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Forum Games and Roleplaying / Re: The Age Of Fire: Game Thread
« on: April 16, 2014, 08:41:45 pm »
As a general rule, Merlin didn't get angry. For a wizard of his potency, strong anger was a dangerous thing - it disrupted the rythmns one's magic went through and made it dangerous to act. Sure, strong magic was possible in anger - Merlin himself knew that all too well from some unfortunate incidents in his youth. He still shuddered whenever he thought of the smoking corpse he'd left by the stables in that one town, the victim of young love. But conversely the magic was harder to control than when focus was put into it. An attemot to heat up a cup of water lead to a gush of flame pouring out of one's palm; moving a book to your hand summoned a miniature tornado. As a consequence, Merlin rarely got truly angry. It was practically a once-in-a-lifetime event for him.
Of course, that doesn't mean I'm not tempted now, he reflected as he paced.
Matthew had been gone for three days. Not the maximum of one that had been agreed on, not the unspoken two that might've occurred should something unusual turn out to be in the dilapidated house.
Three.
Merlin hadn't had an apprentice before Matthew for quite some time. Despite his apparent fame in advising a half-remembered king and building a court out of myth and hope, he'd only ever seen fit to impart his knowledge upon one other, and that ... hadn't gone well. She'd left him unpleasantly wooden in more than one sense of the word. He didn't like to think too much about it - the point was, Merlin didn't know what he was supposed to be feeling at the moment. Anger? Worry? Determination to get him back? He didn't know, and as he paced back and forth across the tiled floor the peculiar sense of uncertainty and tension and boiling uneasiness frothing in his gut came to a head, and as it escalated he paced faster and faster until finally he broke the circle he was wearing into the floor and resolved to go get Matthew back.
Of course, even without this strange sense of worry and responsibility hanging over his head he'd have gone and gotten the boy. He knew things now, and he was as as skilled with the spells as he'd been at his age. If he'd been captured by an opportunistic party, he could be used to break into his defenses, and that wouldn't do. The fact that he'd grown attached to the boy was an additional motivator.
Having made his decision, Merlin wasted no time. Soon he was out of the slacks and sweaters he normally wore around the house and in a darker outfit made of cloth that didn't hang off of him. That'd hopefully lend him a measure of unnoticeability. He took in hand his staff, but took care to dim it's glow, for it'd be unfortuitous for his tool of defense to give him away. Finally, he went about his manse and turned off every light, locked every door, and activated every security measure he'd installed in the place. Nothing too potent as of yet, though he'd be fixing that error soon enough. Once there was no sign of habitation remaining in the house, he slipped out the door, silent as he could manage.
They'd been watching the shop for long enough that they knew something was amiss. While to the regular observer the shop never displayed any signs of activity until one entered, these three knew the particular signs that indicated that Ambrosius or his assistant was within - a soft rustling sound, slight variances in the ambient light level of the store - and of course the heat signatures of the wizard and his apprentice as they moved around the shop. None of these were present today, which almost never happened. Compounded with the fact that this was the second day in a row that no one had been in the shop, they were all curious as to the wizard's whereabouts. Finally, after having watched for 50 hours with no response, they decided to draw straws to investigate. One of them was chosen and cautiously approached after donning civilian clothes. The door was locked with a common lock, but that was easily disabled and the agent proceeded inside. The room was dark, which was to be expected, as it was still early morning, before the sun peeked above the horizon. Scanning the room with his vision, the agent saw nothing unusual. The various surfaces in the shop, made of strangely knotted wood, were as devoid of dust as they always were, with the minor artifacts that normally scattered themselves over the shelves absent. Nothing out of the ordinary-
The agent's breath huffed out of his body as he was hit with a solid bar of shadows in the gut with enough force to knock him off his feet. Landing on his stomach, he gasped and sputtered as he struggled to bring breath back into his stomach. This must've been the security system we've been warned about - what was it again, animated - his thought process cut out as he saw several thin tendrils of darkness slip out of unlit corners. They hung before him for long enough for him to note that they moved almost like string before they whipped about his limbs and smoothly lifted him off the floor. Pretty dang effective, he managed to muse as he was tossed out the door.
As they saw their comrade hurtle out the door, the others quietly cursed and went to retrieve the insensate man, who'd have no memory of being tossed out in the first place.
'Well, looks like we'll be watching for a while longer,' said one. 'Go Fish?'
'Is that the only card game you know?'
'Only one I'm good at.'
The first one sighed. 'Fine.'
Merlin approached the tenement building in which Matthew had disappeared. Oddly enough he found himself disappointed by it. If Matthew truly had been abducted as he believed, he privately expected an organization willing and able to do that kind of feat to base themselves in somewhere less ... dilapidated. And the building truly was pathetic; barely standing up anymore, wet patches clearly visible in the concrete, another failed project of the city, half-completed a and left to die. It incensed Merlin to see it and so many of its kin in existence - the rulers of this city were clearly compromised and unworthy of the very title. It was simply one more thing he'd have to fix in this hellhole, he contemplated as he slipped toward the entrance as quietly as it was possible for him to do - that is to say, quietly. As he neared the door, he readied his staff for action, bringing the circuit of magical energy that ran within near to the surface, which manifested itself as an ever-so slight hum in his wrist bones and a subtle lightening of the staff's weight. As he proceeded inward, he let out a quiet breath he hadn't fully realized he was holding, and found himself wondering what he would encounter within. I hope for their sake that this comes to a peaceful resolution, he thought. After all, as that Tolkein fellow wrote, meddle not in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger.
Merlin enters the building, subtle and quick toBURNINATE defend himself if necessary.
Of course, that doesn't mean I'm not tempted now, he reflected as he paced.
Matthew had been gone for three days. Not the maximum of one that had been agreed on, not the unspoken two that might've occurred should something unusual turn out to be in the dilapidated house.
Three.
Merlin hadn't had an apprentice before Matthew for quite some time. Despite his apparent fame in advising a half-remembered king and building a court out of myth and hope, he'd only ever seen fit to impart his knowledge upon one other, and that ... hadn't gone well. She'd left him unpleasantly wooden in more than one sense of the word. He didn't like to think too much about it - the point was, Merlin didn't know what he was supposed to be feeling at the moment. Anger? Worry? Determination to get him back? He didn't know, and as he paced back and forth across the tiled floor the peculiar sense of uncertainty and tension and boiling uneasiness frothing in his gut came to a head, and as it escalated he paced faster and faster until finally he broke the circle he was wearing into the floor and resolved to go get Matthew back.
Of course, even without this strange sense of worry and responsibility hanging over his head he'd have gone and gotten the boy. He knew things now, and he was as as skilled with the spells as he'd been at his age. If he'd been captured by an opportunistic party, he could be used to break into his defenses, and that wouldn't do. The fact that he'd grown attached to the boy was an additional motivator.
Having made his decision, Merlin wasted no time. Soon he was out of the slacks and sweaters he normally wore around the house and in a darker outfit made of cloth that didn't hang off of him. That'd hopefully lend him a measure of unnoticeability. He took in hand his staff, but took care to dim it's glow, for it'd be unfortuitous for his tool of defense to give him away. Finally, he went about his manse and turned off every light, locked every door, and activated every security measure he'd installed in the place. Nothing too potent as of yet, though he'd be fixing that error soon enough. Once there was no sign of habitation remaining in the house, he slipped out the door, silent as he could manage.
They'd been watching the shop for long enough that they knew something was amiss. While to the regular observer the shop never displayed any signs of activity until one entered, these three knew the particular signs that indicated that Ambrosius or his assistant was within - a soft rustling sound, slight variances in the ambient light level of the store - and of course the heat signatures of the wizard and his apprentice as they moved around the shop. None of these were present today, which almost never happened. Compounded with the fact that this was the second day in a row that no one had been in the shop, they were all curious as to the wizard's whereabouts. Finally, after having watched for 50 hours with no response, they decided to draw straws to investigate. One of them was chosen and cautiously approached after donning civilian clothes. The door was locked with a common lock, but that was easily disabled and the agent proceeded inside. The room was dark, which was to be expected, as it was still early morning, before the sun peeked above the horizon. Scanning the room with his vision, the agent saw nothing unusual. The various surfaces in the shop, made of strangely knotted wood, were as devoid of dust as they always were, with the minor artifacts that normally scattered themselves over the shelves absent. Nothing out of the ordinary-
The agent's breath huffed out of his body as he was hit with a solid bar of shadows in the gut with enough force to knock him off his feet. Landing on his stomach, he gasped and sputtered as he struggled to bring breath back into his stomach. This must've been the security system we've been warned about - what was it again, animated - his thought process cut out as he saw several thin tendrils of darkness slip out of unlit corners. They hung before him for long enough for him to note that they moved almost like string before they whipped about his limbs and smoothly lifted him off the floor. Pretty dang effective, he managed to muse as he was tossed out the door.
As they saw their comrade hurtle out the door, the others quietly cursed and went to retrieve the insensate man, who'd have no memory of being tossed out in the first place.
'Well, looks like we'll be watching for a while longer,' said one. 'Go Fish?'
'Is that the only card game you know?'
'Only one I'm good at.'
The first one sighed. 'Fine.'
Merlin approached the tenement building in which Matthew had disappeared. Oddly enough he found himself disappointed by it. If Matthew truly had been abducted as he believed, he privately expected an organization willing and able to do that kind of feat to base themselves in somewhere less ... dilapidated. And the building truly was pathetic; barely standing up anymore, wet patches clearly visible in the concrete, another failed project of the city, half-completed a and left to die. It incensed Merlin to see it and so many of its kin in existence - the rulers of this city were clearly compromised and unworthy of the very title. It was simply one more thing he'd have to fix in this hellhole, he contemplated as he slipped toward the entrance as quietly as it was possible for him to do - that is to say, quietly. As he neared the door, he readied his staff for action, bringing the circuit of magical energy that ran within near to the surface, which manifested itself as an ever-so slight hum in his wrist bones and a subtle lightening of the staff's weight. As he proceeded inward, he let out a quiet breath he hadn't fully realized he was holding, and found himself wondering what he would encounter within. I hope for their sake that this comes to a peaceful resolution, he thought. After all, as that Tolkein fellow wrote, meddle not in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger.
Merlin enters the building, subtle and quick to
