wizardmage-posts

[wizardmage-posts]

Beginnings

Play

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Set the Scene

The guard leads Elytra into the castle's throne room. While the castle is large and impressive, it also looks like it hasn't been maintained in some time. Much of the stonework is crumbling and the once-rich carpets and tapestries are moth-eaten.

They pass very few staff on their way in, and the throne room is empty except for the throne that they approach. Like the rest of the castle that she's seen, it was a once-nice throne. Made of carved stone and lined with blue velvet, it must have been expensive when it was made. Now, the stone is crumbling and the velvet is worn thin from use.

The man sitting on the throne looks like he has seen better days as well. He sits with a hunched posture and his hair is thin and stringy, gray in color. He watches as they approach with pale, gray eyes. Expression stony and grim.

"What have you brought me, Geffrey?" The king asks as they approach.

The guard - Geffrey, Elytra supposes - grabs her arm and pulls her to a stop before the king. Not close enough to touch him if her hands were unbound, but a respectful distance away.

"My lord, she was also after the mirror. I was going to simply take it and let her escape as a relic finder, but..." Geffrey the guard trails off.

Elytra looks over at him. Tall, stringy, red-haired; he's not much to look at. She could definitely take him in a fight. Thinking back, it probably would have been the smarter thing to do than agreeing to work together. But he had seemed so *earnest*. Look where it had landed her.

Could she have really just fought him for no reason, though?

"But?" The king prompts impatiently.

"The mirror's guardian knocked her unconscious and then something...strange happened." He pauses, giving Elytra a look.

Complication: [2] An obstacle blocks your way

Altered Scene: [4] Normal

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D12 perception check: 6

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Guilt flits across his face as he looks at Elytra. He continues, nevertheless.

"It was magic, sire."

"Magic?" The king leans forward, elbows pressed into his knees. His expression is complex: hunger and anger in one. "Magic is forbidden in my kingdom, girl."

"I didn't perform any magic," Elytra tells him. After a second, she thinks to add "...my lord."

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Yes/No (Unlikely)

Does King Joel believe her?

[6,6] Yes and...

He wants to know what she has that is magic.

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"Yes, yes," the king says dismissively. "You're not a mage and all that. But what object have you that *is* magic?"

Elytra finds herself unable to find words. Is the man stupid? She just said she didn't use any magic. "Nothing," she says slowly. Maybe his age catching up with him. "I only have my sword and my clothes. My coin purse. Nothing else. There was no magic."

In truth, she doesn't remember what happened. The crypt guardian had knocked her out and then- nothing. The next time she was aware, she was this guard's prisoner and he was spewing things about magic that she couldn't make heads or tails of.

With an angry grunt, the king slams a fist on the arm of his throne. "My guard would not lie to me! He-"

There's a loud, low, distant sound and the entire castle shakes as well as the ground beneath it. Elytra stumbles as bits of the ceiling rain down around them and cracks appear in the floor.

Until now, she hadn't realized how many others already lined the ground.

(Change: Elytra to Elmyra. See how I like it. )

When the shaking stops, King Joel pulls himself to his feet with great effort. "Bring her," he tells Geffrey. Before heading down a hallway to the left with surprising speed.

Geffrey grabs Elmyra's arm and pulls her along through the maze of a castle. The farther they get from the throne room, the more unkempt and decrepit it becomes.

(Perception check: 4)

While they are moving at a clipped pace, Elmyra still manages to notice that a lot of the damage to the castle seems to be more recent. Not due to age. Fresh cracks run up the walls, lamps have been knocked over. Nothing is well-kept, though.

They don't pass any servants that she sees, either.

After a maze of turns and twists, King Joel leads them down a set of dark steps into what Elmyra can only assume is the dungeon. Which is great. Super great.

This probably means she's going to get locked up for doing something she doesn't even remember doing, and is pretty sure she didn't do. Maybe she should have just told him she had magic. Hey, Mr. King-man! Yes I have magic! I know it's illegal, what would you like me to do with it? Please don't throw me in your terrible dungeon.

When they reach the bottom of the staircase though, King Joel doesn't immediately have her thrown into a cell. Which is kind of a relief, but also, maybe, he has a special cell for her? That's the opposite of a relief.

She looks into the cells they pass and sees that most are empty. A few are occupied, but Elmyra doesn't get the chance to look at their occupants for long before Geffrey pulls her along. She's not super fond of that. Being tugged along like some kind of dog.

They wend their way through the dungeon, which, like the rest of the castle, is very maze-like. Who designed this place? A maze-maker? It's dank down here, and harder to see since there isn't any natural lighting and the torches are spread fairly far apart. It all makes it pretty confusing.

Eventually, King Joel comes to the end of a hallway and stops. The hallway ends in a solid wooden door. It has a rectangular hole cut out of it at eye level that is covered by a sliding piece of metal. Joel stands before the door and waits as Geffrey brings Elmyra close.

"Look, and tell me what you see." Joel slides the metal viewport open after he gives her command.

Reluctantly, Elmyra does as she's told. At least it's better than being in a cell.

It's dim in the room, even dimmer than the hall. Elmyra's eyes take a few moments to adjust.

When they do, she can make out a hulking figure in the darkness. Standing on two feet, it has a cloak of feathers that drags on the floor behind it. From the cloak, some kind of cracked bird skull emerges and peers around. The empty eye sockets slowly turn and meet Elmyra's eyes.

The cloak shifts, and she realizes it's not a cloak- it's a giant pair of wings folded over some kind of feathered body. The creature is grotesque and gnarled.

(Can draw later for a better description)

Holding her gaze, the creature opens its bone-like beak and emits a low, grating cawing sound. It sends shivers up and down Elmyra's spine.

"Enough," Joel says and slams the viewport shut.

The abruptness of the motion makes Elmyra blink a few times. She looks over at him.

"Did you see it?" He asks urgently, getting uncomfortably close.

"Um...yes?" How could she not? It was a big, hulking bird-monster.

"Then now you know," Joel says gravely.

Feeling like she's missing something, Elmyra looks from him to the door and back. "Know...what?"

"The queen!" Joel snaps, beginning to sound frenzied. When she doesn't immediately understand, he gives and aggravated sigh. "That was *the queen*. I thought you saw her crown."

"That - *thing* was Queen Brielle?" Elmyra asks, trying to make sense of it all. Had the king gone insane? Had she really missed the monster wearing a crown? Maybe the crown fell off somewhere within? She *was* rather preoccupied just trying to make out what it was.

"Yes," Joel insists emphatically. "An evil sorcerer cursed her to be this... *creature*. And I have been searching for a cure since."

"What happened to this sorcerer? When was this?" Elmyra asked.

"Dealt with some time ago. It is *irrelevant* now. What matters is that whatever magic item you may possess is the one which may cure her. Now hand it over!"

King Joel has a crazed look in his eye as he demands this of her, crowding close into Elmyra's space.

Elmyra tries to think quickly. Not wanting the crazed king this close to her, but more importantly, not wanting to get thrown into a cell. "I don't have any magical item. You can search me," she says quickly when he opens his mouth to speak. "But maybe I could help you - search for a cure for the queen? I notice you're short-staffed."

She can see the glimmer of interest that appears in the king's eyes at the offer. He considers what she says.

"How do I know I could trust you?" Joel asks her, sounding intrigued.

"What have you got to lose?" Elmyra counters. "Before your guard brought me here, you had nothing. Now, he's brought you a magic mirror-" that she still needs, but she can figure that out later, "and I'm offering my help! Even if something happens to me, you're still ahead."

It takes a moment longer, but she sees the moment King Joel makes a decision. "All right," he says with weighted words. "I will allow. *But*," he holds up a hand before she can celebrate, even internally. "I will have you searched as well."

Oh. Well, you win some, you lose some.