Solo The Unexpected Spectres

[Kamilla]

Kamilla Circe Gordon

40th of Spring, 515 AV

The Judgment had not met any of her expectations, not in the slightest, the judges couldn't have seemed less interested in her golem and her passing had been anything but remarkable, overall it had been an anticlimactic end to something that the entire season(so far) had been building up to. The moment that a judgment had been passed she had picked up the bronze ring that had landed at her feet, retrieved the pile of dark cloth that was her golem and strode out of the large hall, unwilling to remain at the mercy of 'authority' a moment longer, her Sunberthian roots had already made the event uncomfortable enough. She'd been instructed to request a guide to her new workplace from the TAR, the large stationary golem found in The Vestibule, and that was where she was headed, draping the material that was her newest golem over her shoulders as if it were a scarf as she walked, though she doubted anyone seeing the limp cloth would think otherwise.

Crossing the large and eerie courtyard with swift steps, though making sure not to venture from the path at all, Kamilla turned her warm brown gaze toward the bronze ring that she held tightly in her left hand, raising the unremarkable piece of jewelry to her face as she examined it. "A bit too dull for my tastes but you can never have enough jewelry." With that she slid the status symbol onto her left middle finger, her eyes lingering on it a moment longer as she evaluated its appearance on her hand and then it was forgotten and her attention was on the large stone doorway up ahead, crossing the threshold and entering The Vestibule only moments later.

The conversation with the TAR was quick and efficient as was surely it's creator's intention since those seemed to be the most sought after qualities when it came to dealings on Sahova. Kamilla arrived, stated that she'd been granted an apprenticeship and that she was assigned to 'Erikur and Erikus' and the TAR immediately responded in its artificial and androgynous voice, informing her that her guide would arrive soon. The exchange lasted less than a chime and then Kamilla was left to wait for her 'guide' to arrive in awkward silence, though it made no sense to her that she felt as if she should have been making small talk with the golem. A few chimes later she was greeted with the sight of a new and unfamiliar golem which she assumed to be her guide and quickly followed out of The Vestibule and back through The Courtyard which she'd crossed only chimes earlier.

To Kamilla's surprise, the golem took the path leading to the left, one that she had never explored but had always been curious about. She followed the construct without question, keeping a few feet between herself and it as she pondered it's mechanisms in amazement. It was larger than any of the other mobile golems she'd seen wandering the Citadel in the past weeks, the only larger one being the TAR which was securely fixed in place and the multitude of glyphs on its body only made her more curious as to the golem's function, since she couldn't think of a good reason for a guide golem to have any glyphs at all. Her limited knowledge of the written world magic allowed her to instinctively interpret the meanings of the glyphs which told her that there were many things locked within them, spells being the most likely, in fact offensive spells made the most sense considering the positioning of the glyphs. Was this golem some sort of enforcer? Or was it perhaps covered in glyphs that held spells for ousting fires and other hazards? Kamilla currently had no way of telling without running the risk of setting the construct off or worse, so she resigned to ponder in silence and save the questions for a later time.

[Kamilla]

Kamilla Circe Gordon

So absorbed in the mystery of the new and fascinating golem was she, that Kamilla did not even notice the tall and ominous building approaching until she had entered it, though the moment she stepped through the large doorway she was made instantly aware of her change in location by the sudden frigid atmosphere that surrounded her. It took on a fraction of a tick but upon entering Kamilla could feel herself being filled with dread as she traded the eerie courtyard that eluded to darker things for what was clearly a large dungeon filled with undeniable evidence of cruelty. 

Suddenly overcome with dread and fear, Kamilla stopped dead in her tracks, the hairs on the back of her neck rising as she stared down the dimly lit corridor which echoed with cries of pain the moment her footsteps had begun to echo through the darkness. There was no reason to speculate what this building was as it was clearly a massive dungeon filled with all manner of prisoners, her excitement and anxiety of meeting her newly assigned masters quickly dissipating to be replaced by a swarm of darker and unwanted emotions. For a moment she wondered if she was being lead to her own filthy cell within the large building but the thought was quickly dismissed, the idea of Sahova's wizards going through the trouble of creating a farce in order to entrap her seemed highly unlikely, in her opinion if they wanted her imprisoned they would simply do it in any manner of direct ways.

This somewhat relieving reasoning caused Kamilla to take another step forward before another cacophony of screams and pleads for mercy filled the air, stopping the aspiring young mage dead in her tracks as the golem that continued deeper into the dark hall grew ever more distant. Taking a deep breath to steady herself as she clenched her fists tightly, Kamilla made her decision, she had come to The Undead Isle in search of enlightenment and she was not going to allow anything, not even this, to stop her. So, keeping her eyes focused on the golem ahead, not daring to glance into one of the cells who's prisoners pleaded as she passed by, arms reaching out to grasp at her even though she remained well out of reach, Kamilla continued on, doing her best to block out as much of the sensation that she was being flooded with as possible.

The Dungeons were the undeniable dark truth of her new home, forcing the realization that Sahova was not just some wonderland to pursue an interest in magic in, it was a serious research facility and in staying she was accepting that she was now a part of it, the good and the bad. Kamilla had always thought that Sunberth had been a horrible place to grew up, thought she'd seen things at their worst, people starved, we're murdered and much worse and yet the mere act of strolling through the dungeon seemed to make her childhood assumptions seem blatantly naive, things could always be worse.

[Kamilla]

Kamilla Circe Gordon

Eventually, though not nearly soon enough, the ceaseless cries of suffering began to diminish, going from unbearably unbearable to just barely 'barely bearable' as she followed the golem down a flight of stairs, the last remnants of natural light fading in the distance of the hallway before disappearing completely. Down and down they walked, flight after flight of stairs as Kamilla's heart, which was still beating rapidly from the trauma of the dungeons, continued to do so at a slightly less urgent pace, her anxiety growing and her heart sinking lower along with her as she ventured further beneath the island's surface.

It was at this point, when each level she passed began to grow darker and more hopeless, eventually even foregoing the asset of basic lighting as she kept her eyes focused intensely on the golem ahead of her, fearing for her well being and sanity if she did otherwise, that Kamilla's thoughts were unwillingly drawn to the words of the judges when they'd passed her the bronze ring, words that she had been trying to pay no mind up until now when they were practically banging at the door of her mind as they demanded her attention. The words spoken during her judgement, while technically positive since she'd passed, had certainly not been encouraging, if anything they had been ominous, carrying with them a hint of foreboding that she'd done her best to ignore, up until now. The way they had spoken about her assigned masters had been worrying at the least and as she traveled further from the perceived safety of the surface and nearer to them, fear began to grow but, still driven by the fire of her determination, she soldiered on.

‎"The brothers asked for a new vessel."

"Then to Erikus and Erikur with you Pulsar. If you make yourself useful Erikus generally refrains from amputating limbs for experiments."

There were a multitude of disconcerting and ominous things contained within those two short sentences, the first being the use of the word 'vessel', though considering that the nuit were essentially souls that occupied corpses, Kamilla felt safe, or rather hopeful, dismissing the use of the word as just another of the oddities of nuit speech. The second thing however, the part about one of her new masters 'generally' refraining from amputating limbs was by far the most concerning, what kind of ruthless creatures had she been assigned to? Images of the suffering and tortured prisoners she'd seen on upper levels of the dungeon before she'd had the good sense to avoid looking, flooded her mind and her anxiety grew further. "I'm just going to have to become undeniably useful." she whispered to herself, attempting to bring some humour to the heavy atmosphere though she quickly realized that it might actually be the case.

Finally, after what had seemed like an excruciatingly long walk spanning several bells, the new golem came to a halt at large closed door, one of the only she had seen on that particularly dark and empty level of the underground caverns. The golem offered her no words of guidance, nor did it confirm or deny her assumption that this had been her destination, in the back of her mind she still found herself hoping it had just malfunctioned and that her actual place of work was somewhere above ground in the much less intimidating Gug Andjak, but it was only a faint spark of hope at this point. After the long walk, while not completely exhausted, Kamilla was certainly feeling a fair amount of fatigue in her legs just from having walked there and to think she would be doing it almost everyday for at least a season, all the way down into the depths and then up and out again. It was an undesirable but unavoidable outcome of her apprenticeship, but getting exercise was certainly not the end of the world, especially when it was blended into her duties.

Figuring that she couldn't delay it anymore, Kamilla decided it was time to go in, knocking nervously at the large door several times before silently waiting for a response that didn't come. After a short while she knocked again, though more loudly but the result was the same, not a sound coming from within the room. Her heart had already been beating at a higher rate than usual from her dark secluded location and judge's words so the lack of a response was not in any way helping to dissuade her growing anxiety. Finally, giving up on formalities, she turned to look at the golem that had lead her into the dark depths of Sahova, it hadn't moved an inch since their arrival seeming like nothing more than an intricate sculpture as it waited for her to enter or perhaps give it a command, she was uncertain of its Directives having not animated it herself. "Wait for me here." she commanded, albeit reluctantly since she was uncertain of whether it would obey or not, she didn't want to think about trying to find her way out of the underground maze on her own. Then, with a very deep breath to calm herself a bit, she opened the large door which creaked loudly as she entered the strange room, taking a few cautious steps inside as she searched for her new masters.

[Kamilla]

Kamilla Circe Gordon

On the other side of the large door, in the caverns far beneath the surface of the undead island, Kamilla found herself standing in what seemed like a regular cave. The building anticipation that had grown during her journey to the 'lab' of her new masters was drifted from her person as if swept away by the breeze of the anticlimactic reveal. Instead of a lab she had been greeted with exactly what one would expect to find far underground, an ordinary, albeit sparsely lit, cave. The only thing worth noting in her current location was the eerie atmosphere that seemed to hover in the air, not unlike the courtyard far above.

Brown eyes scanning her surroundings in the dim light, Kamilla noticed that on one side of her was yet another large door resting in the stone while on the other end of the cave was what looked like a natural extension of the one she currently stood. Not willing to venture even further into the subterranean maze, she turned towards the door before being halted by the echo of a voice coming from [i]somewhere/[i] behind her, though even after turning around she could not find its source.

"Finally, the new apprentice! Quick now, I have use for you! I hope you have dexterous fingers!"

Blinking slightly in confusion as she assumed the voice coming from deeper in the cave was just echoing in a very unnatural way, Kamilla reluctantly headed in the direction it had seemed to come from, pulling her golem turned makeshift coat tightly around her exposed skin to shield herself from the cold that had come from being so far underground as well as the prickle of nerves that ran down her spine. As she walked she couldn't help but notice that the echoes of her boots on the cave floor were entirely different to the one beckoning her deeper into the cavern.

The first thing Kamilla noticed when she stepped into the extension of the cave was the stench of rot followed by the sight of the creature it was coming from as well as the remains of others. It was as if she'd stepped into a slaughterhouse and she halted her advance right then and there. There seemed to be bones and unrecognizable remains of even more unrecognizable creatures hanging from racks all around the cavern she currently stood in, a hand coming up to cover her mouth as she winced in disgust. The 'freshest' looking corpse seemed to come from that of what looked like a dog, or rabbit considering its ears, which was as much detail as Kamilla could Hat her from what remained.

What kind of 'lab' was this and what had she gotten herself into? Most importantly, where was the person that the beckoning voice belonged to?

[Kamilla]

Kamilla Circe Gordon

Kamilla, who had long since began to grow uneasy due to her surroundings found the complete lack of answers to her internal questions was quickly becoming a much larger source of anxiety for her. Being someone who relied on her mind more than anything else, nothing made the young sorceress more nervous than a complete lack of information with which to work with and understand a situation. Not content to remain in the figurative dark any longer, the dark haired woman took a deep breath of courage before speaking into the seemingly empty cave, failing to hide the nervous tinge in her voice.

"Master Erikur?"

It was the first thing that came to mind, after all she had been assigned to the lab of masters Erikur and Erikus, but before Kamilla even had time to add the second name she was startled by the sudden appearance of an ethereal figure only a foot in front of her, forcing her to take as large a step back as her legs would allow, brown eyes widening to twice their usual size.

"Don't ever mistake me for that rigid old petcher!"

The enraged words were accompanied by a lackluster stomp from the floating misty figure that noticeably lacked the effective noise that usually punctuated the action, though Kamilla was far more concerned with the angry figure's state of being. Was it some sort of magical manifestation of the man's will? It seemed likely. Kamilla was wholly unaware of the completely dumbfounded look that sat upon her face as she tried to make sense of the situation in her mind, eyes locked on the being in front of her.

"Never seen a ghost before? You're on an island run by corpses, you imbecile, stop gawking like a brainless bafoon... Now hurry up we have work to do... I hope you have dexterous hands."

However rude and unpleasant the 'ghost' might have been, Kamilla couldn't argue against it, Sahova was indeed home to many corpses being worn by mages who's own bodies had long since expired so the fact that there existed mages who lacked a body entirely but remained present was hardly a surprise. Unfortunately, even logic couldn't dissuade her initial shock but at the very least the answers were helping her to move past the emotional hurdle much faster as she snapped back to reality and the rest of what the ghost of Master Erikus had said.

Dexterous? Kamilla wondered what use her skill with her hands would have but instead of wasting time asking she simply answered expecting she'd find out soon enough. "I am a seamstress, so I'd say that I'm fairly skilled with my hands." The young sorceress had perked up, regaining her usual posture as she spoke, not wanting to appear intimidated or feeble to her new master.

"A seamstress? Ha! What in Hai are you doing here then? Come to create garments for the dead?"

The ghosts entertained outburst was a minor but direct blow to the sorceresses ego, though Kamilla would not show it, instead choosing to respond, more sternly this time. "No, I am an animator and a reimancer." Pride was evident in her voice, whether Erikus noticed it or not was not evident as the ghost rolled its eyes drifting towards a table with what looked like an engraved human skull resting upon it, surrounded by an array of tools.

"Great another apprentice with no relevant knowledge... I hope you're more useful... and durable, than the last one, but we shall find out soon enough."

[Kamilla]

Kamilla Circe Gordon

Kamilla wasn't sure if Erikus had used the word 'durable' to pluck at her nerves or if he had simply stated it matter-of-factly, but as she recalled the foreboding comment received during her judgement, the young sorceress was inclined to believe it was the latter. For the second time that day the newly appointed apprentice made a mental note to make sure she was deemed useful by her new masters.

"Come now... don't resist or it will be even more unpleasant."

Walking towards the transparent figure as he gestured for her, Kamilla was not given enough time to question the worrying instruction before Erikur dived into her body, an unnaturally icy feeling running through her instantly. Brown eyes widened in shock as she felt the invasion, goosebumps forming on her skin as she became a passenger in her own body.

It felt gross and unnatural, as if something slimy were crawling about beneath her skin, her hands raising to grasp at one of the many tools sprawled across the table despite it being against her will. "What are you...?" she heard herself say, though even control of her words was taken from her as the ghost cut her off, answering in her own voice.

"I asked that you not resist, this part requires my utmost concentration... cease or I will be forced to punish you... severely."

As terrified as she was, Kamilla's mind won out against her emotions, though they did not calm much. The situation was more than unfavorable but the fact of the matter was that Master Erikus had somehow managed to seize control of her body and she could either consent to his request and hope for it to be as quick and painless as possible or she could struggle and risk having her own body used against her in any manner of ways that she felt, currently, she would be helpless to prevent.

In her years of living Kamilla had experienced many things, a lot of them being things she'd prefer to never experience again, but even amongst those, the sickening feeling of something else squirming around and controlling her body proved her least favorite, second only to one... the unforgettable sting of fire. But, whereas fire's pain was only excruciatingly physical, being possessed seemed to hit on many levels all at once, it felt horrid, it was terrifying to watch oneself helplessly and beyond that, submitting to any form of authority went against her Sunberthian nature. Oh, how different her life had become.

[Kamilla]

Kamilla Circe Gordon

After relinquishing control of her body to the ghost, despite the ever present and unpleasant feeling of being inhabited by a foreign entity, it hadn't lasted very long at all. Master Erikus, with the use of her body, engraved several intricate patterns and runes into the skull which although Kamilla assumed them to be glyphs, she was unable to read. The process lasted only a couple of chimes seeing as the object had already been near completion when she'd arrived and with a final symbol outlined by an intricate patterned circle which fit in perfectly, completing the skull's runes entirely, Master Erikus was done, almost immediately expelling himself from her body with a loud gasp from Kamilla as she filled out her own form once more.

"This is so much quicker with a physical body to make use of... now apprentice, would you kindly contribute a drop of your blood to the talisman... and don't ask questions or I'll be forced to do it myself."

The demanding tone was still present in the ghost's echoing voice but it seemed clear to Kamilla that he was a bit exhausted, if that were even possible for the dead. Pushing the thought aside the young sorceress gazed upon the engraved skull which her new master had referred to as a 'talisman', it seemed anything but impressive except perhaps as an art piece but she would follow his instruction about not asking any questions as she she picked up a sharp dagger from the table.

A drop of blood. It seemed that whatever magic Master Erikus practiced was at least in one way similar to that of animation, in that it required life essence in order to be activated. A small wince and a trickle of crimson from her thumb later, the deed was done.

"Excellent, now place the talisman on your head and then off to the Syncrograph's Office with you. Place an order for say... ten soul snails."

Kamilla nodded at the sudden development before eyeing the 'talisman', it hadn't seemed to be any more useful since she'd added the blood but regardless of whether or not it was useful she still had no desire to don the bone headdress. Her resolve lasted only a few ticks before she decided to simply follow the ghosts orders since at least they involved a chance to get out of the underground slaughter cave.

Upon placing the skull talisman on her head, albeit being worried at first, Kamilla was relieved to see that she felt no different, shrugging internally as she maneuvered the thin rope attached to the object to secure it atop her head like a bone crown, she offered her master a short nod and made her way back into the central cavern and towards the door.

"Remember apprentice, I require ten soul snails."

"Ignore my good for nothing brother apprentice because I, Erikur, require ten soul snails."

"Shut up Erikur you rigid bafoon, the request was mine and mine alone!"

Kamilla's face had long since taken on a look of utter confusion as she turned to see the two identical ghosts arguing with each other. The ridiculousness of the situation was not lost on her. So, Masters Erikur and Erikus were twin ghosts, twin ghosts that argued like brats... siblings. "Can't I just request twenty soul snails instead?" she asked aloud, completely oblivious to what soul snails even were.

"No! I will not obtain my sustenance from the same batch as this cesspool of a man!"

"If I'm a cesspool then you must be the ghost of the fecal matter of a particularly prudish and unpleasant human being!"

They went on for several more chimes, neither one saying anything of use to the young sorceress who now wore both a bone headdress and a frown. She had long since lost track of which ghost was which, something that would clearly become a problem for her in the foreseeable future.

"I'm going to request two batches of ten soul snails in separate containers." she said disinterestedly as she turned on her heel and made her way out of the 'lab' where they continued to argue. It seemed her new masters were nothing but spoiled children.

Kamilla was glad to see the golem still waiting for her in the cavern outside the lab, "Take me to the courtyard." she commanded before following the impressive construct, but before she could get very far she heard the voice of one of her new masters call after her.

"Return hastily. I have more important need of you than whatever nonsense my brother had you doing."

Master Erikus, she deduced. Eyes rolling with annoyance at the realization that her apprenticeship would be anything but easy. If anything it would be a test of her patience. A large sigh escaped the former Sunberthian as, for the second time that day, she found herself wondering what she'd gotten herself into.

[Kamilla]

Kamilla Circe Gordon

As she followed the golem back to the surface of the island, Kamilla made certain to keep track of and commit the route to memory, counting the amount of flights of stairs she ascended as well as every turn she'd made since leaving the lab, which she'd obviously have to invert when returning. She had no desire to rely on a navigator golem to get somewhere she'd likely spend most of her days from now on.

Once she'd reached the surface and finally escaped the cold and dreadful atmosphere of the dungeons, Kamilla took a deep breath of the fresh air that filled the courtyard, happy to see the sky again. The sorceress took a moment to stretch herself out, even though there had been enough space to do so underground as well, before heading straight to the Syncrograph's Office to place the request.

Arriving at her destination soon after, she noticed that the large room did not seem any different than it had a few days before when she'd been there to request materials for her judgement. With a simple question she was pointed towards the appropriate request form which she filled in easily enough, making sure to emphasize the most important instruction .

'... Two boxes containing ten soul snails each. PLEASE KEEP SEPERATE!'

The situation did not seem any less absurd to her, but she figured it would be far less of a hassle for her to just adapt to it instead of opposing it. She did not look forward to days spent listening to their arguments but there was nothing she could do about that now, a successful apprenticeship was needed in order to earn the rank or wizard after all and that was Kamilla's goal.

Having completed her menial task, the young apprentice turned and with a soft and unenthusiastic groan began to make her way back towards Masters Erikus and Erikus' lab. As she walked, Kamilla found herself feeling and prodding at the skull headdress she'd been forced to wear for no apparent reason.

[Kamilla]

Kamilla Circe Gordon

On her way back to the underground lab, it became apparent to Kamilla that she had begun to feel a growing pressure against her head. The sensation was unusual but not unlike a headache, though she didn't pay it much mind, a headache seemed understandable given what she'd been put through on that particular day.

Despite initially deciding to pay the pressure no mind, by the time Kamilla had descended the appropriate amount of flights of stairs, the headache had grown to that of a migraine and she found herself rather disorientated as she began wading from side to side, still trying to return to her masters' lab.

Another moment passed and the pressure was too much for her to handle, it felt as if her skull had caved in and Kamilla's eyes rolled into the back of her head as she fell to the ground an assault of foreign images filling her mind while she was sprawled across the cold stone floor.

When finally, to her relief, the onslaught of whatever it was had finally stopped, Kamilla opened her brown eyes to find herself on the ground. Pushing herself up into a sitting position, head still spinning slightly, she began to check herself for any oddities or injuries but found none. She wondered how long she'd been passed out, her body was icy cold and her limbs were stiff so she deduced that it must have been at least half a chime, easily more.

Although the unexpected migraine and black out had been both peculiar and worrying, what Kamilla found most concerning was that her mind was filled with images, no... memories, that she knew not to be her own. Closing her eyes and thinking for a second, the answer was revealed to her through the memories of the stranger who's name she knew to be Felius. At will she could recall parts of the man's life though they seemed fairly recent, reaching backwards only a year or two.

Felius had been a man from a city named Riverfall, memories of his final departure from the beautiful city filled her mind with a bit of concentration. He was a mage and from what she could tell, he was totally and completely obsessed with cats. Owning them, seeing them, acting like them and most importantly becoming one of them. The man practiced three magics, glyphing and two she had no knowledge of, shielding and morphing, the latter of which he had hoped would see him fulfill his dream of become a cat himself.

The man and his memories were odd, with simple concentration Kamilla knew that he'd travelled to Sahova in hopes of improving his morphing skills so that he could become a cat, she also knew that Felius had never achieved anything more than a furry limb and that he was a far more talented glypher, a talent which he had wasted in pursuit of his absurd dream.

While the majority of the foreign memories were odd and mostly useless to Kamilla herself, the ones that seemed most recent were, at least to her, helpful.

During his last few months, Kamilla learnt that Felius had also been assigned to the twins as their apprentice, that he'd been used as a test dummy for Erikus' talismans which were created through his magic called 'Malediction' and most importantly off all, that he'd met his end after instigating a fight between the ghosts by taking one's side during one of their numerous arguments, which quickly escalated to the mage, Felius, dying in a storm of flying knives.

"Too bad he didn't have nine lives." Kamilla joked to herself, a giggle escaping her lips as she found the feline themed joke far more entertaining than she should have.

Removing the skull headdress from her head and glancing at it, Kamilla had no doubt that the skull had belonged to Felius and had imparted its memories unto her, against her will. His rudimentary understanding of Master Erikus' discipline allowed her at least that certainty. Come to think of it, even with the deceased mage's knowledge of other magics, Kamilla couldn't seem to recall any useful or practical details about them, only superficial things such as their names and descriptions. It seemed the man's magic and skills had not been gifted to her along with his memories.

Sighing grumpily as she placed the talisman on the ground in front of her and stretched herself out on all fours, back arching in satisfaction as she did, Kamilla decided it was time to return to her new masters before she got in trouble, Felius' memories had taught her not to confront Erikus about the talisman's unwelcome effects as the ghost would simply ignore her.

It was an odd sensation, to know things that one did not know or experience. It was made worse by the arsenal of unbearably cute images of cats that now floated about her consciousness. "What an odd man you were, Felius." she said out loud as she arrived at the large doors to the lab.

[Kamilla]

Kamilla Circe Gordon

"Apprentice! Where have you been!?... Actually I don't care, I have need of you!"

Kamilla had barely entered when the ghost had begun his babbling, though she found herself far more interested in the flickering lights that littered the cavern walls, cast by the numerous candles within it. With the skull talisman held safely in her hands the young woman's head darted from pretty flickering light to pretty flickering light, wondering how she'd not noticed them her first time in the lab.

"Apprentice!... Return that useless bauble to my equally useless brothers' excuse for a laboratory and do something about the sorry state of this central cavern. My brother might revel in such filth but I will not stand for it."

"Oh shut yer trap you germaphobic yukman!"

The harshness of the ghost's voice ensured him Kamilla's attention as he commanded her to clean the cave, a broom flying out from nowhere and landing at her feet as if it had done so on its own. The apprentice could not believe it, cleaning of all things, was that what her duties had been reduced to? But the sorceress said nothing as she knew through Felius that cleaning would be a very frequent job of hers. She made to groan but let out a soft and unexpected hiss instead, luckily the ghosts were far too involved in yet another argument to have noticed.