The Mad Mage

My vision, as blurred by pain as it was, was still capable of seeing the massive figure clad in a stained, hooded purple cloak standing above me. Of course, “massive” is mostly a matter of perspective on this considering I’m barely a foot tall; the figure appeared roughly six foot.

While the voice sounded male, concealing clothes and my own addled vision prevented me from being certain. Not that it really mattered, they could be an amorphous ball of coagulated piss for all I care; all that really mattered was whether I finish bleeding out before they do whatever it is they intended.

"Well, I suppose it would be a waste to just let you bleed out on my laboratory floor; not to mention unsanitary…"

One arm, ending in what my blurry vision identified as definitely something purple (sensing a bit of a theme there), stretched towards me as another aimed somewhere over to the right and behind the figure. A sickly green light flowed into his right hand, poured through it to his left and changed to be slightly less sickly along the way, and shot forth into me.

HP +20

The light felt… pleasant, in a gross sort of way. More importantly than the cloying sickly sweet taste of the touch of that light was its effect; my wounds were rapidly healing. I watched as my splattered organs swiftly reinflated and began crawling towards me as the bits connecting them to me reeled them in like fleshy, highly ineffective harpoons. I could feel new blood inflate my nearly empty veins and the deeply unsettling feeling of my flesh crawling and expanding to regrow the missing length of my tail.

Within seconds my organs were back where they belonged and my torso was restored to its former glory. You never realize how much you appreciate your organs until you don't have them; I'll never take breathing for granted again!

"Hmm, the tail regrew… unusual. I'll have to clean the blood up later, but no one can claim I'm not a gracious host… no one alive, anyway."

I got the distinct feeling he wasn't so much addressing me as he was just rambling to himself, though that last addendum set me on edge. I couldn't say I trusted the man to begin with (saving me is not necessarily a sign of good intentions), people who lurk in hidden rooms in sewers behind seemingly living caustic darkness tentacles are usually hiding something after all, but sinister mutterings solidified my unease.

Paranoia +1

Yeah, that's not gonna make me stop questioning my surroundings and everyone in them. My desire to understand had me instinctively Observing the man.

Name: Alxhaustra Kurzebald

Main Title: The Mad Mage

Race: Human(?)

Level: ?

HP: ?/?

MP: ?/?

And that was all I got, my Observe skill clearly not high enough contain more than extremely basic (but none the less, useful) information and a whole lot of nothing; it didn't even try to show me his stats. Of course, a title like that says both very much and very little; not to mention that his humanity was apparently questionable.

Before I could even consider skittering away (though, where I would go I have no idea) an invisible force lifted me up into the air. I came to a halt floating at eye level of the purple clad man, his acid green eyes seeming to glow out from under his hood. I held his gaze defiantly, even should I die here I refuse to simply embrace my fate; I will not go quietly into that dark night, I will rage no matter the cost.

He smirked in response to my unflinching glare, "My my, aren't you a spirited one." His eyes roamed my form curiously, "I have no idea how you got in here," he pointed at my eyes, pulling back quick enough to avoid my snapping teeth with a what sounded disturbingly like a childish giggle, "but those eyes have a spark of intellect and even managing to reach this place shows something… yes, you'll do fine."

So saying he carried me through his lab, revealing a madman's wonderland of twisted monsters behind thick glass or flayed open strapped down to operating tables. It was fascinating in a horrific sort of way, especially when I saw what appeared to be a man half way through the process of becoming some abomination and realised what was going on here to some extent: who ever this man is, he's turning people (and animals if the warped dog is anything to go by) into wretched, pained monsters through some unholy amalgamation of science and magic.

Were I not fully expecting to end up on the wrong side of one of those cells, I'd be marveling more at the achievement and questioning the uses of such things; making monsters of men can be fun, but how useful is it if that's all you can do? As is, I was a little preoccupied with concerns about my probable fate.

Eventually we came to a stop before a heavy iron door covered in chains and runes. My savior/captor gave me one last glance over, "I hope you last longer than the last subject; ten seconds is not nearly an acceptable time for data gathering."

That's… not a good sign.

With a wave of his hand and a splash of blood across some of the runes (how he manages to cut himself open one handed so quickly I have no idea) the door silently opened just a touch, the chains still keeping it from fully opening. An orange gas drifted out of the crack in the door, though another wave of my captors hand dispersed it.

"I really need to get a less bothersome method of adding subjects; gassing the whole place every time is truly disruptive. Not to mention how difficult this gas is to make, nor the risk that they might adapt to and resist the stuff…" I'm more than slightly concerned this man may be full on insane given how much he talks to either himself or what he clearly believes is a non-sapient rat.

Whatever was behind the door was obscured by the thick gas and an unnatural darkness even my Dark Vision couldn't pierce. The place was eerily silent, especially considering the purple man's mention of a "they" to imply something was residing behind that metal barrier.

I twisted through the air once more, coming face to pale face with my captor, "Well my little friend; it's been a pleasure but my experiments require testing. Given I've never had anything sneak into my lab before, you should be perfect for testing my latest creatures' ability to find and eliminate targets without sight to guide them! Have fun~!"

So saying he flicked his wrist and tossed me into the orange tinted darkness, the strange gas burning my flesh and lungs and stealing my consciousness in mere seconds. I was barely conscious by the time I hit the ground, the last thing I heard was the apparent scientist's cheerful humming being cut off by the click of the door shutting behind me.

Then the darkness faded to black.