Seems kinda.....gritty to me for some reason. But here it is.
This chapter is also about character development, the action starts in chapter three
--
“You look uncomfortable, is something wrong?” I looked up from the mane of my ‘dog’ into the wizard’s silvery eyes, a look of concern printed across them.
“Well…it’s just that this valley is all I’ve ever known. I’ve been to the cave
entrance, but no further.”
We trotted along in silence for a few minutes before the wizard spoke up, “Sometimes, we get so used to things, that we can’t envision them changing, and are afraid to take a chance. It’s as it was with me when a blue robed
stranger came a knocking to whisk me away too.”
He considered his next words carefully, scratching his bearded chin in thought, his wrinkly eye lids closed against the sun, “But like I, you too will learn you have made the right choice. Not just anyone gets called, those that do, are
meant to be wizards.”
Years spent under the harsh rule of my father had given me a bit of a lack of self confidence, and the reassuring words of the wizard did much to boost it. I looked upwards for the first time in several minutes, and there in front of me, was the cave. Immediately I was a scared child again, and apparently it showed.
“What has you worked up now?” The wizard asked, mild agitation showing in his voice and on his face despite his attempts to hide it. “Is it the cave? Of course!” His face lightened up again and he emitted a toothy chuckle. “I suppose it would make some men uneasy, but come now, it’s just a tunnel
through a rock.”
“Father said there were monsters inside.” I said sheepishly.
“Well, if he had you believing that when you were five years old to keep you from falling and hurting yourself, he’d be a good father. But he’s still telling you this nonsense at your current age?”
I looked away, blushing and ashamed.
“Well, no fault of yours I suppose, your father sounds like an odd man. You said he never even told you his name! That’s not normal you know.”
The wizard realized he was berating me again, and said more softly, “But again, no fault of yours.”
After an awkward silence he looked up into the tunnel and pounded his staff on the ground, bringing a bright light slowly to life on the top. “Well, shall we go then?”
We started into the tunnel, and despite my knowing the wizard to be more trustable than my father, I still had my doubts as to it’s inhabitants.
“Well, imagine that, we’ve been travelling together for hours and I still haven’t properly introduced myself.”
With a sweeping mounted brow and a toothy grin the old wizard announced, “I am Filpin, also known as the Witmage, but mostly as Filpin; Wizard of the third degree and a proud brother of the Rumyrin Mage Society.”
He held his bow for a few seconds and then gracefully rose, “And you? Oddly enough they didn’t supply me with a name when they sent me out to get you.”
I scuffled along with my head down for a few seconds before saying, “Father just called me Boy, and my sister used to call me Brother, but father made her leave a long time ago.”
Filpin closed his eyes and scratched his chin again, “Well, you’ll need a proper name before we get to the Mage’s Society; we can’t just call you boy, any ideas?”
“Well, to be honest, I don’t know any proper names.”
Filpin once again used his signature gestures to show he was thinking before muttering, “Quite a dilemma, quite a dilemma indeed.” He opened his eyes and looked at me, sizing me up. “You know, you have the same facial features and brown colored hair as my father, pronounced cheekbones, a bony lump near the top of the nose, how about we call you Randyl? He was a good man, my father.
I just shrugged, though inside I liked the name quite a bit
“Well, how about it?” He asked with childish anticipation.
“Sounds good.” I stated factually.
Filpin was visibly disappointing by my short reply, but said with relief, “Well, that was easy enough, from here on out, you’ll be known as Randyl.” He chuckled and joked, “Or I suppose you could change it before we get to the society if you wish.”
A bright beam of light hit my eyes, forcing me to squint.
“See, did we get attacked by any goblins or other assorted cave horrors? I thought it was a quite tranquil walk myself.”
I ignored him, intent on reading the sign ahead, at the fork of the road, “98 ma…miles to the…..kitty.”
The wizard regarded me intently as I read and said with excitement, “It’s city actually, but you can read?! Whoo! This will make things go a lot quicker once we get to the Society, I won’t need to teach you all those boring things, though it appears you could use a bit of practice. Who taught a peasant boy like you to read?”
“My sister, it was more than three years ago though.”
Filpin scratched his chin, an interested look on his face, “Your sister was kind to you?”
A dreamy expression flowed across my face as I recalled the memories, “I adored her, she adored me; we were closer to each other and anyone else. She came and went as she pleased, and gave me much the same view of the outside world as you.”
I paused uncomfortably but Filpin’s intent gaze urged me to continue.
I frowned as I delved deeper into my memory “Father never liked what she said. One day they had a fight, over me and my future. He called her a liar and a whore and threw her out and told her never to return. He told me not to believe a word she said.”
“Do you know where she is now?” Filpin asked
“No idea.”
“In Rumyrin, I can make inquiries if you like, I’m interested to know about her too.”
I said nothing, and before long Filpin realized we had stopped moving, and spurred his horse forward.
We followed the overgrown road, so far gone that we occasionally had to make sure it was indeed a road, for several more hours, winding through the dark yet peaceful forest before I just had to ask, “Are there elves in this forest?”
“You bet there are, this is probably as close as you’re going to get to them without angering them too. Before Vilfort village in your valley burned, people and goods needed to get in and out, and as you know, that cave is the only entrance, so the old king had to make a deal with the elves to make a road through their forest.” Filpin suddenly appeared a bit flustered, “I assume that deal still stands, anyways, onward!”
We passed through the wood without incident, though we had strong suspicions we heard the sounds of feet following us in the nearby trees.
Filpin whistled, “Foxtrot inn, one of the best steaks in the republic!”
Sitting upon a little hill by a crossroads about a half mile in the distance, was a good sized building that could be nothing but the inn. I started forward but Filpin stopped me. “You’ll need to walk the rest of the way, I hope you don’t mind, the spell I cast on your dog only lasts so long if we just let it run it’s course, and common folk get a bit jumpy when wizards are in town polymorphing animals here and there.
“Alright.” I jumped gracefully off of Roy, years of riding experience aiding me in my landing.
Filpin made several hand gestures and muttered some words, and before my eyes Roy transformed from a horse back into a dog, turning into a few gruesome looking crosses between the two in between.
“Alright, let’s keep going.”
The Foxtrot inn looked a little bit dilapidated from close up, with shutters hanging from windows and a broken sign in front, but from the door wafted the unmistakable aroma of fine meat, something available to me only on holidays before. After bringing Filpin’s horse Bliney and Roy to the stables, we followed our senses right in to a scene completely alien to me. There were about ten tables inside, most of them occupied by travelers yelling and swinging frothy mugs about, a sight that unnerved yet excited me. This is part of the real world, the world I didn’t think I’d ever see. We took a table in the corner and before long a comely serving girl around my age came to the table.
“What can I get you two tonight?” She asked.
Filpin smiled up at her and said, “Two cuts of whatever it is everyone eating, and umm.” He glanced at me with a questioning look, “One mug of ale, and my buddy here is, uh, he already had too much to drink so let’s just get him some water.”
The girl just glanced at both of us oddly several times and shrugged, then looked again at me, as if it was the first time she saw me. She smiled and winked, and as she left, touched my arm lightly. I shivered and blushed and stammered as Filpin watched at me with amusement, before finally settling with silence. He just continued smiling for a short time before asking me, “You ever drank ale before, Randyl?”
“Not once.” I said, still blushing deeply.
“Didn’t think so, we’ll have you try it some time.”
When our food came, I dug in like I hadn’t eaten in months, and I hadn’t, not meat at least. The serving girl flirted with me again several times, causing me to be extraordinarily uncomfortable. Filpin left her a very generous tip before going to the bar, “Need a room for two for the night, two beds that is.” The innkeeper wordlessly tossed him a key, and we strode up the rickety stairs.
“Tomorrow we’ll be on the Capital Road, should be a quicker ride, we should
arrive in Rumyrin in about three and a half days.”
I nodded mid fall, before my head hit the pillow and I sunk into a place where I was but 10 and my sister and I still lived together in the valley.
This chapter is also about character development, the action starts in chapter three
--
“You look uncomfortable, is something wrong?” I looked up from the mane of my ‘dog’ into the wizard’s silvery eyes, a look of concern printed across them.
“Well…it’s just that this valley is all I’ve ever known. I’ve been to the cave
entrance, but no further.”
We trotted along in silence for a few minutes before the wizard spoke up, “Sometimes, we get so used to things, that we can’t envision them changing, and are afraid to take a chance. It’s as it was with me when a blue robed
stranger came a knocking to whisk me away too.”
He considered his next words carefully, scratching his bearded chin in thought, his wrinkly eye lids closed against the sun, “But like I, you too will learn you have made the right choice. Not just anyone gets called, those that do, are
meant to be wizards.”
Years spent under the harsh rule of my father had given me a bit of a lack of self confidence, and the reassuring words of the wizard did much to boost it. I looked upwards for the first time in several minutes, and there in front of me, was the cave. Immediately I was a scared child again, and apparently it showed.
“What has you worked up now?” The wizard asked, mild agitation showing in his voice and on his face despite his attempts to hide it. “Is it the cave? Of course!” His face lightened up again and he emitted a toothy chuckle. “I suppose it would make some men uneasy, but come now, it’s just a tunnel
through a rock.”
“Father said there were monsters inside.” I said sheepishly.
“Well, if he had you believing that when you were five years old to keep you from falling and hurting yourself, he’d be a good father. But he’s still telling you this nonsense at your current age?”
I looked away, blushing and ashamed.
“Well, no fault of yours I suppose, your father sounds like an odd man. You said he never even told you his name! That’s not normal you know.”
The wizard realized he was berating me again, and said more softly, “But again, no fault of yours.”
After an awkward silence he looked up into the tunnel and pounded his staff on the ground, bringing a bright light slowly to life on the top. “Well, shall we go then?”
We started into the tunnel, and despite my knowing the wizard to be more trustable than my father, I still had my doubts as to it’s inhabitants.
“Well, imagine that, we’ve been travelling together for hours and I still haven’t properly introduced myself.”
With a sweeping mounted brow and a toothy grin the old wizard announced, “I am Filpin, also known as the Witmage, but mostly as Filpin; Wizard of the third degree and a proud brother of the Rumyrin Mage Society.”
He held his bow for a few seconds and then gracefully rose, “And you? Oddly enough they didn’t supply me with a name when they sent me out to get you.”
I scuffled along with my head down for a few seconds before saying, “Father just called me Boy, and my sister used to call me Brother, but father made her leave a long time ago.”
Filpin closed his eyes and scratched his chin again, “Well, you’ll need a proper name before we get to the Mage’s Society; we can’t just call you boy, any ideas?”
“Well, to be honest, I don’t know any proper names.”
Filpin once again used his signature gestures to show he was thinking before muttering, “Quite a dilemma, quite a dilemma indeed.” He opened his eyes and looked at me, sizing me up. “You know, you have the same facial features and brown colored hair as my father, pronounced cheekbones, a bony lump near the top of the nose, how about we call you Randyl? He was a good man, my father.
I just shrugged, though inside I liked the name quite a bit
“Well, how about it?” He asked with childish anticipation.
“Sounds good.” I stated factually.
Filpin was visibly disappointing by my short reply, but said with relief, “Well, that was easy enough, from here on out, you’ll be known as Randyl.” He chuckled and joked, “Or I suppose you could change it before we get to the society if you wish.”
A bright beam of light hit my eyes, forcing me to squint.
“See, did we get attacked by any goblins or other assorted cave horrors? I thought it was a quite tranquil walk myself.”
I ignored him, intent on reading the sign ahead, at the fork of the road, “98 ma…miles to the…..kitty.”
The wizard regarded me intently as I read and said with excitement, “It’s city actually, but you can read?! Whoo! This will make things go a lot quicker once we get to the Society, I won’t need to teach you all those boring things, though it appears you could use a bit of practice. Who taught a peasant boy like you to read?”
“My sister, it was more than three years ago though.”
Filpin scratched his chin, an interested look on his face, “Your sister was kind to you?”
A dreamy expression flowed across my face as I recalled the memories, “I adored her, she adored me; we were closer to each other and anyone else. She came and went as she pleased, and gave me much the same view of the outside world as you.”
I paused uncomfortably but Filpin’s intent gaze urged me to continue.
I frowned as I delved deeper into my memory “Father never liked what she said. One day they had a fight, over me and my future. He called her a liar and a whore and threw her out and told her never to return. He told me not to believe a word she said.”
“Do you know where she is now?” Filpin asked
“No idea.”
“In Rumyrin, I can make inquiries if you like, I’m interested to know about her too.”
I said nothing, and before long Filpin realized we had stopped moving, and spurred his horse forward.
We followed the overgrown road, so far gone that we occasionally had to make sure it was indeed a road, for several more hours, winding through the dark yet peaceful forest before I just had to ask, “Are there elves in this forest?”
“You bet there are, this is probably as close as you’re going to get to them without angering them too. Before Vilfort village in your valley burned, people and goods needed to get in and out, and as you know, that cave is the only entrance, so the old king had to make a deal with the elves to make a road through their forest.” Filpin suddenly appeared a bit flustered, “I assume that deal still stands, anyways, onward!”
We passed through the wood without incident, though we had strong suspicions we heard the sounds of feet following us in the nearby trees.
Filpin whistled, “Foxtrot inn, one of the best steaks in the republic!”
Sitting upon a little hill by a crossroads about a half mile in the distance, was a good sized building that could be nothing but the inn. I started forward but Filpin stopped me. “You’ll need to walk the rest of the way, I hope you don’t mind, the spell I cast on your dog only lasts so long if we just let it run it’s course, and common folk get a bit jumpy when wizards are in town polymorphing animals here and there.
“Alright.” I jumped gracefully off of Roy, years of riding experience aiding me in my landing.
Filpin made several hand gestures and muttered some words, and before my eyes Roy transformed from a horse back into a dog, turning into a few gruesome looking crosses between the two in between.
“Alright, let’s keep going.”
The Foxtrot inn looked a little bit dilapidated from close up, with shutters hanging from windows and a broken sign in front, but from the door wafted the unmistakable aroma of fine meat, something available to me only on holidays before. After bringing Filpin’s horse Bliney and Roy to the stables, we followed our senses right in to a scene completely alien to me. There were about ten tables inside, most of them occupied by travelers yelling and swinging frothy mugs about, a sight that unnerved yet excited me. This is part of the real world, the world I didn’t think I’d ever see. We took a table in the corner and before long a comely serving girl around my age came to the table.
“What can I get you two tonight?” She asked.
Filpin smiled up at her and said, “Two cuts of whatever it is everyone eating, and umm.” He glanced at me with a questioning look, “One mug of ale, and my buddy here is, uh, he already had too much to drink so let’s just get him some water.”
The girl just glanced at both of us oddly several times and shrugged, then looked again at me, as if it was the first time she saw me. She smiled and winked, and as she left, touched my arm lightly. I shivered and blushed and stammered as Filpin watched at me with amusement, before finally settling with silence. He just continued smiling for a short time before asking me, “You ever drank ale before, Randyl?”
“Not once.” I said, still blushing deeply.
“Didn’t think so, we’ll have you try it some time.”
When our food came, I dug in like I hadn’t eaten in months, and I hadn’t, not meat at least. The serving girl flirted with me again several times, causing me to be extraordinarily uncomfortable. Filpin left her a very generous tip before going to the bar, “Need a room for two for the night, two beds that is.” The innkeeper wordlessly tossed him a key, and we strode up the rickety stairs.
“Tomorrow we’ll be on the Capital Road, should be a quicker ride, we should
arrive in Rumyrin in about three and a half days.”
I nodded mid fall, before my head hit the pillow and I sunk into a place where I was but 10 and my sister and I still lived together in the valley.
