Menuven

“Cardinal Menuven” could properly be affixed. There were

half a dozen designated templars and pack priests chosen from

among the cardinal’s subjects to attend him, or her, or it. Each

of them was trepanned at the start of their year of service, and

thaumaturgically created carbon rods inserted into each

exposed brain. Shadow tendrils constantly flowed between the

rods. All six aides spoke with the same voice, a whispery tenor,

for the duration of their service, and showed common

mannerisms in addition to their own distinctive behavior. They

showed mastery of the heights of shadow manipulation that

they didn’t have before and wouldn’t have later. Some may

suspect that the story about Menuven as a creature of pure

Abyssal intellect was cover for something else.