Professor Trismegistus

@bishop-percival

Mike, who had just been quietly observing the conversation, watched as Teddy approached him. “Oh right, Thomas’ old robes!” he repeated with enlightenment. “They should be tucked away in the vestry somewhere. Those would work best for Gaap until you make his own. Will you be here later to work?” Cas, meanwhile, eagerly agreed with Tris. He rubbed his chin as he thought about a good candidate for their potential resurrections studies. He glanced at Mike when he remarked about Thomas’ robes, then excitedly turned to Tris. “Hey, yeah, what about that Thomas guy?”

“Wait, which Thomas guy?” Tris stopped pacing to concentrate on recalling that name. There were a lot of Ts in this place... Even without counting the uninitiated.

And were they someone who was already dead? Or did they have to go bump them off first?

“Oi!” Tris exclaimed while pointing their finger up. “You mean that ghost bloke hanging around, dontcha?”

They jumped for joy at the idea. “He’s perfect! Easy to get too!”

Bowtie, on the other hand, wasn’t pleased. But at least he hid it aside from giving Mike a look and letting out a frustrated exhale.

“Don’t you ever get bored of that chump?” Bowtie flatly asked while speaking loudly enough for them to easily hear them.

“Nope!” Tris gave an immediate, chipper answer.

Welp, that was probably the best he could do without sticking his neck out for a dead guy. He turned his attention back to Mike.

@bishop-percival

With an unimpressed frown, Cas put his hands on his hips as he answered Bowtie’s inquiry. “The definition of resurrection is to bring something back to life from the dead. So of course it had to have been alive! If I possess a robot, I’m not actually imbuing it with life, I’m just controlling it…” But then Cas turned to Tris, a bright smile returning to his face. “...But that sounds way cooler! What am I thinking, wanting to be stuck in a flesh body again? Ew! I wanna be a robot with rockets and lasers!” Cas proclaimed, excitedly shaking his fists. Then he glanced back at Gaap with a chuckle. “That doesn’t mean I don't still wanna work with you in the future, though.”

@necromancer-gaap

“I’m looking forward to it, but to the Professor’s question, in this theoretical experiment I would be determining if it’s possible to resurrect a soul into a body that isn’t its own, my hypothesis is that yes that should work, but it’s entirely possible there’s some metaphysical property of souls that prevents that that we aren’t presently aware of.” He explains. “And for Bowtie’s, with what Cas said, resurrection by definition does require returning life to something dead, otherwise it’s an unrelated process of animation, such as working with a clay golem,” he says. “ I suppose if you were to somehow seal a soul to an inanimate body that could maybe be considered resurrection as you’re returning something dead to life, but I still think that possession and animation would be more accurate terms.” As somebody with his own chosen name Gaap wasn’t going to question calling somebody Bowtie, at least for now.

“We gotta do resurrection at least once!” Tris exclaimed. “A permanent one!” Then they put their hand on their chin. “Although I suppose it would be difficult to keep our test subject under wraps indefinitely...”

“Now, if we did decide to keep a success around for a longitudinal study we would have to select our test subjects carefully to prepare for such a scenario..,” Professor Trismegistus paced with their hand on their chin as they thought aloud. Largely to themselves.

“We would need someone yielding. Someone who wouldn’t try to escape. Someone who wouldn’t recklessly go against us after death became a temporary state...

Meanwhile between Professor Trismegistus’ brief flash of frustration, Cas’ scolding, and Gaap’s gentle yet thorough correction Bowtie was feeling rather foolish. And he wasn’t exactly liking the schemes brewing either. He sunk his head before slinking away from the group and to Mike.

“Do we still have Thomas’ old robes?” Theodore’s voice had dropped to its soft, natural volume instead of the slight projection he used with others.

@bishop-percival

By the time Tris and Bowtie looked at Cas, he was just staring at the ground and pouting. Oh, woe was him. Who cared about him? Who cared that he was a literal ghost? It seemed all anyone cared about was lame demon summonings. Why bother introducing— Oh, wait. Cas’ jealous spiral was interrupted when Tris started in on an introduction for him. Their words patched his wounded pride and he returned their fond smile. “Eheh, Thanks Tris!” Cas then turned his attention to Gaap. “If you want to know anything about the afterlife, ghosts or other ethereal beings, I’m your guy!” He floated closer to the newcomer, eyeing him. “Your necromancy would be a great opportunity for me to study the effects of resurrection on the soul. I’ve always wondered what it felt like. But alas, my body was long gone before Bishop Percival and Reverend Miriam summoned me back to the mortal realm. So I hope to work with you in the future!”

@necromancer-gaap

Gaap was quite excited by this trio, their skills and knowledge would surely be an asset to him and he had full intention of taking each of them up on things. “I’m looking forward to the opportunity to share our knowledge and experiment on things then,” he says, at Cas’ latter comment he hums. “Yeah, even if I were to extend my capacities beyond their current limitations, a body to restore life to will likely always be a key component of the process regardless, though I suppose factoring in the capacity for ghosts and possessions would call into question how resurrection and possession might play off each other, theoretically it might be possible to resurrect a body permanently with a ghost newly housed in it.” he suggests.

Tris returned Cas’ smile with a big thumbs up. “No prob, mate!” They were about to add, “Never forget to sell yourself!” before realizing that it’d only make Cas come off as an insecure loser.

Once Gaap said they were interested in resurrecting Cas, Tris leapt in joy and bounded on over. Walters silently followed while lagging slightly behind like he was their shadow. He easily matched their pace despite his feet never going far from the floor.

Tris’ heart ached as Cas hinted at how he mourned his body. They clutched said heart as they moved closer. “Does it have to be his body?”

Bowtie shifted uncomfortably at the idea of body snatching, although his tell was too subtle for anyone but Mike to notice. Yet even if he didn’t he would still wonder, “Does it have to be a body?”

Tris looked back in confusion. “Of course it does! What's the point of resurrection without it!?”

Bowtie took a moment to organize his thoughts before clarifying. At some point he had gotten a black notebook with Lord Hater’s face out and started jotting down notes.

“Would it need to be something that was ever alive? Or even biological?”

“Oh!” Tris looked up at Cas. “You could have a cool robot body! With rockets and lasers!”

@bishop-percival

Cas was relieved that Gaap couldn’t mess around with ghosts— for now. He also thought it was pretty cool that he could revive dead things. He was about to introduce himself when Bowtie suddenly piped up. Then after Bowtie gave his name, Cas went to introduce himself again— only for Tris to start gabbing on about the dull materials scientist. Tch! Cas wasn’t impressed by his embarrassing demon summoning. Anyone could’ve done it better than Bowtie! Yet Cas kept quiet, waiting for a better moment to speak again.

@necromancer-gaap

Gaap unfortunately doesn’t give him the time either, addressing Tris and Teddy first as they ask their questions and introduce themselves. “Nice to meet you both as well,” he says, and yeah that is pretty cool, I hope to get into demon summoning myself at some point so that might be something I ask you about later” He says. “But yes as to your question, I haven’t had much a chance to test the parameters, Mati life doesn’t particularly give you access to things like that, but presently I know I can revive a watchdog that has died within five days of an attempted resurrection, and they remain alive for around five or six hours before dying again, I’m sure that I’ll be able to increase this capacity now that I have access to actual resources though.” Gaap explains.

Theodore faintly smiled. After a poignant pause he said, “I’ll show my notes to you later.”

“Oh!” A glint flashed across Tris’ glass. “Can I see too!”

Well, there was no use in holding out on Professor Trismegistus now. “...Sure.”

Then they both looked over at Cas, waiting for him to say something. Theodore was only being polite. The professor, however, was worried.

What happened to his dramatic flair!? They figured that he— unlike that shy scientist— would have no problem introducing himself!

No matter. They didn’t mind lending a mate a hand again.

“Last but not least is Cas,” Tris energetically gestured at their most extraordinary best friend with a flourish, “The galaxy’s indisputable expert on death and undeath!”

@necromancer-gaap

Gaap’s slight apprehension at his hand being shook without much warning is overtaken by his intrigue when Professor Tris gets to the latter part of their qualifications. He also wasn’t not somewhat flattered by the ego fluffing his new status seemed to be affording him. Teddy gets a good look of this new recruit and his drab greenish grey outfit and fishing boots, still carrying along his moving bag. “I’m Gaap, Autumn scouted me straight from Mati, and I suppose you could say I’m quite special, and I imagine with your focus of study our aims are quite aligned professor, I’m a necromancer, you see.” he explained proudly. “As such Bishop Percival has offered me an immediate deaconship and I’m being initiated tomorrow,”

@bishop-percival

Mike lightly smiled at the sight of Teddy when he walked in. Then once Gaap mentioned he was a necromancer, he glanced at Teddy again to see if he could gauge a reaction from his flat face. Suddenly, a disembodied voice emanated from a source unknown to Gaap. “Woah, woah, really?” A ghostly apparition appeared before the group, that of what seemed to be a deacon based on his red robe. It was Cas. He was hiding in anticipation of spooking a new recruit, but the mention of necromancy was too intriguing to mess around. Plus, he wasn’t sure it would be wise to scare someone who might have the ability to banish him… “That’s cool! So can you like, summon ghosts? Or banish them?”

@necromancer-gaap

Gaap was surprised at the sight of the ghost, but even more so fascinated! Taking in his spectral appearance, looking around him curiously before considering his question carefully. “I’ve never gotten to test that so I’m don’t know if I can or not, though I’m sure I’ll be able to learn.” He says, “For now I am capable of bringing animals back to life and watchdogs that are recently deceased for a limited amount of time, I’m hoping to increase my capabilities as I study here.”

When Gaap revealed his necromancy skills Theodore perked up and briefly widened his eye a bit. He took a moment to calculate the potential implications. Particularly, how this would affect their grand scheme.

Then he leaned forward with a glint in his eye and subtle smile.

“How limited, exactly?”

The words had come out before he knew it. He sheepishly rubbed his head as he quietly said to himself, “Ah, haven’t introduced myself yet.”

“I’m known as Bowtie.” He respectfully bowed his head. “It's a pleasure to meet you.” By this point he had accepted his cult name as a way to create distance between his identity as a Glornist and his life outside of it.

But Professor Trismegistus didn’t know that. “Is that all?”, they said to themselves as they glanced at him. Then they decided to give their shy lab buddy a more suitable introduction.

“My colleague Doctor Walters shares my passion for the paranormal & arcane. Why, his main goal is to determine the material properties of magic itself!”

Professor Trismegistus’ glass glinted as the paused for dramatic effect. If it wasn’t almost opaque they’d be able to see his proud grin.

“Not only that: He has successfully summoned a demon!”

“Well..,” Doctor Bowtie shifted uncomfortably. “...I wouldn’t call that a success...”

“Sure, the negotiation went south, but you still did it! You should take more pride in yourself!” Tris gave his buddy two big thumbs up.

@necromancer-gaap

Gaap nods and takes it back, slipping it into his bag again. “Sounds like a plan, it’ll be a nice project trying to figure it out.” he says. “And yeah, I’ll be sure to ask her when we both have the time.”

@bishop-percival

Mike nodded, then opened the door for the two to leave. Once they were out, he took care to lock it back up. “Well, I think that was everything important to show you,” he said as he moseyed down the hall. But he paused in his tracks, hearing some chatting coming from Percival’s chamber. “Actually, this here is Bishop Percival’s personal ritual chamber, and there are scome members working on a project in there that you could meet.” Mike knocked on the door first, deciding not to barge in when the group inside were working on such an important—and possibly dangerous—machine. “Excuse me, Tris? Reverend Mike here, I have a new recruit I would like to introduce.”

Professor Trismegistus perked up at the sound of their mate Mike calling their name. They shouted an, “Okey-dokey!” before rushing to the door to let him in.

Then they heard about the new recruit. They paused for a moment, slightly jealous that someone skipped the usual initiation process. Yet it was easily overpowered by the potential implications.

Tris threw the door open while waving at both. “Eya mate, wicked excited to meetcha!” They stepped out of the way and bowed at both of them, all while holding the door open with their back.

When Gaap passed Tris they firmly took his hand and gave it a hearty shake. “I’m Professor Trismegistus, genius scientist, paranormal researcher, and student of the occult”

They waited until everyone was fully inside before shutting the door. “So what’s your deal?” Tris asked as they walked back to their workstation next to the portal. “I mean, you gotta be mighty special if Reverend Mike is personally showing you around!”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤAs you may have heard, I have recently completed and tested an extradimensional portal generator capable of opening portals to— among other dimensions— the realm of the undead. Once Bishop Percival discovered this he proposed a partnership to hasten his ascension in exchange for granting me a share of his newfound power. While I do trust our dear bishop to a reasonable extent, I believe it would be best to request your expertise in magical dealings before we proceed.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤHow should one go about forming a soul-binding contract? I have experience with writing legally binding agreements with the family lawyer, yet I have a hunch that laws are irrelevant in the face of functionally limitless power. Would such a contract be enforceable if the other party has little to no magical abilities of their own?

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤWould you be willing & able to both attend a meeting with my lawyer and be present at the notarization of our contract? I would also like to ask for your assistance on finding the Glornch’s prestigious library’s books on the topic.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ ㅤSincerely,

(Previous) “Hm!” Cas curiously hummed in regards to Theodore’s research. Cas examined the motor, then shrugged. “Okie doke,” he chimed before possessing it. It remained still for some moments. Then it clicked as it rotated by a tiny degree. Then some more. Then it hummed to life, spinning and spinning. Cas kept it up for about 20 seconds before expelling himself from the motor. He was panting. “Heh… Phew! How was that?”

Professor Trismegistus waited with bated breath for any sign of movement. Then when the rotor gained a significant amount of speed they threw their arms in the air and cheered, “Woohoo!”