Alforien Arlford

On my way to Arlun’s tent, I decided to take a detour and make some sweaters for myself. It was extremely cold here, especially in the morning hours.It took me three minutes to make the necessary wool and fabric and have it come together in a sweater. I quite liked this sweater, it was soft.

I then resumed my journey to Arlun’s tent, a journey that I completed in five minutes. Arlun’s tent wasn’t that far from mine after all. I stepped in, using magic to open the tent. I suppose I should not use magic so much since it seemed to land me in situations like yesterday’s. But well I was a baby, how was I supposed to do anything without magic? Even the tent flaps were beyond my ability to open!

Inside the tent, there was total darkness. I could vaguely see Arlun sitting in the centre of the room, otherwise there was little that was visible. The entire thing was eerie and improbable, especially with the camp having so much lighting that the tent should not have been so dark.

I opened my mana sense wide, trying to glimpse the reason. At first there was no change, the scene remained the same. Which was strange in its own right, there was always some Mana running around, and here there was not. Or was there?

I looked closely at the overing darkness, focusing my mind to tell me what was there. It took a while, but I finally got it. A dark fog had settled in the room, a construct of the Mind and Emotion element it would seem. It would be hard to dispel this…there went my Mana saving.

I began casting Magic one after the other, first I cast Chaos. It weakened the fog, but did nothing otherwise. I then began casting all the elements and their combinations. None worked. The fog seemed to have the ability to dispel any attack and regenerate any damage done to it at a fast pace. I would likely need to use greater magics if I was to dispel this fog.

But first I needed more information, and a backup source of mana. Presuming Carmil had gained Mana Sight, he would be able to supplemen me and perhaps protect me as I cast. The magics weren’t exactly subtle or fast, and if the fog had even the slightest awareness, or its caster was around, then I would wind up dead unprotected from them.

In fact, wasn’t there an army here too?...It was completely reasonable to wake them up when there was a threat of such nature right? I summoned my mana and rang the warning bells throughout the camp. Suddenly I heard yells as men started to arrive screaming war cries and wielding axes and swords.

The men looked around, crouched and ready for battle, but found no threat. Knowing that they would be absolutely furious if I did not explain, I said, “The threat is inside the tent. It is a Magic construct that has for some reason decided to travel here. I am going to attempt to dispel it but will be defenceless for the time. You are to protect me then.”

“Yes, your highness.” one of the men said, he and several other men stepped forward, ready to battle while others stepped back, trying to hide from view. It would appear that there was significant variety in this army. And very little discipline.

“Very well, follow”- I began to say before I suddenly felt a cold rush behind my back, reacting instinctively, I cast a spell of dissonance to confuse whatever was attacking me.

It was the black fog. It had decided that it was time to leave the tent and head out.

“The construct has left the tent. Protect me while I cast” I ordered.

I closed my eyes and began weaving the first spell in my arsenal. Lauraida. A curse dispelling spell.

The tendrils of mana twirled around the fog, constricting it, trying to suffocate it. It did not work. But it seemed to get the fog’s attention.

“Humph, measly ant.”a voice, presumably from the fog, said into my mind. I immediately created a few mental defences, wondering why I hadn’t created them yet. Then I cast the next spell, mentally preparing to release volleys of spells against the construct.

“But an interesting ant. I’ll deal with you later, or perhaps you can come visit me. I promissseee tooooo treat you well” The fog said, its voice turning slithery by the end.

Not a chance, I wasn’t letting the creature-and the creature left. Just like that. There wasn’t even a spatial fluctuation. It practically verified my assumption that it was a construct, its caster likely stopped operating it.

The men around me were not aware that it was gone however. They let loose several bellows as they jumped high in an attempt to strike it. Say what you will about their intelligence, they had nice Strength. I wonder what else they could do…

I summoned my Mana to make an announcement, it was a large Mana waste but I did not see any other choice since I lacked the necessary Air Mana.

“STOP” I said. The men stopped and looked towards me, their eyes filled with bloodlust that told me that if I did not give them a good reason to stop I'd end up as the target.

“The fog was merely a construct, it's gone” I said, speaking in a single breath.

“What fog?” One of the men asked. Oh right, they couldn’t see the fog.

“What did you see come out of the tent?” I asked.

“A demon of blood!” The man said.

“No, it was a demon of ash!” another man interjected

“No, it was that cursed tree!”

“Silence! It was a miasma of evil!”

“It was clearly my ex-wife”

Several exclamations sounded out, making it clear that every man had seen something that was likely their fear. What did it say that they’d just charged straight at their fears? What was this? A barbarian battalion? Then I remembered the way they acted. This was a barbarian battalion wasn’t it? Well…since the Quartermaster seemed to be a logical person, maybe it was just a part of the army?

The Realmwatch deep within Iselgaurd (The Artefact)

The Realmwatch watched with fascination as the little humanoid stood there trying to make sense of the mad horde. It had pulled these men in purely as comic relief during the tense war that it liked to arrange in its realm. The fact that they often increased the difficulty of the Trial was an extra benefit.

When a 7 month old baby had entered the Trial, it had presumed that the baby would die within the first few minutes. Instead the baby had cleared several of the pitfalls even experienced war veterans had missed. The Arlun-Carmil part of the Trial had never been played before.

Oh, there were many that healed Arlun, some even gave him magic. But no one had figured out that Arlun was never complete without Carmil. The two had grown up together and would likely remain together for many years. Their powers complimented each other in a way that the Realmwatch had rarely seen in its many years.

But it was still merely interesting, it dubbed a 7 month old baby could ever pass the woods, and even if it somehow succeeded in passing the Trial, this was merely the least difficult Trial it had ever set up. And like that the Ancient Artefacts attention wandered away, ruining the life of some other pitiful soul.

Alforien Arlford

While the men were shouting at each other, I took the chance to head over inside the tent. What? I had an excuse! Arlun might be in danger!

Ok, he wasn’t. What he was though, was shivering on the floor.