They had grown so much. They were so large now. They stretched over a large swathe of Eridanus, crawling into the Arborspire (although they avoided the opalized streaks and the garden out of respect) and stretching their roots out into many trees. Perhaps a hundred now, perhaps more. It was getting difficult to pay attention to every little bit of the forest they had claimed. It was getting harder to bring it all into one mind.

But they tried. They learned. And now that they were stronger, they had a new task. One that they had craved to be able to do for quite a while now. But first...they had to search.

They knew what they were looking for - they'd seen their ilk here and there, and heard their odd cries and voices. It would be sufficient. Senses poured out of them, into the other mycelia in the cave, feeling for what they wanted, jumping from mushroom to spore to mold and back. Eventually, they found one, carrying the spores of some passive mushroom upon its fur. They felt the raggedness, the odd sound of its rasping breaths that said this is the one you're looking for.

They had the location of one - it wasn't close by but it wasn't out of their reach. They simply had to...pull it closer.

They measured the distance between the senses it had just thrown and the farthest of its voices. And the end of the network there was Creut, who agreed to take on the task, bearing the magic Abdicus sent to it. Towards the exact position it had figured the rat to be at, it planted a signal, calling it there. Distress of something small. A lone cry. Perhaps a prey voice that it could take advantage of...

The rat listened, turning curiously and cautiously beginning its approach. They waited. Soon...they would have a chance.

Finally, they felt the vibrations of the rat's feet padding on the forest floor, and the shuffle of its nose as it touched Creut's caps, looking for the signal. That was when they struck, like a viper waiting for prey.

Magicka surged forward to claim the rat, something more powerful then they knew, but it wasn't powerful enough to grab a hold. The rat jolted up, surprised, and they knew they had less then a second to try again before it bolted.

Again, the magic it reached towards the rat wasn't enough. The Lesser turned and darted away, but they tracked it. They kept their mind's eye on it. It wasn't going to get away from them!

Before it could get too far to track, the Chorus lashed out with their phantom hook, sinking it into the rat's hide and lifting it from the ground. It could feel the air moving from the sound its squeals were making. No, it was screaming. Properly screaming like a gembound would, not the squeals of a rat. Intrigue and determination filled them further to have this one as their own.

The rat was pulled back in their range. Stay there. Do not escape.

(this is supposed to be telekinesis)

It was struggling now, and the magic that lashed over it was merely thrown off by its rebelling form. The spell that had been holding it died, then, and it bolted...but this time in the direction of the rest of the Chorus's hidden body. Ah...that would work well.

They had quite a bit of time now before it left their range.

The next attempt, as the rat was flying by, didn't go so well. It screeched as a pop of magicka sparked at its foot, the spell backfiring and causing the caps it had come from to wither. A number of voices went dark as the surge of magicka caused a full blackout around the circumference of a tree. Disconnected from the Chorus. They mourned.

But they did not give in.

They were more careful this time, waiting until it slowed down for a second, jumping onto a fallen tree in their path, and THERE. It touched their caps and they surged forward with all the force they could, magic flooding into the rats mind.

They felt it grip firmly. It was the strangest sensation, the rat, a physical being that had no connection to them, becoming a part of them. They could feel its intelligence expanding as the magic transformed its mind. They didn't barge into its senses yet, although many of the voices were eager to see. No, for now they simply allowed the rat to get used to it - it had stumbled over the tree as the magic caught and was now laying on its stomach, breathing heavily. Evidently, it was a lot.

Eventually, the echoing gray feebly pushed quizzicly back against their mind and they finally made contact.

You are ours now. You are our voice and our eyes, you will look beyond our reach and speak in our stead. You will be the Consul of our Chorus. In return, we will protect you from harm and make sure you are fed.

The rat was hesitant, but gave its approval. There was a curiosity they detected in it. It understood things now and it wanted to know. How far did they reach?

And so the Chorus enveloped it, and flooded itself into them fully. And the rat saw what it could only describe as a God. Intelligence so far beyond its capability to understand, a being the stretched well beyond its mortal limits, untouchable and unreachable, and it was gifted with the knowledge of its heart. Its precious amber - they could not keep it away if they wanted to. And they felt its ludlamite, sitting upon its brow like small spikes.

And the Chorus blinked open the rat's eyes and for the first time, they could see.

They could hear and feel, they could taste and smell. All the senses they had measured carefully until this point, that they felt in their own way, but perhaps not as other expected, now rushed into them. The colors of Eridanus, the smell of the wood and the leaves, the sound of birdcall, the taste of moisture in the air and the remnants of the rat's last meal, the feeling of the grass beneath its feet...

How incredible the senses were of these walking beings! Of these things that moved and limited themselves. It was incredible.

And the Consul was drowning in its scope of self, rendered a faithful servant, convinced that there was no greater being then this one that had claimed it, for how could anything else compare to this? It was everywhere, beneath the ground. And it knew they ambition, to truly be everywhere.

Yes...yes! It would do whatever they asked. It was theirs, theirs faithfully!

*exit