The Eldritch Classroom Vol. 1

Shrines. So, not quite like Dionte, but similar enough. A shrine. Probably some kind of ritual, something arcane and infinitely clear to Giltenn. Just as obvious to Gil as it was incomprehensible to him.

The plan was there. It was just going to probably be a lot harder to pull off then he'd first thought.

"I can handle it," Jude pointed out. "I don't think anything I could see would actually bother me. Anything that would mess me up, Giltenn just handles for me. And it kind of works in reverse, too. If someone tried to soul gaze me, they'd end up in a lot of discomfort in the best case scenario."

He was baiting the hook, putting the idea out there. He could handle it.

Shoggoth. He'd never seen one, not really. He knew enough to recognize they were some kind of eldritch creature, some kind of horrifying shapeless monster that could take no true form. Something bad.

"You misunderstand," Jude said. "For one, I'm harmless. Unlike more or less everyone on the island, I'm limited to this." He raised one hand, flexing the metal of his fingers. "So unless you count punching with a fist that's kind of hard as a significant superpower... I have a feeling a shoggoth would take care of me."

He really wasn't keen on that idea.

"I'm curious as to how it works. I know Dionte has a similar process, only his is a summoning. I strive to gain knowledge to all ends."

Which was true. Jude was genuinely curious, and he really did want to know.

Oh. Blueprints. Really, he felt a bit spoiled, like he was being hand-delivered, and for once Giltenn actually cared a bit too. Often Jude felt reactions, even if they were things that shouldn't be able to be felt. Things like Giltenn leaning forward slightly in a seat they weren't even sitting in.

Which was happening right then.

"I'll confess to being greedy," Jude said with a small laugh, firmly unfazed by the whole appearing-from-thin-air. Edmund had done the same trick all the time, and Jude was fairly sure he could pull it off himself, given time. "The nature of Giltenn is that they want to know everything, and while I'd like to put the blame on them, it's really at least partially on me. I liked knowing things even before we bonded. Where do you even find blueprints for a shrine?"

Jude had a secret, but he was keeping that one firmly in his pocket.

So he was using the blueprint to help reinforce the idea that they had to follow human rules. Jude made a very obvious hmm as he scooted over, making no attempt to hide it as he looked over the blueprints. Handy.

Jude had a sneaking suspicion that it was arrogance he was dealing with. It happened a lot with grand, massive creatures like eldritch. They were so big and vast and a human was a speck of dust in their eye, so what kind of threat could they possibly pose?

That was the trick: He couldn't. Jude himself could pose no true threat to a creature like an eldritch, let alone a Gultha. But that was no longer his objective. He didn't have bigger fish to fry--he had to find a fish that would fit in his pan.

"They seem hard to work with, and not quite worth the effort," Jude said, scrutinizing the plans. "Especially not if you're going to make them act as humans."

"That's because shoggoth are single-minded," Jude said, effectively being fed context he shouldn't have from Giltenn in the corner of his mind. "They weren't sentient, and now they kind of are, but only on the most basic of levels. Extremely devoted, but... kind of dumb."

Jude made a face.

"Giltenn doesn't like them. They're... well, they're like a personification of knowledge, so the idea of a creature that can only barely be said to think is a bit too much for them. I guess they have their uses."

Like guarding shrines, apparently.

"I don't think we had true eldritch on my home plane, actually."