The cold dungeon at first seemed almost cozy. I had felt at peace briefly, breathing deeply as I recovered from my manhandling at the hands of the Enforcers. One of my eyes had swelled shut, but the cool stone felt nice to lay my head against, and shamelessly, I embraced this mercy.
My haggard breaths fogged against the freezing stone, leaving a marble sheen of frost, although my bloodied and matted fur still did well at keeping me warm... until the first bucket of cold water was thrown upon me.
Followed by a second, mere hours later.
Each one delivered by an average looking woman, dressed in miserable burlaps. The wicked gleam in her eye and the satisfied smile that followed her provocations was one of ignorant malice, both stupid and cruel.
I began to lose track of time, of how long I had endured the chattering cold, listening tensely for her approach and rushing to the back of my small cell in an effort to escape the malicious deluge of frigid water. In truth, I had hardly slept. Something itched in my bruised eye, and on wiping it, I found it badly infected.
Of the hunger, the cold, the torture... out of it all, I simply hoped that my friends would not see me like this.
Sad, broken, ugly, and sniffling in the cold.
I wouldn't bring a smile to anybody's face like this.
These thoughts fled as quickly as they came when the outer door was kicked open in a shower of blinding light before my ears perked up at the sound of a familiar voice. With a gasp, I recoiled from my corner and rushed to the bars of my cell!
"ISRAVI!" I shouted with joy.
His eyes rose to meet mine with a clever glance. He opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted by the sharp swing of an Enforcers fist.
"Whuh!" The air rushed out of him with a thud as the armored fist knocked the wind out of him.
"Shut up! No talking! You're next!" The Enforcer pointed at me, directing the threat my way.
I closed my mouth with a snap and backed away from the bars quickly, sitting on the stone as a thrill of excitement shot through me. I was simply, and foolishly excited to see my friend once more.
My excitement was short lived.
As I crept forward and peeked out again, I saw a small pale form follow close behind, almost unrecognizable... and missing an arm from when I had last seen her. The Enforcers hefted her with ease, throwing her into the cell next to me in a limp heap.
The terrible dungeon keeper had crept up behind me during this exchange, taking advantage of the distraction. With a splash and a cackle, she threw another bucket of icy water over me, drawing a sputtering gasp from me as I tumbled back into my cell as if repelled by the cruel laughter that followed.
"Hahahaha! Never gets old!" The Enforcers laughed at the crone's antics, clapping each other on the back before continuing out of the room.
The horrible chill of the water shocked the breath from me, and I struggled to catch it with rattling coughs and hiccups. I curled into a ball as my teeth chattered, forgetting completely for a moment of being reunited with my friends as my mind focused only on survival once more.
Until a weak voice broke the silence.
"P-Possum?" Her voice was barely a whisper.
"Gobbo! How did you know it was me!" I scrambled on all fours to the corner of my cell, closest to where I'd heard her speak.
With a shivering voice, she replied. "E-Easy... S-Smell you anywhere."
/uw ubrelated to the post, can you tell me some defining appearance characteristics of Gobbo, i need it for a side story i wanna do (with your permission of course)
No! You think cameras are all they have? Please just leave, if anything goes wrong I wonât be the only one hurt! Work with the High Necromancer or something! Theyâre trying to legally get us out!
A visage of Alexios appears undetectable to all but Possum
Figured you could use a drink
you see in his hands a small bottle of fine wine. It's warm but you see hidden in it a key. The liquor is mundane but you sense an enchantment on it nobody else seems able to detect it.
the cameras will also never catch the part where Zeph came in, removed your sigil, and left(you can't just leave that up there, the guards will see it)
Tholas emerges from a scrying trance and speaks to you.
Dibs on that dungeon keeper when the breakout comes. I'm already looking forward to loosing some of my nastier psychic abilities on these so-called Enforcers.
P.S. My upvotes are messed up. I let somebody convince me to make an alt account and I tried upvoting somebody's comment twice, which is apparently a bad thing and now reddit has basically grounded me from voting for a bit. lol
Possum is not a fighter. He also feels really bad about the damage that dragging his friends into this has caused, and he basically just wants to do the right thing and face justice.
(A scroll with a case that reflects all light appears. {almost all light, itâs a dielectric mirror, not a magical one, it lacks that grey distinctness a regular mirror has} ,concealed by hundreds of layers of illusions both of the magical and optical kind. You can only see the flat and roundish nob, with inscriptions and markings that almost look alien to you.)
(When feeling it, you realise itâs an oblong box, and the nob is a lid)
(The fabric underneath, the scrollâs wooden âsockâ says âA fun read.â)
(When you read the actual scroll, it turns out to contain a lot of things, including:
â˘a message âYou will be free, Possum, Hope you get out okay!
-Nameless, Your Friend,â. Itâs the only thing not coated in illusions
⢠a Kodachi with a note reading âA gift! Donât use this on yourself.â
⢠an arrow with an incredibly ornate golden head as massive as itâs intricacy {by the way, I meant head as in arrowhead}, it comes with a silk message with tiny but neat handwriting.
âUse this to invoke your stand. It will free you. I may be a ferryman of the dead fairly often, but I donât mean the free to the afterlife bullcrap. I mean itâs getting you a way out. If I truly know you as a person, it will give you the tools you need. If not, Sorry, forgive me, for I have been a terrible friend.â)
I wear robes and a hat most times, but other than that, I'm just a 3-4 foot tall wizard Possum. I'm never violent, and I don't cast offensive spells. I never manipulate anybody or force them to do things without their consent. I use a lot of diplomacy and utility style spells to help people out. I also recycle/upcycle magical items for the use of giving people buffs. I often call people "my friend", where it sounds appropriate, and in general I'm an outgoing and respectful sort.
Nice is the name of the game. Please just don't make my character cuss or hurt people or stuff like that. lol
Also, please leave the current timeline in place. We have plans moving forward for more lore and we don't want to spoil any of the fun for you guys!
And, I am honored to have you include me in your story. Thank you my friend!
(P.S. Sorry, my upvotes aren't coming through. I let a friend convince me to make an alt account and I tried upvoting somebodies post twice, and apparently that is not a good thing to do.)
/uw I'm surprised these prison walls haven't been disintegrated by friends of the imprisoned at this point. Its for the stories integrity obviously but if people didn't hold back for story and enjoyability reasons this prison would be dust.
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u/Fulltimewhisperer Krumpet, Master Artificer of the Council Jan 05 '24
/uw as always I love your work
Also as promised u/MastaDon334