I reorganized the character sheet a little as well. The lists were getting a bit long so skills and spells are now organized by their fields/schools. Let me know it that improved things at all.
Chapter 14: The Mad, Mad Mind I
"No, no, no! You are doing it wrong!" Lyssa, or rather Mazzarin, shouts from the great slab. The girl is bleeding again, from the eyes and nose, part of you feels responsible. It seems Mazzarin, while definitely a genius, is not a terribly good teacher. He will calmly explain a spell once. Often in archaic terms. If you fail to grasp it the first time he gets progressively angrier. The angrier he gets, the rougher he gets with Lyssa. You doubt he is doing it on purpose though. He does not seem to want to hurt the witch, he just does not much seem to care if he does.
"Who taught you to craft an assault spell? You can't just jump from Malairt's third principle of mental construction straight to Braman's Gambit like that. Any Mentalist worth his salt will pick your spells apart!" you are fairly certain he is over-exaggerating and that your spells would hold up well against most opponents but he has been helpful. He has found twenty two minor flaws in the way you construct you assault and control spells that would allow a superior talent to fight back. Nothing obvious of course, nothing that your average mage could use against you but still it makes you wonder what exactly Nine was planning.
Mazzarin asks just that, with a level of condescension only attainable by an archmage, "Are you trying to undermine your pupils or are you simply stupid 'Nine'?"
Nine, incapable of rising above such slights immediately responds, "Am I what? Why you useless, wretched corpse! You- you relic! I was testing them, nothing more! And you ruined it!"
"'Testing them?' Really Nine, I am not a fool! You were purposely undermining your own students!" brutally, Lyssa's head snaps back to you and Thaïs, "Now! Do it again! Exactly as I instruct you!"
Nine begins to grin as Mazzarin walks you through mental spells of increasing potency and complexity.
After an hour of instruction she can hold back no longer, "Hypocrite! Liar! You are as bad as I am! No you are worse! You lie about it!" she sticks her tongue out at the archmage and rolls her gaze over to the two of you, "Do you know what he has been doing dears? For every little hole he patches up in your spells he has been opening two more! He thinks he is so very clever! Thinks I won't notice what he is doing to my dear girls! But I am on to him."
Calmly she has you begin again and she guides you through your new spells, sealing off the flaws in each as you go.
You spend the entire day like this. A pawn is the petty arguments of two, arguably insane, archmages. They bicker, hurl insults and attempt to discredit each other in your eyes. The entire experience is a little absurd and more than once you are tempted to break into fits of laughter.
By the time it is over you are exhausted but your spells have been greatly improved and you have even managed to pick up a few new ones though you will need more actual practice with most of them to master them.
The experience itself has also been very enlightening. You have never been so acutely aware of just how petty, how small, even the greatest minds can be. It is not an encouraging thought and part of you worries that even should you succeed in your quest for power you will one day end up like those two.
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You and Thaïs sit across from one another. Nine rests between you on the soft grass of the meadow. Biliku and Uttu stand guard nearby with a couple Arrows. The rest of the mercenaries are off guarding Lyssa and Mazzarin in their cell. You did not think it wise to conduct the ritual in front of the archmage, you do not really trust him after all.
"Alright dears, I am ready," the two of you have spent the better part of the evening preparing yourselves for the most dangerous spell either of you have tried to cast to date.
You look to Thaïs, your friend gives you the slightest of nods.
You close your eyes and begin.
"Alright Derryth, repeat my three rules of dungeon delving," you sit in a run down little tavern in the south of the Province, Henry is across from you and like usual is testing you.
Mazzarin had told you that you would begin somewhere familiar.
But this time it is important, tomorrow you will accompany him on your very first expedition.
In many ways it is fitting that your mind brought you here.
You take a deep breath and begin, "One: always know your exits, if you get lost you are as good as dead. Two: always go prepared, an empty canteen or bad equipment will kill you just as surely as the undead or the traps."
This will be your first time 'running' the mind of another person.
"Good... good, and the last," nothing pleases the old man more than knowing that you are paying attention, if you get this last one right he will probably pay for your drinks too.
Sure the two of you managed to practice on one another a couple times but this, this will be a whole new level of danger.
You hesitate for a moment and then continue, "Umm... Three: never get greedy, you can always try again and there are plenty of relics out there but you only have the one life." Henry positively beams at you, "Good job kid I may just make you into a professional after all!"
You smile at Henry as he walks to the bar to get you both another round. This memory is so perfect, so relaxing, part of you wants to just stay here and enjoy it a bit longer... but you can not. You think of the task ahead of you, of Thaïs, of Nine, no point living in the past.
Hmm... that is strange, Henry is coming back empty handed. That is not how this memory is supposed to play out. The barman must have turned him away.
Your mentor sits down across from you, "She says I am cut off kid. Says you need to get up and ask for your own ale."
She? This bar has never had a female bartender. Strange... you stand and head to the bar. If this bartender wants to talk to you, you will oblige her though you have a fairly good idea who it will be already.
Sure enough, Nine stands behind the bar, in one of the more revealing little dresses you have ever seen. She waves to you. Then she waves again and jumps up and down a little, "Oh dear! Is this not simply magnificent! I have arms!" she strikes a pose, "And legs!" she does a high kick over the bar, someone whistles, "Oh thank you dear!" she winks at the patron before turning her attention back to you, "And this is such a lovely little tavern you have here. So that is Henry?" she winks at your mentor, "Cute, in a rugged 'older man' sort of way."
She hops up on the bar and swings her legs over in a single fluid motion. Poised on the edge of the bar she leans forward, elbows on her knees, and hands under her chin, "So dear, gossip with me a little. You and him, did you ever... you know?" she raises her eyebrows and grins.
It takes you a second longer than it should to figure out her meaning, you sputter, "No! Never, Nine! Henry was like a father to me, I would not even-"
She hops down, "Good, then you will not mind if I go and talk to him," she moves to pass you and you grab her arm, "Nine, really?" you whisper to her, "He is not real Nine. He is just an idea, a memory."
She giggles and makes eyes at Henry, "Dear, I have been a severed head for what, a century give or take? All I have got are ideas and memories, now let me have a little fun please."
You refuse to release her arm so she pouts a little, "Oh fine!" we stares at him intently.
"Nine what are you doing?" you feel compelled to ask.
"Committing every detail to memory... there we go," she winks one last time at Henry, "See you later gorgeous."
"Come on, we are going to find Thaïs ," you drag the archmage out the front door as the entire bar voices their displeasure at you. Nine blows kisses to them as the two of you stumble out into the street... but not the street of the little town you were expecting.
White stone walls with red tile roofs greet you. You are still somewhere in the south of the Province but now you are in a city. There is only one city this could be, you are in Scales, the city of wine, the city of music, poetry, love, some say the city of whores...
It is a cool, autumn night. People race through the streets around you, arms full of possessions. You sidestep the odd fight and in the distance you can hear screams... smell smoke... You stop Nine while you gather your thoughts, the old bell tower chimes out midnight. Now you know not just where you are but when.
That bell tower was destroyed the second time the Fallen sacked the city. You are in Scales before it fell, probably in the autumn of 2540 A.E., right before the city fell to Shiver. The screams you can hear, the smoke you can smell, you are almost certain that if you followed them back to their source you would find the Mother of Plagues herself.
Somewhere out there in the darkness is Shiver... or at least something patterned on Shiver. You where not in the city when it fell. Henry had the sense to flee from the south when the first rumours of Soulblighter's return began to spread. These are not your memories and they are obviously not Nine's. Thaïs must have been here, seen the city fall. You are certain now that you are in her mind. When you thought of her you must have jumped over to her mind. Thankfully that means you will not have to worry about the real Shiver, of course Thaïs' idea of Shiver can be just as dangerous to you...
You catch Nine's attention, "We need to find Thaïs," unfortunately this is not your mind, you can not simply bring Thaïs to you. You will have to find her. You rack your mind, trying to remember Thaïs' address, where she would be. She once mentioned that she lived on the north side of the city. With nothing else to go on, that is the direction you take.
The two of you race through the night away from the screams and sounds of battle at the east gate. As you run you interrogate Nine, "Nine, how did you find me in my mind? That might give us a clue on how to find Thaïs."
Nine sidesteps an elderly couple dragging a large chest, "Well dear, I did not find you. You found me. I went looking for you in that fort of yours but there were so many doors and each led out into memories, experiences, fantasies, little worlds of their own. One minute I was walking down a hallway and the next I was behind the bar in this lovely little dress. Speaking of which it is a bit chilly tonight," she snaps her fingers and her barmaid outfit is replaced by a fur coat, velvet tunic and trousers, "So you see dear, I did not really do anything. It was your mind, you had the power. This is your little friend's mind, here she has the power. If she wants-"
The two of you stop short, four blocks ahead a figure floats down the street surrounded by thirty Stygian Knights. She is a nightmare given flesh, the air around her crackles with magical energy and instinctively you know that this is Shiver. She is not looking at you though, she is looking at a crowd of people fleeing in the opposite direction. She casually launches screaming bolts of violet energy into the crowd. Every target she hits falls, gasping, gurgling, their flesh boiling away as they evaporate leaving not a trace.
She is toying with the crowd. Without warning she turns, she sees the two of you. Nine catches a glimpse of her face and freezes, "Dear, I... I know her... I do not know how or from where but... I know her."
Shiver laughing manically pitches a bolt of azure energy towards you. It plummets towards you, accelerating as it goes. You attempt to defend yourself but it proves unnecessary. Well before the spell connects the two of you disappear.
You reappear in a small apartment overlooking the street. Thaïs is there pacing. When she notices the two of you she throws herself at you, "Oh thank Wyrd Derryth! I saw you in the street from the window. I was not sure if it would work! I mean, I thought it would but I just was not sure!" she takes a breath, calms herself, "Sorry, sorry. I caught a glimpse of you out there but I did not want to risk drawing her attention Derryth. So I tried willing you over, thankfully it worked."
"Dear, why did you not simply remove Shiver?" your mentor asks, "This is your mind after all."
Thaïs frowns, "I have tried that before... she... she is just too much for me. I can't beat her, not yet... the memory... it is too much."
You place a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "Do you want help with her?"
She smiles but shakes her head, "No. No, I am fine. It is just something I will have to work through on my own... someday... but let's do what we came to do," She walks over to the door of the apartment, opens it and ushers you through.
You come out in what could only be Nine's mind.
You stand in front of a city of shifting, writhing, emerald glass bound together by golden threads. It is an impressive sight but as you get closer you realize that the city is crawling along. Almost every millimetre of this 'city' is covered in tiny creatures working to maintain their network of webs. They work, they wander, they battle, they devour, they breed. With large, round, hooked jaws they burrow into one another. A symphony of inhuman screams fills the air.
"Wow, Nine... just wow," the three of you stand, well you and Thaïs stand while Nine dances, before the main gate, "So, um, how are we going to do this."
"Well dear, we will go through the front gates and see if we can not find a guide to give us directions," she hums merrily and spins on her heels still quite taken with once more possessing a body.
"So you do not know where we have to go?" Thaïs asks in disbelief.
The archmage pulls a pirouette, "Well dear, when you have been around as long as I have you forget a few things... or a lot of things..." she giggles and flips into a cartwheel.
You shrug and approach the main gate, Thaïs one step behind you.
You knock.
You receive no answer.
You give the door a shove.
It opens a crack, "Are you coming Nine?"
"Yes dears," she races over, running on her hands.
Shaking your head you lead the way into the city.
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The translucent glass lets in little light.
Each hallway is, as the one before it, empty. The only movement comes from the miniature monstrosities weaving their webs on the outside of the glass. They create beautiful, intricate patterns that gnaw at the edges of your mind when you stare at them for more than a moment.
No sound penetrates through from the exterior. As a result you are mercifully spared you from having to endure the constant wailing of the beasts.
Interspersed along the length of the hallway are oval doorways, each a gaping maw rimmed with short, narrow spikes. Around each door frame a stylized reproduction of the beasts that maintain the place is etched into the thick glass. Some of the openings lead to new hallways, some lead to small rooms, all are dim and empty.
You wander for hours without encountering a soul. Then the hallway shudders and you receive a vision of Thaïs falling into the darkness. The image that hits you is similar to those projected by the bracelets only here in the realm of pure thought you have no choice but to immediately comply, you are compelled to do everything in your power to help her. You instinctively reach for one another as the hallway begins to tip. You grab a hold of the frame of a nearby doorway, narrowly missing one of the spikes as the hall pitches upward and twists.
Nine, too far from the two of you for you to help, plummets into the darkness. Giggling she calls to you as she falls, "Take care dears! I will find you when I can! If I can!"
The two of you hang there in the dim light for what seems like an eternity. Finally the hallway shudders again and tips over onto its 'back' throwing you both down to what was the ceiling.
Aside from a few bruises you are fine, immediately you turn to Thaïs, "Are you alright?"
She seems unsure but nods, "Yes, I think so. Are you fine?"
"Yes," you answer as the two of you get to your feet, you call out, "Nine! Can you hear me!"
Nothing.
Thaïs brushes herself off, "I think we are on our own for the moment. I-"
You hear a scream, a high pitched voice calls out, "Kill, murder, eat!"
The two of you duck low, "That does not sound good," Thaïs shivers.
"Yes but it is also the first sign of life we have encountered since we arrived. Maybe we are finally coming to a portion of the city that is inhabited," you gesture for her to follow you as you creep through a doorway towards the source of the noise.
The room you enter is unlike any you have seen so far.
The room you enter has two floors to it, the upper catwalk you are crouched on and a lower floor on which a brutal battle is being waged. The two are connected by a narrow flight of stairs on the far side.
A dozen, crooked, sickly figures are locked in a fight to the death. From your vantage point you have a good view of the skirmish.
The combatants seem to belong to two different factions. Each side is armed with crude weapons, small spears, axes, bows and arrows made from bone and tendon.
The bigger group of seven creatures are led by a rather large being carrying a small emerald sphere, each one bears a glowing green scar somewhere on its upper body.
The smaller group of creatures are armed and armoured the same as the first but lack the green scars on their bodies.
It is clear that the 'marked' creatures will win this battle so long as the balance of power remains as it is.
One of the unmarked creatures is flung across the room and collapses in a pile along the far wall crying.
You could probably interfere but these things may very well be hostile to you as well.
Still this is the first solid lead you have encountered so far, it might be worth pursuing.
Alternatively you could slip away and try and find Nine. You would feel much safer with her around.
A) Attack the larger group - You are fairly certain that the larger group are the aggressors. The unmarked creatures might just be able to help you if you save their 'lives'. (All A votes will be counted together given how similar they are in intent, the most popular option will then be chosen.)
i. Control: You will try out your new Control spell on the lead creature. If you can get it to attack its followers that should give the unmarked creatures a fighting chance. You will work with Thaïs on this as neither of you have mastered the spell yet.
ii. Assault: You will use your assault spells to incapacitate as many of the creatures as you can. This should allow the unmarked creatures to fight back.
iii. Fear: You will test your new Fear spells to break the marked creature will. Once they begin routing the unmarked should be able to run them down.
iv. Fire: These creatures live in near darkness. You have seen no hints that they are even aware of what fire is. You will hit the lead creature with firebolt, then work your way down the chain of command. They should route rather quickly after that. If this works it would also make for a rather impressive sight and might overawe the locals.
v. Retrieve Item + Control: You will steal the lead creature's orb first then proceed as in Ai
B) Diplomacy - you will wait until the battle ends then attempt to negotiate with the marked creatures and their sphere carrying leader.
C) Spy - You will let the battle play out then attempt to follow the marked creatures back to their lair. You do not think this war party would be open to negotiation but they may have a leader that is more reasonable.
D) Capture - You will slip around to the stairs and grab the incapacitated creature leaning on the far wall. If you are quick you hope you can pull it off without anyone spotting you. Once you have the creature you can properly interrogate it.
E) Leave - These creatures do not really strike you as reasonable. You leave them to their war and go backward looking for Nine.
F) freeform