| Denotation | Lucius del Eden’d (Latin: light; all Goliath emanations have the surname del Eden’d, Skarsian: of Eden.) |
| Numeration | 33rd emanation of Ashtara; 8th branch of Goliath; 99 in the correspondence chart. |
| Age | 26 |
| Hotness | 7/10 |
| Vital Statistics | 1.762 meters tall, cock size 16.02 cm when erect. |
| Description | Blond and bearded, carelessly trimmed. Sweet, inquisitive features, Very thin. Can cover himself with cavitation bubbles – glows. Prefers light, loose clothing. |
| Skills | Diplomat, nuncio to the Combine of Sentients. Can use SongLuminant talent of possessing someone’s mind. |
| Sexual Prowess and Kinks | Bubbles. |
| Average Duration of Play | 15 minutes, 5 seconds. |
| Totem Tree | Euphorbia ingens, the candelabra tree. |
| Fixed Star | Sol. |
| Color |  |
| Esoteric Symbol | The Minchiate trump, Il Sole, the sun. |
| Function | Facilitative empowerment. |
| Official Title | His Most Puissant Sentience Lucius del Eden’d, Nuncio to the Combine of Sentients. |
| His Prophecy | He takes everything onto himself. |
| Dessert | Green nau’gsh bubble tea |
Biography:
Lucius is introduced at the end of Eden Blues. He is emanated with the ability to mimic the SongLuminant ability to communicate with/possess the bodies of other species by reproducing the cavitation bubbles they use to produce mind and energy. He is a thoughtful emanation who considers the meaning of meeting all the various sentients, and discusses the future with Tara.
At the beginning of The Poison Garden, Ash is invited to a meeting of the Combine of Sentients to be held at Crosspoint 49/Center-of-Minds-Meeting, a station in orbit around the SongLuminant homeworld, Sealeesh. In order to attend, Lucius must possess a human vessel. His initial plan is to use one of the K’ntasari, but it proves too difficult, so he employs Captain Suzanna Noviik – Sweet Blonde Suzanna – instead. Suzanna is predictably unhappy at this turn of events, especially when Lucius trades in her fashionable heels for a pair of work boots. They are subsequently mocked by the Floatfish, who, as the galaxy’s premier merchants, are well-aware of footwear trends.
Lucius and Suzanna attend the first meeting and are stunned by the panoply of intelligent life – besides the SongLuminants and the Floatfish, they face the Ateher *hissclick* Masock (a species of mantis-like creatures whose females eat their mates), the Quicknodes (an artificially intelligent species), the StoneStolids (mineral-based lifeforms), the Twist (articulate particles) and finally a group of energy beings so rarefied that they refuse to be named – but Suzanna refers to them as the Electric Light Flicker Faeries or ELFFs.
Lucius uses Suzanna’s body during the Combine meetings – in actuality, he is sitting in a chair on Dalgherdia, covered with cavitation bubbles. Using his SongLuminant techniques over such long distances proves extremely stressful for him, and he returns to his own body at the end of every meeting, exhausted. Lucius and Tara have a mild squabble, then reconcile by having sex in the bath. This has two long-term ramifications. First, they are late for the re-opening of Tom O’Bedlam’s – which turns out to be a good thing because the venue is bombed. Second, unbeknownst to them, the room is bugged. The encounter will eventually surface as a porn holo entitled Bubble Fun.
Lucius returns for day 2 of the meetings – exhausted because he had spent the evening as Seth, rescuing Eloise from the Vampire Cult and being shot with a nullet. He discovers that the second meeting is to decide exploitation rights for Galaxy 42 – by a poetry contest. Much to his surprise, Lucius wins the contest with a poem written by Lorcan – then discovers that it was a set-up, and that the prize was a galaxy nobody else wanted. When he returns to his own body, he is completely spent, but insists, past Tara’s objection – on accompanying her to a dinner party with Lady Geverna.
Lucius returns to the meeting, and during a break, Thoughtful 45 takes him on a tour of the station. They encounter the Hreck, a crustacean species genetically engineered to serve the SongLuminants, and attend a program on the history of the Combine at the galactarium. Thoughtful advises Lucius to renegotiate for a better exploitation galaxy, but instead, Lucius agrees to keep Galaxy 42 if he can also have Galaxies 43 and 57 – two more galaxies nobody wants. The SongLuminants agree, intrigued that Ashtara would do such a foolish thing. The truth is that Cüinn wants those particular galaxies for research.
At the next meeting, it is revealed that the Twist nuncio Phil has decayed, and has been replaced by Harry. Lucius has a very emotional reaction to the loss of his friend. The SongLuminant nuncio observes that Lucius has projection fatigue, and suggests that he return home, excused from the rest of the meeting. Upon his return, Tara immediately recognizes that he is on the verge of collapse, and suggests that Ash return to Goliath. Lucius objects and tries to emanate Aran, but Ash is unable to do so and is forced to take Tara’s advice. Lucius remains in the background for the rest of the story.
In The Perpetual Rose, Lucius assists in developing the glowkrill, but otherwise does not figure heavily in the action.