IV - Purson

The infernal science officer, the demon most associated with the occult. Abilities related to seeing, and the first king to give familiars. A man with a lions head, carrying a viper riding a bear, carrying a trumpet. Preceeded by caucauphony. Fallen angel.

Purson [Pursan], alias Curson, a great king, he commeth forth like a man with a lions face, carrying a most cruel viper, and riding on a beare; and before him go always trumpets, he knoweth <things hidden, and can tell> all things present, past, and to come: [he discloses hidden things,] he bewrayeth treasure, he can take a body either humane or aerie; he answereth truelie of all things earthly and secret, of the divinitie and creation of the world, and bringeth forth the best familiars; and there obey him two and twentie legions of divels, partlie of the order of vertues, & partlie of the order of thrones.

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“After my difficulties with king Beleth, I tended to my wards. For ten days I poured over musty tomes of sacred geometry with my assistants. A single strike from King Beleth was enough to completely overtax my working, resulting in the splitting headache that seemed to only be helped by the laudaunum. I tripled the number of ward-stones and candles. 

Imagine my frustration when King Purson managed to disable them from within the circle. The demons seem compelled to offer resistance, even if it be ceremonial. I am sure even if they were to go free, they would be interested in my offer of souls. In fact I believe that if King Beleth wished to be free, there is no power on earth save god that could keep him contained.

It took him only a passing glance at my working to decipher some critical flaw in its construction. With a single talon he unraveled ten days of arcane mathematics. I am unsure if the circle itself held him. He made no efforts to exit. 

He came astride some great infernal beast resembling a bear, but the creature vanished almost as soon as it came. King Purson himself was roughly my height, leonine in feature, with a regal mane of hair and whiskers, and what appeared to be clawed hands and feet. His apparel was the same demonic scarlet, but he wore no armor, instead wearing a fine suit of deepest red, tailored for his inhuman form. He smoked. As impossible and strange as the countenance of the being before me was, It would be a disservice to this journal if I did not record that the strangest thing about King Purson, were the wire-rim spectacles that sat on the bridge of his infernal nose. His eyes were black and unmarked, but his gaze seemed to disassemble me, as if he knew every facet of my being from a passing glance. I did my best to avoid meeting it.

I asked what he had done to my ward. Without mincing a single syllable, he explained the gap in my thinking, the flaw in my logic that allowed him to break my working. He commended me on my efforts, explaining the knowledge I demonstrated was rare among humans. My talent with the arcane is extraordinary, this I know, but King Purson spoke as if he were commending a child on their swordplay after a demonstration with a particularly sword-shaped stick. 

I desired so deeply to know more. A lifetime I have spent unearthing the secrets of the arcane. To learn from a master such as king Purson, what wonders I could learn. I desired to ask King Purson. In that moment, I believe I would have given anything and everything for the knowledge King Purson possessed. 

However, my tongue was stayed by the black viper that curled affectionately about the kings arm. Up it spiraled, resting a scaly head on the kings shoulder, wicking its forked tongue as if whispering into his ear. It conjured images of deceit. 

Brand of the Familiar - The construction and administration of familiars is the wheelhouse of King Purson. His position as the court magician of hell makes him adept at their creation and management. 

The cost of a familiar seems to be an additional soul, but the demon is bound completely to the marked. Despite their animal appearance, the creature is highly intelligent and loyal, even possessing remarkable physical prowess and ability to recover from wounds that would be lethal to any mundane animal. 

King Purson appears to conjure the creatures from smoke breathed from his pipe. Whether this is an act of artifice, or simply a method of transport, I do not know. Perhaps they are constructed from the souls given as payment? I would ask King Purson, but I am unsure if I could restrain myself from asking more...prying questions.

I asked for a raven, it seemed appropriate given my family name. I have named him Euclid. Euclid cannot communicate with me verbally, but instead by way of images that press at the corners of my senses. So far, his main desire has been that of hard-boiled eggs, which he consumes ravenously.