The Wizards of Fort Ettin
Jan 25, 2022 19:28:07 GMT
Celina Zabinski, Charlie (DM), and 1 more like this
Post by Varga on Jan 25, 2022 19:28:07 GMT
Co-written with the wonderful Charlie . Nerds Unite!
Glint eventually finds the door he was looking for, and knocks with apprehension.
"Veridian, it's a pleasure to see you again," he says with a charming, if somewhat mechanic, smile as soon as the blond wizard opens the door. "Apologies for an unrequited visit, but I was in Fort Ettin and well, I've got an item that you might find interesting... I'm not interrupting, I hope?"
Veridian opens the door to the alchemy lab of Fort Ettin, “Oh hello there Glint, please do come in”. He stands back to allow Glint to enter the lab, Glint can see that quite clearly where Veridian is working, several large tomes are spread across the table, Glint can quickly get a glimpse of the tomes one seems to be on anatomy, one something to do with demons or devils and some sort of advanced transmutation book. He gestures for Glint to take a seat, “No need to apologise, my research is going in circles a little bit so a distraction might be the best thing for me at the moment, so please what is this mystery item?”
As Glint takes in the multiple tomes and glass jars, his expression uncannily resembles that of a kid in a candy shop. He snaps out of it abruptly, having realised he’s been staring.
“Oh, well… you’ve got such a lovely setup! That tome… is that the second edition of Fiends: Bones, Marrow and Tissues?” He gulps, once again dragging himself out of the reverie. “What I meant to say it’s lovely to see you. So few scholars outside the Academy… So, it’s an absolute pleasure meet again,” he stops himself yet again. “Our expedition to the Frog Bog was certainly an interesting outing!. But it was so eventful I forgot to show you something I obtained just prior to that!” He says, proud and visibly relieved at being able to finish a single thought. He scrambles in his little suitcase and produces a bleak, ominously looking knife, placing it carefully on the table in front of him.
“Careful, it might be cursed. In fact, I'm pretty confident it is," his voice stumbles again. "I’m sure you’ve come across many a cursed item in your time, of course, certainly you know how one looks,” he mumbles. “A frankly insane elf in Daring Heights used it to take off people’s faces, and, I’m afraid, their souls. Have you ever come across anything like that?”
He looks up with hopefulness of a four-year-old who asked if his puppy is going to be alright.
There is a look of surprise on Veridian's face. “That sounds horrible, however, unfortunately I don’t believe I have ever come across anything like this before. Have you at all studied the item? Do you know what happens to the souls that it takes? Could they be stored within the knife or sent somewhere else? The power that would be needed to do that would be quite intense...” he is staring at the dagger with the look of several theories rushing through his head.
Glint quickly perks up. "I haven't had the time, to be honest, I was hoping to have a look at it this week. I'm yet to peruse of the Fort Ettin library. Do you reckon there might be some information on objects like that here? Maybe some transmutation magic at work?"
“Hmmm, off the top of my head I can’t recall seeing a book on that topic, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth having a look just to be certain. As for the magic at work I’d be inclined to say this is firmly in realm of necromancy, that would be the best place to start researching.”
The fire genasi nods, making a fire on his head flicker slightly. "Indeed... How did I not think of necromancy? It makes so much sense!' He murmurs thoughtfully. "Well, if the resources of Fort Ettin are not enough, I suppose I can always go back to the Academy... I know a couple of delightful ladies in the College of Necromancy who'd love to help. I do need to solve this puzzle, it's a matter of pride, if you will!" He chuckles with an expression similar to that of a kid who hid a candy in one of his hands, and challenges an adult to guess which one it is.
"Well, I would definitely be interesting in hearing the results of you research, that is of course if you no longer require my help with this. If you would like me to accompany you to the Academy I would be more then happy to."
Glint waves him off in false modesty. "Oh, well, I wouldn't want to tear you away from your research. Let's see if I uncover anything here! That would definitely show those bull-headed priests in the temple of Selune. Honestly, you should have seen them. They couldn't do a thing about that face-stealing magic, but acted so confidently! So I'd very much like to get one up on those pompous fanatics- oh!" His face drains of colour as he remembers himself, eye shooting up to stare at Veridian in horror. "I am so sorry! I didn't mean to be disrespectful. I... I'm somewhat of an atheist, but I know you... that is to say, yours... I know the man you’re seeing is a cleric of sorts.. Ehm, well, what I meant to say is I'm sure not all clergy are like that..." he trails off awkwardly, glancing around to check if anyone else heard his blunder.
Veridian gives a little bit of a chuckle, “Not to worry, there are pompous arseholes in all walks of life, and you are correct proving them wrong is incredibly satisfying as long as you yourself don’t become an arsehole either. But yes I wish you the best of luck with your research, if you find something or need some help you can come find me anytime.”
The genasi nods gratefully. He puts the dagger back into his bottomless bag and is just about to leave. He caves in at the last moment, briskly turning back to Veridian. "If you don't mind me asking..." he asks in a quieter tone, almost shy. "You're clearly a man of science, and seeing a man of the cloth... Not that I'm in any similar situation, but..." He struggles for words momentarily. "Being with someone very, very different from yourself... Does it... How do you... How do you make it work?"
“No one is defined by one thing, Cai is more then just a priest of Ilmater, you and I are more then just wizards.” He stops clearly considering what he’s going to say next. “I can’t speak for Cai on this matter but from my perceptive, he is a kind, caring and just all round amazing man, the fact that he prays to Ilmater plays little to no part in how I see him, he has found his purpose in life and is happy and I will support him in that till the end.”
Glint nods slowly, deep in thought. Eventually he says: “Thank you. For everything,” then the same trained smile makes its way back to his lips. “But I’ve take enough of your precious time. If I can ever be of any service to you, I’ll be more than happy to help. I’ll let you know if the dagger proves to be interesting!” He adds as he disappears behind the door.
Glint eventually finds the door he was looking for, and knocks with apprehension.
"Veridian, it's a pleasure to see you again," he says with a charming, if somewhat mechanic, smile as soon as the blond wizard opens the door. "Apologies for an unrequited visit, but I was in Fort Ettin and well, I've got an item that you might find interesting... I'm not interrupting, I hope?"
Veridian opens the door to the alchemy lab of Fort Ettin, “Oh hello there Glint, please do come in”. He stands back to allow Glint to enter the lab, Glint can see that quite clearly where Veridian is working, several large tomes are spread across the table, Glint can quickly get a glimpse of the tomes one seems to be on anatomy, one something to do with demons or devils and some sort of advanced transmutation book. He gestures for Glint to take a seat, “No need to apologise, my research is going in circles a little bit so a distraction might be the best thing for me at the moment, so please what is this mystery item?”
As Glint takes in the multiple tomes and glass jars, his expression uncannily resembles that of a kid in a candy shop. He snaps out of it abruptly, having realised he’s been staring.
“Oh, well… you’ve got such a lovely setup! That tome… is that the second edition of Fiends: Bones, Marrow and Tissues?” He gulps, once again dragging himself out of the reverie. “What I meant to say it’s lovely to see you. So few scholars outside the Academy… So, it’s an absolute pleasure meet again,” he stops himself yet again. “Our expedition to the Frog Bog was certainly an interesting outing!. But it was so eventful I forgot to show you something I obtained just prior to that!” He says, proud and visibly relieved at being able to finish a single thought. He scrambles in his little suitcase and produces a bleak, ominously looking knife, placing it carefully on the table in front of him.
“Careful, it might be cursed. In fact, I'm pretty confident it is," his voice stumbles again. "I’m sure you’ve come across many a cursed item in your time, of course, certainly you know how one looks,” he mumbles. “A frankly insane elf in Daring Heights used it to take off people’s faces, and, I’m afraid, their souls. Have you ever come across anything like that?”
He looks up with hopefulness of a four-year-old who asked if his puppy is going to be alright.
There is a look of surprise on Veridian's face. “That sounds horrible, however, unfortunately I don’t believe I have ever come across anything like this before. Have you at all studied the item? Do you know what happens to the souls that it takes? Could they be stored within the knife or sent somewhere else? The power that would be needed to do that would be quite intense...” he is staring at the dagger with the look of several theories rushing through his head.
Glint quickly perks up. "I haven't had the time, to be honest, I was hoping to have a look at it this week. I'm yet to peruse of the Fort Ettin library. Do you reckon there might be some information on objects like that here? Maybe some transmutation magic at work?"
“Hmmm, off the top of my head I can’t recall seeing a book on that topic, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth having a look just to be certain. As for the magic at work I’d be inclined to say this is firmly in realm of necromancy, that would be the best place to start researching.”
The fire genasi nods, making a fire on his head flicker slightly. "Indeed... How did I not think of necromancy? It makes so much sense!' He murmurs thoughtfully. "Well, if the resources of Fort Ettin are not enough, I suppose I can always go back to the Academy... I know a couple of delightful ladies in the College of Necromancy who'd love to help. I do need to solve this puzzle, it's a matter of pride, if you will!" He chuckles with an expression similar to that of a kid who hid a candy in one of his hands, and challenges an adult to guess which one it is.
"Well, I would definitely be interesting in hearing the results of you research, that is of course if you no longer require my help with this. If you would like me to accompany you to the Academy I would be more then happy to."
Glint waves him off in false modesty. "Oh, well, I wouldn't want to tear you away from your research. Let's see if I uncover anything here! That would definitely show those bull-headed priests in the temple of Selune. Honestly, you should have seen them. They couldn't do a thing about that face-stealing magic, but acted so confidently! So I'd very much like to get one up on those pompous fanatics- oh!" His face drains of colour as he remembers himself, eye shooting up to stare at Veridian in horror. "I am so sorry! I didn't mean to be disrespectful. I... I'm somewhat of an atheist, but I know you... that is to say, yours... I know the man you’re seeing is a cleric of sorts.. Ehm, well, what I meant to say is I'm sure not all clergy are like that..." he trails off awkwardly, glancing around to check if anyone else heard his blunder.
Veridian gives a little bit of a chuckle, “Not to worry, there are pompous arseholes in all walks of life, and you are correct proving them wrong is incredibly satisfying as long as you yourself don’t become an arsehole either. But yes I wish you the best of luck with your research, if you find something or need some help you can come find me anytime.”
The genasi nods gratefully. He puts the dagger back into his bottomless bag and is just about to leave. He caves in at the last moment, briskly turning back to Veridian. "If you don't mind me asking..." he asks in a quieter tone, almost shy. "You're clearly a man of science, and seeing a man of the cloth... Not that I'm in any similar situation, but..." He struggles for words momentarily. "Being with someone very, very different from yourself... Does it... How do you... How do you make it work?"
“No one is defined by one thing, Cai is more then just a priest of Ilmater, you and I are more then just wizards.” He stops clearly considering what he’s going to say next. “I can’t speak for Cai on this matter but from my perceptive, he is a kind, caring and just all round amazing man, the fact that he prays to Ilmater plays little to no part in how I see him, he has found his purpose in life and is happy and I will support him in that till the end.”
Glint nods slowly, deep in thought. Eventually he says: “Thank you. For everything,” then the same trained smile makes its way back to his lips. “But I’ve take enough of your precious time. If I can ever be of any service to you, I’ll be more than happy to help. I’ll let you know if the dagger proves to be interesting!” He adds as he disappears behind the door.