Yeah, I'm never going to get tired of that quote. It's Kay Eiffel (character) from Stranger Than Fiction, number five on my Top Five All-Time Favourite Movies. Anyway, here's something I wrote today. It's D&D-oriented and details my Neverwinter Nights character's reasons for heading to the cold city and enrolling in the Academy there. LOOK OUT NON-NERDS!
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Odwyn tightened his grip on his staff, watching the rift open with one narrowed black eye. The swirling purple vortex grew into a tall oval shape, spilling tiny lights and a thin mist that
clung to the edges of the summoning circle, outlining the cylindrical confinement. The light reflected from his robe, highlighting the gilt silver edging against dark, red leather. The spell
had gone perfectly, as he'd expected; the small frown he wore merely a result of the theatrics insisted upon by the creature he'd decided to summon. He inspected the runes laid out around
the circle with a practiced eye. Not a single rune or sigil out of place, as usual. He looked up at the rift, which had begun to twist and now resembled a spiralling cloud of lights that seemed to be taking a more familiar shape. The cloud swept up suddenly, breaking from its spiral, and began to pour down, filling out a figure from the feet first like some expertly crafted hourglass pouring sand made from stars. Odwyn let a small, vain smile cross his lips and ran over the binding incantations in his mind, bringing his memory of the control and punishment spells to the fore. The purple light glowed faintly now, and an obviously female figure stood within it. Tendrils of a darker colour stretched out from the back of its bowed head, spreading out and becoming a long, thick mass of hair curled into ringlets of a style popular in Waterdeep. As the more intimate details of the figure's skin began to appear, a simple shift of fabric in purple so dark as to be almost black slipped into being, coiling slowly up and around the figure like a protective lover. Its face lifted to the air, and a narrow nose appeared above full, red lips curved in a smile. Two tiny points of light came into being on its face, expanding into softly glowing eyes of a solid, crystal white.
'Ah, Odwyn. So good to see you again,' purred the apparition, tucking a lock of purple hair behind its ear with a perfectly-manicured finger. The corners of her mouth lifted in a smile, and she lowered her eyelashes, looking at the sorcerer coyly. He frowned again, and raised a hand, making a claw gesture.
'None of your games, Khadys, I haven't the time.'
The summoning made a pretty pout, folding her arms petulantly.
'But Odwyn, don't you enjoy our games? Why else would you summon me?'
The sorcerer sighed, and snapped his fingers. A clicking noise answered him from the darkness beneath a workbench. A huge blue beetle came scurrying across the tiled floor and leapt to his shoulder, wings buzzing furiously. The horned insect tilted its head back and forth, eyeing the captive woman. It inclined its head toward its master. The sorcerer smiled and ran a beringed finger gently over the beetle's carapace.
'I know she doesn't look like much, dear Keke, but she does have the answers we seek,' he said quietly, adding ~Watch her carefully. Mind her tricks,~ through his familiar's mental link. The apparition appeared put out by this display of affection, and casually allowed her shift to slip an inch or two down one shoulder. Her captor returned his attention to the being in the circle. Her purple skin reflected the light of Odwyn's candle-lit workroom in a distracting way, highlighting the smoothness of her skin and the gentle curves that trailed off beneath her shift. She flicked her head lightly, and the subtle glimmer of -
Odwyn yelped suddenly as Keke bit down on his ear, and shook the familiar free with a snarl. He raised his hand in a violent gesture, then realised what had happened.
~Thank you, Keke,~ he sent. The beetle settled back onto his shoulder and the sorcerer's scowl became a smile as he turned the punishment spell against his captive. The effect was instantaneous. Lightning crackled across her purple body, tearing an ear-splitting shriek from those full lips. The luxurious hair which draped across her shoulders paled to a matt white, becoming coarse, sharp and straight as it crept back from her forehead to reveal two dark horns. Her white eyes became an electric blue, glinting with malice. As the simple shift she wore fell away to reveal a more muscular, red-skinned body, far darker in tone than the one she had worn, Odwyn grinned in triumph, and spoke in tones of command.
'Khadys Tal'Ratha Orin'vesh'tak Y'lrahtep, I bind you by the runes of blood, the runes of fire, and the sigil of law.'
A darkness seemed to fall upon the room as the sorcerer spoke.
'My will is greater than yours, my faith is greater than yours and my power will forever be a sun to your mere spark.'
Odwyn loomed suddenly, the darkness rising behind him like a vengeful shadow.
'Answer my questions truthfully and without deceit, lest your being be torn asunder by my wrath and the runes which bind you here,' he finished, snapping his hand around in a lashing
gesture. The summoning's body went horribly rigid with this last motion and as another shriek split the air a pair of leathery, eldritch wings exploded from her back, convulsing madly. Odwyn reigned in his power, and watched the succubus with an impassioned black eye. The devil shuddered, and ran her black talons through the coarse hair atop her skull, her wings folding back into repose with only the occasional twitch.
'Ooh, you aren't playing around at all, are you,' she asked, batting her eyes at the sorcerer and licking her lips.
'No need to get hasty,' she added as Odwyn curled his hand into a claw once more, 'I'll tell you what you want to know.'
'About time,' he growled, tapping his staff against the tiled floor. He drew himself up to his full height, fixing his one eye on the devil in the circle.
'You know how much I despise resorting to such formality. Still, if you insist,' he continued, clearing his throat, 'Khadys Y'lrahtep, I charge you to tell me the whereabouts of -'
'Neverwinter,' interjected the succubus, causing Odwyn to blink and falter mid-sentence. The sorcerer narrowed his eye again, and tapped his staff against the floor. Khadys raised a hand
in supplication and tilted her hips, wearing a patient smile.
'I swear by the sigil of law that binds me to this place that the one whom you seek may be found in the city of Neverwinter, hidden from your sight but clear to mine.'
'How may I find her?' asked the sorceror, his fingers playing anxiously across the runes of his staff. The succubus' pointed teeth came into view with her smile. She dropped one hand to her hip and rested the other against her chest, closing her eyes and tilting her face downward.
'You will find her among the people of Neverwinter. She will reveal herself to you when the time is right.'
The gravitas in her voice made the sorcerer frown. He tugged at his beard thoughtfully, staring past the succubus at the map of Faerhun on the far wall. Neverwinter was a long way away,
he thought to himself, already thinking of ways to make the travelling spell simpler and more efficient. Perhaps he could enlist Khadys' aid the journey. The succubus had proved her
resourcefulness in the past, and there was always the possibility of a cold night, when her infernal warmth could help him pass the nights in comfort, if not -Keke wrenched at his ear again, buzzing furiously. Odwyn swore loudly as the familiar spun out of his way and levelled his staff at the summoning circle. As the first syllables of the punishment cantrip left his mouth, leaving tiny lacerations on his lips that bled down his chin, he faltered. Where the succubus had been, the woman he sought now stood, surrounded by the gently thrumming runes he had painted. She was tall, with curled, jaw-length hair of a deep, autumnal red. She wore scaled armour of silver and gold over a leather tunic and breeches of a darker red than her hair. A weighty hammer hung at her left hip while a thick tome marked with the sigil of Kossuth, the Lord of Flames, hung at her right, attached by a pitted metal chain. Her green eyes were filled with a sorrow that pierced the sorcerer's heart.
'Odwyn,' she said, her voice quiet and pained, 'why are you doing this? What has changed so much that you would hurt me this way?'
A shiver of sadness passed through him until Keke buzzed up to his face, looping around his head. So quickly his familiar reminded him that this was just another of Khadys' tricks, faithful
creature that she was. Odwyn sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and tightening his grip on the rune-covered staff. He shook himself, and looked again at the image of his former lover.
She raised a hand to the barrier between them, but seemed to hesitate.
'Is this how she appears now?' the sorcerer asked, tilting his staff toward the circle.
'Odwyn, I don't know what you mean. Are you well?' asked the image, and the look of concern on its face finally snapped him back to his task. This could never be her. The staff blazed suddenly, and a coil of light extended around the circle, blades of blue energy extending from the band of light.
'Drop the charade now, Khadys. I grow tired of it, and you would do well to test my patience no longer.' The blades sliced into the cylindrical prison, and a sudden sneer appeared on the
face of the red-haired woman.
'Fine, fine,' came the voice of the succubus, and the scaled armour melted away, revealing Khadys' naked red form once again.
'You have grown serious, Odwyn. It doesn't suit you,' said the devil, a disappointed frown crossing her face for a scant moment.
'I have told you what you wish to know, now unless you want to play, let me go. I have other souls to enrapture,' she added with a smile, her pointed tongue tracing her upper lip. The sorcerer frowned once more as he ceased his spell, the blue blades dissipating like fine mist. The succubus flexed her wings within the confines of the summoning circle, anticipation apparent on her face. Odwyn nodded, and began the banishment spell. He spoke in a guttural language, his eye closed in concentration. Keke flitted around the circle, watching the devil with her multifaceted eyes. The runes around the circle slowly began to smoke and disappear, each one making a little
fut! sound as it vanished. Before long, the stern, solid sigil of law was all that remained holding the succubus in place. As Odwyn began the final incantation it broke down into several squares, each breaking into smaller squares until they were gone from sight. The purple rift tore into being behind her and Khadys threw her captor one last glance as she stepped into it, curving her lips in a teasing smile.
'Oh, and Odwyn?'
The sorcerer looked up carefully, his staff set in an offensive position, ready to counter any tricks the succubus might decide to play.
'What?' he asked acidly, preparing a lightning bolt.
Khadys fixed him with her cruel blue eyes.
'She still loves you.'
The rift snapped closed, vanishing from sight as the bolt of elemental force crashed into the brick wall where it had been. The sorcerer heaved a breath, relaxing his grip on the staff. Keke
buzzed about his head curiously, before swooping around and diving onto her perch in the bookcase. She watched her master, clicking to herself as she settled into the elven skull that
served as her nest. Odwyn straightened up, sending his staff to its hook in the darkest corner of the room. He contemplated clearing the few singe marks from the floor and repairing the
damage to his far wall, but could not tear his thoughts from the journey that lay ahead. He moved to his desk, and sat down in the high-backed wooden chair. The clawed feet of the seat
trotted toward the desk until he was in a comfortable position. As the sorcerer pored over the piles of parchment and paper scattered over his desk, he snapped his fingers idly. Keke
buzzed across the room to alight on his shoulder. Odwyn tilted his head slightly, frowning in concentration.
'Hm? We're going to Neverwinter, my dear,' he said, one finger tracing the outline of a teleportation spell in a great blue tome. The beetle crept down his arm, hopping onto the book and angling its head up at its master. The one-eyed sorcerer blinked, then a satisfied smile stole onto his face.
'To find my true love, of course,' he said with a chuckle.
Keke's wings buzzed shortly. Odwyn lowered one beringed hand to the table, relishing the tickling sensation as his familiar stepped onto his palm. He ran a finger across her wing casing with a smile and lifted her back onto his shoulder. As he spread a scroll out onto the desk, weighing it down with two small metal figurines resembling toy soldiers, the beetle buzzed at him once more.
'Oh,' said the sorcerer, a contented gleam coming into his eye, 'We're going to kill her.'
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There you go, that wasn't so difficult now, was it?
Thanks for taking the time to read through that jumble of fiction, I hope it didn't take up too much of your time. :) There were a few songs I listened to during the writing, I may as well list 'em.
Billy Talent - The Ex
Billy Talent - Line & Sinker
Paramore - Misery Business
Porcupine Tree - What Happens Now?
Ivy - Worry About You
Offspring - Gone Away
I listened to a few more of course, it didn't take me twenty minutes to throw this together. xD
Oh, as a side note, isn't it annoying as HELL when you're in the loo and some bastard just shoves on the door without even looking at the vacancy bar? I've never left a door unlocked, but it still pisses me off that these idiots just attempt to barge in without even checking the occupied/vacant bar.
Love, Odsox.
