormizh first tastes the steak carefully and with curiosity... then bites into it with zeal, tearing through it in short order. Whether or not the monster needs to eat, it appears to enjoy it greatly.

[bc56]

Lightning Tower

Prof. Barron waits for the monster to finish, then leads him downstairs to the dungeon. Snarling sounds and the clanking of chains come from the row of cells, but most appear empty.

[Morty]

[Lightning Tower]

"Are those your other creations?" Ormizh asks, once it hears the snarls and chains. "They're not like me. They don't talk."

[bc56]

"No. They are mindless beasts. You were created to be more than them. But some will see you as like them, those with closed minds. Do not let it trouble you." The professor is deadly serious.

[Morty]

[Lightning Tower]

Ormizh nods.

"They'll fear me. But they should fear me. That's what I was made for. Wasn't I?"

[bc56]

Lightning Tower
I'm ready to end the scene whenever you are.

"Like all your abilities, fear is a tool. Use it sparingly, so that you do not appear a fearsome wild beast, the perfect target for a hunter or wannabe hero. You still have much to learn." The professor smiles slightly, the way a teacher smiles at an enthusiastic student.