I hope this next chapter isnt a little too rich. But I plead my innocence; Im not a rambling madman ^_^
Dannyl thought back on the last two days; two days ago they had brought Matthias Draconis up to the Arch-Mages quarters, and Mor'tar seemed to have been lost in thought ever since. Mor'tar had made a sound proof bubble in the room and just left Matthias there, somehow Dannyl came to the conclusion that Mor'tar has different plans for him.
"…..That didn't entirely answer my question, we had been planning on using Matthias for more practical lessons on poisoning; but you've changed your mind, haven't you?" Dannyl grew irritated at the lack of a solid answer from Mor'tar.
"Yes, I have, only because I have discovered that Matthias here has the required soul to perform another project I have planned out, I'm glad we didn't kill him, like we were required to"
"Oh yeah, I never got around to asking you; do you think the BlackHand will have known you neglected killing every member of the Draconis family?"
"I'm not sure, but I doubt it"
Leaving it at that; Dannyl asked "And what is this project you have planned?"
"We are going to be conjuring a Magnosanguis" Mor'tar said without thinking, as if expecting the question.
"Whats that" Dannyl tilted his head in curiousity.
"A Magnosanguis is a person that has roamed the Apocrypha of Hermaeus Mora for over a thousand years, and has taken a spectral form" Mor'tar explained as they slipped on their robes.
"And so what exactly does he have to do with it?" Nodding his head towards the scared Matthias sitting silently on the far side of the room.
"Well, when you linger for such a prolonged time in the realm of Hermaeus Mora, you become bound to the realm; and so, we need to temporarily un-bind the spectral-being of a Magnosanguis, but in doing so; you cannot bring it entirely into our plane of existence-"
"So he's going to be a vessel for the Magnosanguis" Dannyl quickly concluded.
"Yeah, and as I vaguely mentioned before; he has the necessary soul a Magnosanguis requires to inhabit" Mor'tar' s mouth half curled up-wards with his usual half – but genuine – smile.
"Elaborate," Dannyl leans against the table that Mor'tar is stationed at.
"For a being such as a Magnosanguis, they can only possess the soul of a being with a similar soul, in a way, they temporarily meld together to produce the materialisation of the Magnosanguis. Think of it like this; you cant breed a bear with a wolf, you need two of the same species to produce off-spring, it's the same with a soul, the materialisation can only occur when two of the same soul are amalgamated."
"Your lessons are getting more and more complicated Mor'tar," He sighed.
"Oh, this won't just be a lesson, this is going to help in a much grander plan."
Dannyl didn't ask any more questions as they finished getting ready for the day. They proceeded down through the Arch-mages tower and out of the University.
"So we're not working in the University grounds today?" Dannyl inquired once they had egressed outside.
"You know how I've been rambling on about the inferior size and structure of the Arcane University, well now that I'm Arch-Mage I have the authority to expand it."
"Is that your 'grand-plan' you were refering to? But doesn't the Emperor, or the next most powerful figure in the council have a say in that?"
"I've already looked into it, and it seems my predecessors were dearth of ambition." Mor'tar gestured outwards towards the vacant terrain behind the University, "See all this land; the ruling head of the University actually owns all the contiguous soils behind the University building. I intend to fully utilize all the land we own."
"We? You mean you" Dannyl said incredulously.
Mor'tar anticipated the correction, "If it wasn't for your acceptance and friendship, I wouldn't have had the willpower to deal with keeping up my studies in the University as a novice, besides; it's not just going to be me doing the renovations, your helping. The University is ours, not mine" Mor'tar smiled gratefully. Dannyl responded with an involuntary grin.
"And what does all this have to do with the Magnosanguis?" Dannyl thought back.
"We're going to use the soul of one to create the library."
Dannyl' s puzzled look kicked Mor'tar into an elaboration.
"I wanted the library to be ever-growing, so I began to think; how can I make a self-developing building? And the answer came almost instantly. Trees!" Mor'tar said with ascending enthusiasm.
"Trees?" Dannyl criticised.
"Yes. Trees are ever-growing, they get their means to grow from the environment itself, but, the tree we are growing will get its nutrience from a more abstract source," Mor'tar paused to consider his next words.
"And what will this source be?" Dannyl interrupted his contemplation. Mor'tar gave him a spirited smile.
"Knowledge!" He almost shouted.
There was a long, awkward pause.
"Wow! I'm really confused," Dannyl laughed. "Again; what does this have to do with a Magnosanguis?"
"Sorry, ugh…." Mor'tar sat on a boulder. "I should tell you more of what a Magnosanguis really is."
"Please do!" Dannyl exhaled.
"A Magnosanguis is a mortal that has traversed over to the realm of Hermaeus Mora with nothing to live for. They are mortals that have given their life to Mora knowing full well the consequence, but being so enveloped in despair they willingly sold their soul, or, they have gone to Mora's realm as a last resort to find hope. You do know the details of Mora's realm don't you?" Mor'tar inquired.
"'Hermaeus Mora is the Daedric prince of the past, present, and future. His realm is the Apocrypha; which is a perpetually infinite library, containing books of powerful and forbidden knowledge.'" Dannyl recited informingly. "This has something to do with why you made me study the Daedric Princes isn't it?"
"Yes, and when a mortal finds himself in the endless halls of Apocrypha, he becomes obsessed with expanding his knowledge. After spending over a thousand years in the Apocrypha, you can imagine how vast their level of erudition would be. But there are many who have spent that much time in the halls and still haven't achieved the level of wisdom as a Magnosanguis has. A Magnosanguis is a mortal that has achieved immortality in the realm of Mora, and has experienced great sorrow as a mortal. With pain and sadness comes wisdom, and with wisdom comes knowledge."
"So they are of a higher spiritual level?" Dannyl caught on.
"You remember me saying that this tree we're growing will grow on knowledge?"
"Don't worry, I'm keeping up with you, mostly…."
"We are going to instil the soul of a Magnosanguis into a dead tree, and that will bring the tree to life, also instigating growth. When its big enough, we will be able to start building the library inside the tree-" Mor'tar stopped abruptly. "But let's not generate any preconceptions, for now we need to concentrate on the conjuring of the Magnosanguis, and work from there."
"So what's our first move Arch-Mage?" Dannyl teased.
"We have to prepare the ritual for the conjuration," Mor'tar glanced over the river in deep thought.