Staris

> *"I'm sure you won't regret it. Trust me."*
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## Storyline

### *The Chosen Apprentice*

The Listener searches for an arcane mentor and walks into the domain of the Devilish warlock, a powerful mage who has mastered magic and death. He mistakes them for an unwitting traveler and toys with them before he realizes they came to him on purpose. He senses their ambition and magical power so deigns to given them some of his time.

The Listener appears to ask the warlock to teach them so they can grow in power. He admires their ambition and warns them that his teachings will take them down a morally dubious path. They have a choice: to leave and live a dull, forgettable life or become his apprentice and learn to form a pact with a supernatural being, trading their immortal soul for their power. The Listener chooses to be his apprentice and asks why he's willing to help them. He responds that he'll be able to claim "commission" from the entity they form a pact with.

The warlock educates his new apprentice on the different beings they may form a pact with depending on what they wish to gain. A Great Old One such as Cthulhu, Viatis, or Cthutt can grant them forbidden knowledge though they might go insane in the process. A spirit of death, such as a reaper, can grant them its power to raise spectres and command profane armor though he implies a horrible end awaits them once they reach the end of their lifespan. The final choice, the one he took, is a fiend like Asmodeus, Baphomet, or Mephistopheles who can grant them control over hellfire, unnatural luck, and boundless freedom. However they will be nothing more than a trivial plaything for these demons and will be subject to their whim, so he advises his apprentice not to be boring.

He gifts them with a grimoire and a spare room to stay in for lessons will begin tomorrow.

Hollow confirms that he returns in the next installment though it's unknown if the Listener is the same apprentice from the first video or if it happens before or after the first video.

### *The Fated Apprentice*

He confronts the Listener after having hunted them all across the continent for years. He claims that they are linked together by fate and that their little game has come to an end. He has restrained them so he can talk with them properly, an opportunity they've denied by hiding from him. He introduces himself as Staris, and asks the Listener for their true name. They refuse or give a false name and he grows agitated. He refuses to rip into their mind to find it himself since he would rather start their relationship as master and apprentice with respect.

This appears to shock the Listener and they call him a monster but Staris is only amused. He reveals that they have a shared background with an order (or cult) that takes in children of magical ability and trains them to suppress their emotions. He left as a young boy to embrace freedom and the inherent chaos of his magic. Now he feels every emotion from love to betrayal completely and uses them to fuel his power.

He compels the Listener to do the same, questioning why a brotherhood of mages would hold them back from accessing their own potential - maybe because they are too weak to handle it. He offers the Listener a chance to prove them wrong; if they will open their mind to him they will belong to The Seed (no explanation given) and he will teach them to cultivate their true power.

Staris is heard chanting an incantation suggesting that the Listener has given in and agreed to become his apprentice.

## Personality

In the first episode the warlock comes off as glib and is intrigued by the Listener the way a cat is intrigued by an unwitting mouse. When he discovers their true intent he could almost be described as eager to have a willing apprentice. He is honest in his own way, warning them of the dangers involved with making a warlock pact. He freely admits that he is only agreeing to train them because he will benefit from it but argues that if their selfishness has a mutual benefit then there shouldn't be a problem. Though we don't see any show of power from him his lesson shows that he values personal freedom over knowledge and power.

This appears to hold true in the the second episode where Staris has a deeper voice. He approaches the potential apprentice with more gravity since he believes they are linked by fate. He is a determined and resourceful hunter, able to track them to all corners of the continent. He appears to be emotionally stable, only showing some anger when the Listener doesn't share their name, and has quite the silver tongue.

## Trivia

### Staris

* His pet blood mage Thalvich drains the blood of people he likes.
* Doesn't reveal his name until the second episode.
* His parents traded him to the order inquisitor for a sack of grain.
* Has underestimated the second Listener before and was unaware they could detect his presence until recently. When he first learned of them he didn't realize the stories/news/gossip was true and didn't capture them immediately. He implies that this delay is the only reason they were able to hide from him for so long.

### The Listener (Chosen Apprentice)

* Reeks with purpose. Their ambition has drawn them to the warlock's sanctuary and they are fine with giving up their soul.
* Has magical training or an innate contrl over the mystic arcanum.

### The Listener (Fated Apprentice)

* Has many aliases according to Staris. They have been running from him since he started hunting them and managed to hide from him for several years, though he came close to catching them many times.

### Fan Theories

* Thalvich, probably ended up absorbing him. Thal shares too many similarities with him.

## Audio References

1. ↑ Devilish Warlock Takes an Apprentice
2. ↑ Corrupted By an Alluring Warlock