Karse smiles grimly. "Very well. Come along, if you wish." He quickly makes his way up several floors of the tower's central stairwell, heading for Doddoddod's private study. Twice he hesitates, as if unsure of the way, then cocks his head as if to listen, and chooses the correct way. When he reaches the heavy, wood-paneled door, he does not hesitate, flinging it wide and striding straight into the room.
Doddoddod, resplendant in a massive construction of purple and green silk, whirls with surprising alacrity. "You!" he gasps. "It can't be! You're dead! No, of course not, you're not him, are you?" He leaps toward his work table, actually achieving a slight separation from the ground as his hand stretches for a wand.
"Halt!" commands Karse, bending his will on the wizard. Doddoddod staggers, but resists the command, fingers closing around the wand. A blast of lightning forks through the air, scorching Karse and narrowly missing the rest of you.
"HALT!" shouts Karse, redoubling his will. This time, the command sticks. Doddoddod stops, eyes unfocused, and does not move as Karse approaches and relieves him of the wand, then strikes him a sharp blow to the back of the head, moving quickly aside as Doddoddod falls with a booming crash.
[sblock=Woe and Atriden]Doddoddod is looking... well, not good, not healthy, even, but far less like a gravy elemental than you've ever seen him before. There is a focused quality to his eyes, a briskness and non-torpidity to his movements that is wholly unlike the wizard you've come to know and loathe. The spell he cast, before Karse took him, was far more powerful than any you'd have credited him with. In fact, aside from the odd cantrip or ritual, it's the only spell you can recall him ever performing in front of you. [/sblock]
"Well, that was interesting," Karse says, making an effort to keep his voice calm. "He is far more powerful than I had expected. Leave us; it will take some time and concentration to possess his mind fully, perhaps several days. Perhaps you might begin your investigations, when you are ready."
Just then, the servant Fritz comes pounding up the stairs, face flushed. "What's going on? Woe? I thought you were dead? Where's Master Doddoddod?"