#puppet master prodigy

so when they joined the order he quickly acceded to being one of the strongest members along that rise they created pippet! pippet wasn't... sentient at this time but :}

sooo after becoming one of the strongest shadow wizards on the island the human puppet master wanted more- more power, more fear, more.. magic. and one day he found a way to do that, the head of the order offered to help them do a ritual

the eclipse, first eclipse in decades. shadow magic is at its strongest but.. the academy hasnt gotten any reports of the order causing trouble- which is somehow scarier then whatever mayhem they could be causing with the power of the eclipse.

what the astral magic users were unaware of was that the order wasnt doing nothing at all, they were simply reaping the dark harvest

the human puppet master steps into a clearing, the moon hidden sun high above. almost all of the order was here. they had to be, they were here to tame a god after all.

step one: call a shard of pure shadow down from the moon's womb

a ritual circle is made, the master in the eye of it- staring up as a string of pure void thinner then a hair slowly rested on his face

step two: cut the string and wind it around rabbit bone

the strand writhes- sharp and growing as it is cut

but calms as it fills the rib bone of something lost to dream

step three: prepare the vessel.

one quick motion and the hands are removed. an even quicker flick of shadow magic makes quick work of the lower torso

step four: fuse memory to the godling

a mind illusion grander and more complex then would ever be cast again drags the thing hiding in rabbit bone closer to humanity then should be possible. a ceremonial knife is used to cut through the now dead puppet master's chest so the dark infused rib can be slotted into place

the being once from the moon now wakes with the memories and personality of the human that shared it's new name "the puppet master"

enchanted robes are draped over the thing's new strange body (both to hide the now quickly disintegrating corpse and also to help control it. kinda)

also after this the strange wooden puppet puppet master had made forever ago now lived. lived. it actually had a mind of it's own, pippet quickly grows attached to his master- and the puppet master grows attached too. not that he admits it of course but--

uhhh TIME SKIP

soooo after the puppet master is defeated the wizard notices the big old mind illusion and trys to brake it but can only partially undo it- this goes

so very

very well

yeahhh- the now partially freed puppet master has a valid crash out, had an identity crisis becuse ya know. young god thing tricked into thinking its human but also still not fully understanding what he really then took a week long nap in the archives with pippet

yeahhhhh the academy as not pleased, especially after the walls gained a heart beat :3

so noot and gale formed a task force to go find the puppet master/ kill them/ seal them with as many astral seals as they could

the party moves slowly, carefully. avoiding as many mind controlled pets as they could, they need their recourses for the puppet master+pippet. a weakened puppet master sure but.. a more desperate one too.

as they wanderer the heart beat grows stronger, louder, and more like a dying thing. its an oddly accidental discovery, one of the team's members trips on a robe. they look bad annoyed at the inconvenience then freeze, as the puppet master's eyes stare out from under a hat

que a very panicked battle ending when pippet is caught and used as a bargaining chip. it only takes one threat against pippet's life for the puppet master to let noot and gale put the seals on him. this did nothing to dim the pm's pride though (at least not outwardly)

soooo they embroidered eyes and rind stones onto their sleaves and hat :3 also they put a seal on pippet just incase

slowly but surely the illusion brakes more and more, the want- the will to keep an understandable form wavering. it would be easy to take revenge, simply show anyone in it's way the real face on the moon their little heads would go

pop!

but that would scare pippet, and the few new friends he's making. the puppet master sleeps most the day anyways, not really worth it...

but the next eclipse is happening soon, it can feel it. their homes call

but that begs the question, would the order try again? the first try worked, why not a second try? the pm been feeling phantom pains all where their human- no, the human who forced their mind upon it's body would be.

and pippet is getting worried again, something about the rabbit bones in the puppet master's room. they're comforting, and rabbits are just cool...

doesnt matter, the great puppet master who now knows itself the blood of a god wont fail now. the moon will claim it's child once more..

the staff of the academy watches the shadow closely, they fear that it'll do something. it is planing on that so the fear was warranted

the day of the eclipse

So everything's suddenly very dark and that HEART BEAT IS BACK

Pippet seems fine tho- pippet? Pippet??? Oh dear I think he's gone missing I hope the puppet Master doesn't blow up the school for this-- WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE PUPPET MASTER IS ALSO MISSING AND 5 ORDER OF INFLUENCE MEMBERS HAVE JUST BEEN FOUND DEAD IN HIS ROOM?!?!?!

...

.....

..........

Why is the moon looking at me.

the order is gathered like all those years before, a different person in the ritual's eye

but something is wrong, its darker then it should be. the order continues anyway. maybe its a sign this will go better then last time!

they run through the steps once more. how many times has this been done? maybe more then would be pleasant to know. the head of the order of influence sees worried- which is an unusual sight.

when they start to call a thread down

it doesnt come from the sky

but from behind the trees

a scream echos in the academy, looks like someone found the puppet master and pippet!! they're covered in blood and pippet looks only slightly traumatized!

yeahh the puppet master is now more then eldritch now, pippet also might be the child of the trickster god now?? pm doesnt have any human memories anymore but decided to mostly keep their old personality- they still think very highly of themself lol