The Lavos Leverian was the 8th exhibit to be released, and was unveiled with the debut of Lavos himself.
[45]
Drusus Leverian: "Lavos. The transmuter. Called by some, anachronistically, the alchemist.
"Transmutation, you say? A superstitious process from long ago, in which deranged old men heated stinking substances over fires of dung, thinking they could make gold?
"No. To the Orokin, it was a darkly potent, forbidden science. They were not squeamish nor moral, so what profound taboos must this art have violated?
"No transmuter was more dreaded than Javi. The Crawling Serpent. The Abhorred. The Filth-Speaker.
"The Orokin feared him so greatly that they whispered he might, somehow, survive even the Jade Light, just as a severed snake was once believed to grow a new head. So instead he was imprisoned, that his evil might be contained, if not quenched.
"His jailer was a brute of a warframe named Lavos."
[Lavos’ serpents]
Drusus Leverian: "The prison of Dabaoth-Kra no longer stands: both it and the slumped Venusian mountain peak upon which it stood were long ago obliterated. We have only records to tell us what went on there.
"Javi was a scrawny, hairless man, scaly with skin disease. In reluctant recognition of his Archimedian status, he was permitted to wear the white robe – now a befouled, ragged garment. Two tattooed serpents crawled up each bony arm from elbow to wrist.
"Lavos, we are told, was attentive to his prisoner. He administered the prescribed soup, water, and beatings with the same punctual fidelity.
"These are recreations of Lavos' own snakes – no mere tattoos, but living bio-ferrous exoflesh."
[Vitam syandana]
Drusus Leverian: "Observers at the prison reported that Javi was frequently whispering to Lavos. There was some concern among the wardens, but they dismissed the whispers as mere posturing.
"Javi's cell walls began to fill up with scrawlings, using blood and filth as ink. At first, these were simple symbols, but as time passed, they became more elaborate. It was as if the Archimedian was turning his cell into a demonic temple, baiting his captors. There was even an image of Lavos, resplendent in his syandana of office – perhaps an attempt at a curse.
"Lavos was ordered to beat him harder, and duly did so. With the blood on the wall, Javi drew a snake. An appeal, no doubt, to his depraved idol.
"Floor-washer Bekran Zaft, the sole survivor of Dabaoth-Kra, would later tell of how Lavos would stride from cell to cell – weighty shotgun in hand – clubbing and beating as required. The nightmares still haunted her."
[Lavos Cordatus helmet]
Drusus Leverian: "The wardens' records reveal an increasing unease with Javi's bizarre behaviour.
"Regardless of the potential risk, they determined that he should be executed – after a fashion. They would use cellular reversal. Javi would be reduced to a mere biological pulp with no more sentience than bread mould.
"But the executioner? No jailer wanted to be the pobber to bell that kavat. So Lavos received this ceremonial helm, along with the power to reconfigure organic matter. He could be their instrument.
"The walls, floor, and ceiling of the cell were, by now, overwritten with text. Lavos watched over Javi continually.
"Bekran Zaft tells us that, curiously, Lavos no longer beat the prisoners in the other cells. Even when the inmates shoved one of their hated fellows into his path, expecting a bloody beatdown, Lavos merely waited for him to get back to his feet before moving on."
[Transmutation Probe]
Drusus Leverian: "What actually was this forbidden practice of transmutation that terrified the Orokin so? At its pinnacle, it was nothing less than the purposeful elevation of consciousness.
"To the Orokin, prisoners of their endless golden dream, the thought that a person could rise above their station was anathema. Transmutation could turn commoners into kings, or riches into garbage. Worst of all, it could teach people not to be afraid.
"I have seen a preserved image of Javi's cell. His scrawlings were not demonic sigils and barbarous texts, but star charts. Evolutionary trees. Genome structures.
"Javi was not defying Lavos with these cryptic daubings in his own blood. He was enlightening him. Not dark sorcery at all, but radiant science. And the snake? A symbol not of corruption but of healing.
"Javi was a teacher. He might have taught millions. Now he had only one student.
"But that student was attentive."
[Cedo shotgun]
Drusus Leverian: "Bekran Zaft says this of Execution Day:
"The jailers gathered in the auditorium. With a slow funereal tread, Lavos escorted Javi to the execution dais. He gently raised a hood over Javi's head, cobra-like. He turned, then, to face the Orokin warden, shotgun trembling in his mighty hands.
"The silence, Zaft says, was absolute.
"But then from beneath the hood came a whisper. Javi had some final words for his student.
"The Orokin jailer shifted uncomfortably, looked to his functionaries. Would the execution even take place?
"Lavos gave a stiff bow to Javi… and activated his power.
"Javi's skin peeled off in one grisly sloughing. He liquefied into a biological soup.
"A cheer went up from the assembled jailers.
"Lavos gathered the remains of Javi tenderly in his hands. A soft glow emanated from them as, in one horrible moment, Javi's Orokin oppressors realised what they beheld. And then: panic. Lavos was transmuting the remains.
"A twining, living snake seethed up Lavos' left arm. Javi, transformed, and still – after a fashion – alive, just as they had feared. A second snake coiled around his right arm, this one sprouting from Lavos' own flesh.
"Then Lavos leapt into the midst of the assembly, hurling vials left and right, bathing the hapless screaming jailers and functionaries – and their warden – in icy vitriol. Not one survived – not for long, anyway.
"And Bekran Zaft? Lavos bowed to her and moved on."
[Lavos]
Drusus Leverian: "They say that Lavos often takes counsel from his serpents. One is his brutal advisor, the other his wise teacher. Both have their wisdom, and Javi still whispers to his beloved student.
"Much like the snake, Lavos is easy to misjudge. The serpents that poison can also cure. He may have been a monster in his previous life, but he was able to achieve something that eluded the most powerful of the Orokin. He changed.
"Moreover, he changed himself. Javi may have helped and instructed, but the will to change must have begun with Lavos.
"Perhaps we all have that golden gleam coiled within us somewhere, ready to slither forth from its old skin. We must only beware that we do not condemn as devilish that which we do not yet understand."
Baro Ki'Teer sells an Operator cosmetic, two Orbiter decorations, and a Habitation Segment stencil related to this tale. Their descriptions are as follows:
- Transmuter Operator Hood: "The transmuter Javi was honoured with this ceremonial hood on the day of his execution, in recognition of his Archimedian status."
- Bekran Zaft's Equipment: "A replica of the very mop and bucket Bekran Zaft was holding when she witnessed the transmutation of the remains of Archimedian Javi by Lavos. As detailed by Drusus Leverian."
- Javi Evolution Scrawling: "Become a student of Javi. This evolution scrawling is based on Drusus Leverian's records of Lavos."
- Javi's Scrawling: "The very scrawling found on the cell walls of transmuter Javi can now be yours. Those who hope to interpret these symbols might find the Leverian exhibit of Lavos useful."
[Navigation: Hub → Dialogue → Drusus Leverian → Lavos gallery]
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