The earth was barren, craggy and devoid of life. A harsh wind ripped through the wasteland, whipping up clouds of dust, and it created a howling noise that tore through the valley. Within the wasteland that stretched out as far as the eye could see was a small cave, dark and dank, uncomfortably so. No candles illuminated the darkness, and no sound could be heard aside from the occasional drip of murky water off a stalactite.
A man sat in the center of the cave, his face wrapped by bandages and bandannas, anything that he could use to hide himself away from the world, anything to keep the people on the outside. No sound could he hear, no sight could he see; he had been born without the use of his eyes or ears. Beneath him on the cave floor was a magic circle, glowing faintly; giving off just enough light to illuminate his person. In his hand, he held a book, an ancient tome bound in black, the pages frayed and written on what appeared to be parchment.
The man held his hand above the pages of the book, running his hand over the words written on the page, another magic circle passing over the words from his palm. The information transferred instantly from the book into his mind, allowing him to read effectively without the use of his eyes. Soon, very soon, this world with be empty. Soon, everyone will know my loneliness. And the darkness shall be eternal for everyone.
He muttered quietly, imperceptibly, and around him, the earth began to shake; slowly, gradually, the howling of the wind was masked by the howling of something else. Something terrible.
------------------------------------------------
“Another successful job, eh Py?” The young man grinned broadly as he stepped through the town gate, patting the forty thousand jewel in his coat pocket. The creature he spoke to wasn’t so much a living creature as a sentient orb of magical energy that followed Chadwyck around wherever he went. The ball, named Pyrefly, was born from the magical energy within Chadwyck and was the result of a freak accident. It couldn’t speak, didn’t seem to eat, and as far as the young man was aware, it didn’t do much of anything else either. But he could tell it was sentient. It was just a feeling he had.
The young man and his magical orb went straight to the grocery store; Chadwyck had gone far too long living off of fast food and needed to use the money from this job to actually restock his own kitchen. Which he hated. Money was more fun to spend on things nonessential to continue living; what was with this whole needing food thing?
After delivering the food to his apartment, he did the next logical thing: he returned to the guild. Chadwyck spent more time at the ‘Charms Guild than he did at his own house, but that was only to be expected; the guild had become like a family to him. It was where everything was, and it was also where he received the work that continued to allow him to pay the bills that kept stacking up.
“Hey, everyone,” Chadwyck waved when he stepped through the doorway, taking a look around at everyone who was present within the guild. Several regulars, as usual, and a few newcomers (hopefuls, come to see if they can make it in the guild). Chadwyck, himself, had been around the guild for several years now, and he was almost good enough to make it to the S-Level jobs. He’d been on several of them already, mostly as support for S-Class wizards that he was good friends with. And, as far as he could tell, he could keep up with them all. The thought always made him stupidly giddy, but no one had to know that.
The guild was an impressive sight to behold. The best craftsmen had been hired to help with the building, and it showed. The first floor was, as was the case with most guilds, a pub. It was where a wizard could receive jobs and also just spend time among friends and share a drink. The second floor was a sort of lounge area open to any members who wished to just sit and relax for a while away from the bulk of the crowd. There were several branching rooms that were tailored to wizards with specific skills to practice their abilities. The third floor, which was little more than a landing before heading up to the last floor that was the Master’s chambers, was where the S-Class wizards of the guild could receive the special jobs that were off limits to regular members. The guild’s emblem, a green four-leaf clover, was emblazoned above the bar on the first floor. The same emblem that became a tattoo for all members who joined; Chadwyck’s was on his right forearm.
The master appeared to be gone again, he had been going to meetings more and more often lately, so the guild was left in the hands of the S-Class wizards, but that was fine; they knew what they were doing.
The young man, unlike most people in guilds, had yet to create a team with anyone. He teamed up with people occasionally, but mostly they were just for a single job or something along those lines. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to team up with people, but he’d never gotten around to forming an actual team. “Any new jobs come in?” He asked the nearest person to him, not really expecting an answer, since he was going to the job board anyway. He screened the papers, looking for something that payed well and seemed like a challenge; the job he just got back from was far too easy. It was just running some non-magic bandits out of a town. Without any wizards on their side, it was over before it ever even started.
Then a single flier caught his eye, not for the amount that was being offered, but because of the seal that was on it. The seal belonged to the council, they’d sent out an official request for investigations into the disappearance of an entire town. It had been destroyed, and everyone there had been killed.
“What... What is this?”
“Oh yeah,” another member said, looking over Chadwyck’s shoulder, “you just got back so you probably didn’t hear. Apparently the council is being overwhelmed with similar reports coming in from all over the place; they can’t handle all the investigations themselves, so they sent out official jobs to help with investigations.”
“An entire town wiped out? How does something like that happen without someone knowing about it?”
“That’s what worries the council. Apparently, the master wasn’t pleased that the job isn’t even classified as S-Class, that’s why he left for the council this morning.”
Chadwyck ripped the flier from the board and stuffed it in his pocket. “I’m going to check this out,” he declared to the rest of the people in the guild. Something in him changed: all these lives had been extinguished in an instant, and no one knows what happened or who was responsible. They were wizards, they were supposed to protect people weaker than themselves. Whoever was responsible, they would pay.
Pyrefly floated in his path, stopping the young man short. He knew what the creature was trying to tell him, even though there was no way for it to communicate. “I’m going to need some help on this one, just in case.” He stood at the doorway and looked around the building. “Anyone coming?”
OoC: Blah, sorry that post wasn't the greatest guys, I've been feeling a bit out of the whole writing loop lately, so I'm trying to get back into it.
A man sat in the center of the cave, his face wrapped by bandages and bandannas, anything that he could use to hide himself away from the world, anything to keep the people on the outside. No sound could he hear, no sight could he see; he had been born without the use of his eyes or ears. Beneath him on the cave floor was a magic circle, glowing faintly; giving off just enough light to illuminate his person. In his hand, he held a book, an ancient tome bound in black, the pages frayed and written on what appeared to be parchment.
The man held his hand above the pages of the book, running his hand over the words written on the page, another magic circle passing over the words from his palm. The information transferred instantly from the book into his mind, allowing him to read effectively without the use of his eyes. Soon, very soon, this world with be empty. Soon, everyone will know my loneliness. And the darkness shall be eternal for everyone.
He muttered quietly, imperceptibly, and around him, the earth began to shake; slowly, gradually, the howling of the wind was masked by the howling of something else. Something terrible.
------------------------------------------------
“Another successful job, eh Py?” The young man grinned broadly as he stepped through the town gate, patting the forty thousand jewel in his coat pocket. The creature he spoke to wasn’t so much a living creature as a sentient orb of magical energy that followed Chadwyck around wherever he went. The ball, named Pyrefly, was born from the magical energy within Chadwyck and was the result of a freak accident. It couldn’t speak, didn’t seem to eat, and as far as the young man was aware, it didn’t do much of anything else either. But he could tell it was sentient. It was just a feeling he had.
The young man and his magical orb went straight to the grocery store; Chadwyck had gone far too long living off of fast food and needed to use the money from this job to actually restock his own kitchen. Which he hated. Money was more fun to spend on things nonessential to continue living; what was with this whole needing food thing?
After delivering the food to his apartment, he did the next logical thing: he returned to the guild. Chadwyck spent more time at the ‘Charms Guild than he did at his own house, but that was only to be expected; the guild had become like a family to him. It was where everything was, and it was also where he received the work that continued to allow him to pay the bills that kept stacking up.
“Hey, everyone,” Chadwyck waved when he stepped through the doorway, taking a look around at everyone who was present within the guild. Several regulars, as usual, and a few newcomers (hopefuls, come to see if they can make it in the guild). Chadwyck, himself, had been around the guild for several years now, and he was almost good enough to make it to the S-Level jobs. He’d been on several of them already, mostly as support for S-Class wizards that he was good friends with. And, as far as he could tell, he could keep up with them all. The thought always made him stupidly giddy, but no one had to know that.
The guild was an impressive sight to behold. The best craftsmen had been hired to help with the building, and it showed. The first floor was, as was the case with most guilds, a pub. It was where a wizard could receive jobs and also just spend time among friends and share a drink. The second floor was a sort of lounge area open to any members who wished to just sit and relax for a while away from the bulk of the crowd. There were several branching rooms that were tailored to wizards with specific skills to practice their abilities. The third floor, which was little more than a landing before heading up to the last floor that was the Master’s chambers, was where the S-Class wizards of the guild could receive the special jobs that were off limits to regular members. The guild’s emblem, a green four-leaf clover, was emblazoned above the bar on the first floor. The same emblem that became a tattoo for all members who joined; Chadwyck’s was on his right forearm.
The master appeared to be gone again, he had been going to meetings more and more often lately, so the guild was left in the hands of the S-Class wizards, but that was fine; they knew what they were doing.
The young man, unlike most people in guilds, had yet to create a team with anyone. He teamed up with people occasionally, but mostly they were just for a single job or something along those lines. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to team up with people, but he’d never gotten around to forming an actual team. “Any new jobs come in?” He asked the nearest person to him, not really expecting an answer, since he was going to the job board anyway. He screened the papers, looking for something that payed well and seemed like a challenge; the job he just got back from was far too easy. It was just running some non-magic bandits out of a town. Without any wizards on their side, it was over before it ever even started.
Then a single flier caught his eye, not for the amount that was being offered, but because of the seal that was on it. The seal belonged to the council, they’d sent out an official request for investigations into the disappearance of an entire town. It had been destroyed, and everyone there had been killed.
“What... What is this?”
“Oh yeah,” another member said, looking over Chadwyck’s shoulder, “you just got back so you probably didn’t hear. Apparently the council is being overwhelmed with similar reports coming in from all over the place; they can’t handle all the investigations themselves, so they sent out official jobs to help with investigations.”
“An entire town wiped out? How does something like that happen without someone knowing about it?”
“That’s what worries the council. Apparently, the master wasn’t pleased that the job isn’t even classified as S-Class, that’s why he left for the council this morning.”
Chadwyck ripped the flier from the board and stuffed it in his pocket. “I’m going to check this out,” he declared to the rest of the people in the guild. Something in him changed: all these lives had been extinguished in an instant, and no one knows what happened or who was responsible. They were wizards, they were supposed to protect people weaker than themselves. Whoever was responsible, they would pay.
Pyrefly floated in his path, stopping the young man short. He knew what the creature was trying to tell him, even though there was no way for it to communicate. “I’m going to need some help on this one, just in case.” He stood at the doorway and looked around the building. “Anyone coming?”
OoC: Blah, sorry that post wasn't the greatest guys, I've been feeling a bit out of the whole writing loop lately, so I'm trying to get back into it.
