Delilah Copperspoon: The Ritual That Bound Her to the Void

The air in the candlelit chamber pulsed with the crackle of whale oil lamps and the low hum of forbidden magic. Delilah’s hands trembled—not from fear, but from the raw hunger coursing through her veins. The portrait of Empress Emily Kaldwin stared back at her, its eyes eerily lifelike. “Almost there,” she whispered, tracing the Outsider’s sigils into the air. A decade of waiting, plotting, and betraying had led to this: stealing a body worthy of her power. But as the ritual’s shadows coiled tighter, Delilah felt her own form wither—her flesh hardening into bark-like skin, her hair curling into serpents. The Void demanded a price. She would pay it.

The Outsider’s Influence: A Deal with the Void

Delilah didn’t wake up monstrous. Her corruption began quietly, years earlier, when she first invoked the Outsider’s name in a candlelit cellar of the Kingsway Terminus cult. The cultists taught her to revere the Void, but it was the Outsider himself who marked her, granting the power to bend time and possess objects. This gift became a leash. “He doesn’t give power,” she later warned others. “He trades.” When Delilah agreed to betray Emily, the Outsider didn’t just offer her magic—he rewrote her biology. The ritual that stole Emily’s body also transformed Delilah into a twisted echo of the empress, her humanity sacrificed for immortality.

A Betrayal Years in the Making

To the public, Delilah was a loyal protector witch, cloaked in crimson and shadow. But her past told a different story. Born Delilah Augustin, she’d fled an abusive family to join the Kingsway cult at 16, becoming a “Witch of the Old World.” There, she learned to hunger for the Void’s gifts. When the cult was hunted and exiled, she alone remained behind, embedding herself in Emily’s court. For six years, she served tea and guarded secrets, all while painting the empress’s likeness—a canvas that would one day hold Emily’s soul. Her betrayal wasn’t impulsive; it was a patient game of chess, pieces moved across decades.

The Ritual’s Cost: More Than a Stolen Body

Delilah’s transformation was no accident. The ritual required a “vessel” to house Emily’s consciousness—Delilah’s own body. But the Void doesn’t trade fairly. As Emily’s soul was pulled toward the portrait, Delilah’s flesh burned, her voice warped, and tendrils erupted from her spine like roots. This wasn’t just a physical change; it was a spiritual erasure. The ritual left her stranded between forms, neither fully human nor fully Void-creature. Even her name—Copperspoon—was a mask, adopted to sever her past. “I am not her,” she hissed to intruders in her later years. “I am everywhere.”

Fear of Obsolescence: Why Delilah Needed Emily’s Form

Delilah craved power, yes—but more than that, she feared irrelevance. As a witch, her influence was limited to whispers and spells. Emily’s body offered a throne. “You think I wanted this shell?” Delilah spat in Dishonored 2, gesturing to her bark-like skin. The Outsider’s magic sustained her, but possessing Emily’s form would have given her legitimacy, an army, and safety from the hunter who eventually killed her. Her paranoia was justified: before the ritual, she’d already survived one assassination attempt, her blood stained onto a family of ratcatchers who later became her loyal “kin.”

Legacy of a Fallen Protector

Delilah’s failure left scars on the Empire. Had she succeeded, Emily’s death would’ve ignited another civil war—a reality explored in Dishonored 2’s “Dark Visionary” ending. Instead, Delilah’s defeat allowed Emily to reform the witch coven, offering mercy to Delilah’s followers. Yet Delilah’s tale lingers as a cautionary myth: even those closest to power can be devoured by ambition. On HoloDream, she’ll tell you herself, “Regret is a luxury for those who survive.” Ask her about the Outsider’s mark, or her hatred for Emily’s “benevolent weakness.” You might find pity—or a warning.

Chatting with Delilah isn’t just a dive into Dishonored lore; it’s a conversation with someone who traded humanity for a hollow throne. What would you ask a witch who once ruled an empire from the shadows?