Chapter 5: Serpents and Kings

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Chapter 5: Serpents and Kings[/b]

Drywood, Western Ramoa Provinces
The Magician's Pissing Match



Drywood is a charming old town of wood and stone and rotting things, because these humans are not the best at keeping up with regular maintenance and because most of the trees and stone have been used already in building the town - what remains are below the town, surrounded by many sudden, tall, and sharp cliffs. The town square is where the activity is at, but because of the unusually high number of strong magicians here, a recent building project put up a magician's tower - a place for the magicians to learn, study, practice, live, and also their law and order justice system. It is all too easy for a powerful magician to take advantage of the farming humans which are all muscle, sweat, and work, and no brains, so the Magician's Tower enforces strict rules about the treatment of the magic-users on the humans in the town who provide food and buildings for them so that the magicians can sink their noses into their books and magic experiments.



Dick's farm and family have been doing as well as can be expected given their poverty profession, and their fields have been growing and getting greener and greener, the crops taller and taller. The town of Drywood is unique in how high above sea-level it is, allowing for the farming of many very rare crops, some of them quite valuable.



One of the most valuable crops in Drywood is the Manna Berry vine. Not only is it hard to grow, picky, dies for no reason, but it is also loved by all the plains and mountain critters, especially Flits, a type of tiny warm-blooded, fire-spitting flying lizard. If it rains enough, is warm enough, is humid enough, if it is watered just right, planted in just the right soil combination of rocky, and if it is grown at just the right type of wooden trellis support - then, and only then, if all those things are right, it will produce Mana Berries and be gobbled right up by the gluttonous Flits, who then lay around drunk, irritable, and can burn a grown man's finger right off to the bone. This means that Manna Berries sell for a lot of Gil - and this year, Dick's farm is just overwhelmed with them. In fact, almost every farm has a massive explosion (a bumper crop) of Manna Berries which look healthy and are almost ripe.

Today while Dick found himself in the town square, and he was able to overhear a conversation by a bunch of magicians. They are so excited about the Manna Berries - which aid magic - that they have begun to fight over owning them, which haven't even been picked yet. The fight got worse and worse, punches were thrown, and some other magicians (magician enforcement) had to step in and settle them down before they started throwing spells at one another.

It is now late in the evening, the sun is setting, and the night-time bugs are chirping. The IronBalls family has just finished eating dinner when there is an urgent knock at the door. The quiet, peaceful sounds of a gentle farming community and settling down for the night have gotten more and more drowned out - far away shouting can be heard in a few places, and a few torches and mage-fireball lights roam in the distance.

knock knock knock

Dick was cleaning the dishes when he heard the knocking. He ask his wife "Who could this be at this hour? Are you expecting someone?"

His wife respond "No. Are you?"

"No." said Dick. He suspects that the person knocking might be a bad person. He takes his sword and hides it behind the door. He's not open the door yet. "Who is it?" Dick asked the person behind the door.

The voice behind the door pauses, then tries to explain in a hurried but flustered fashion. "I'm Marc de Tuscealeono, I'm a magician. You don't know me but the magicians - ", he stopped suddenly, fear in his voice.

"Go away, you can't have this farm!", you hear him say. It seems the chaos around the town has spilled over onto Dick's farm, too.

"Well, Marc, I can have anything I want to. I would have had you, too, if you'd just rolled over and ...", the speaker's voice is a sultry female and the rest of the conversation is in too low tones to overhear, but the undertones of a mature, x-rated conversation are evident.

"You already have claimed 6 farmlands, you're over-stretched on apprentences and you've over-tired yourself tonight already. Even if you did somehow beat me, you'd never be able to hold this property, it's too far out, too big, too wild, and you're too tired."

"You think I care about reason? All you ever say are lies!", the female voice shouts, and the front door of Dick's house vibrates. Wind whistles through the cracks and various bursts of light can be seen in the windows. If anyone in the family were to look, they'd see a horse-drawn carriage waiting, and a young female mage fighting the young man, Marc, who was at Dick's door. After a few minutes of intense magic and counter-magic, the young woman is on her hands and knees, panting in exhaustion. Marc points a staff at her, and then withdraws it.

"You'd kill me in a heartbeat if I were ever exhausted like this, but I'm not like you, I'm not a killer. Even if the authorities say that you didn't kill ...", Marc's voice is drowned out by a flare of the woman's magic, fed by her nasty temper. She runs to her carriage, gets on, and rides off quickly, giving profane gestures in Marc's direction. Marc slumps on the door step, panting.

"... the magicians... ", he tries again, but can't seem to continue. "... the ...", he tries again. "You're all in danger...", he finally manages to get out.


"Can I please have some water?", he asks, his voice is hoarse and it's evident he is very tired.

Dick not like the sounds coming from the other side of the door. To him it sounds like there is a trouble going on outside. Dick is an old man and his top priority is the safety of his family. He not want trouble in his farm and his home.

"No you crazy bastard! Get out of here before I cut your face off!" Dick said to the man. He not open the door yet.

"Maria go see to the kids." He said to his wife. His wife said yes and go to watch the children while Dick deals with the person outside their home.

Dick takes the sword in his hands and breathes deep for 2 times. He opens the door and aims the sword at the stranger's neck. "Get out of here before I slice your head off."

Dick has not drank alcohol yet so he is irritable and will probably kill the stranger for trespassing.

When Dick opened the door and yelled at Marc, he was surprised! Marc's face twisted in astonishment and he held up his hands in a surrendering, peaceful gesture. Marc backed up, off of the doorstep and down the path a few steps.

"Si-sir, I'm here to protect you and your family.", he tries to say, but his mouth is dry, and he is very tired from fighting.

In the distance, there's suddenly a flash of orange and red, a neighbor's fields went up into flames, and the wife of the neighbor screamed, sobbing that their long, hard work was being burnt up. "YOU WORK FOR ME, NOW!", a mage shouted at the neighbor. "Let this be a lesson!", he finished, and then cast an ice spell which stopped the fire before it could grow out of control, but left so much of the neighbor's crops dead.

"Oh no... That's Islander, he's gone too far. This has all gone too far...", Marc said sadly, shaking his head. He leaned heavily on his staff. Now that Dick was outside, he would be able to see clearly what this magician fellow, Marc looked like. A young mage with trusting eyes and ruddy hair, surprisingly well-dressed.



Marc took a deep breath and tried to start over again. But he had to pause often during his story because his mouth was dry, and because he was very tired from the fight.

"The mages... they have gotten too excited with this years Mana Berry crop. It's been so long since there's been a good crop that our stores are almost depleted. They have all taken to claiming farms with Manna Berries as their 'territory' - ", he spat the word. "Some of the meaner magicians are holding the families hostage, others are threatening the families. Most of them are too cheap to pay for them, they'll just take all the Berries for free and the farmer will never see a single Gil for their trouble."

Marc looked at Dick now, carefully. "Your farm has Mana Berries, quite a good crop, so your family is in danger just like the rest. I don't approve of what the other magicians are doing, and I saw your farm out here didn't have anybody trying to possess it and make you slaves, so I thought I would ask if it would be all right if I could guard your family and your land for you. My apprentice Lentil would help - it's too dangerous for him tonight."

"That lady, Miss Magana, she hates me because I rejected her. She is young and beautiful, but just as evil and awful as the rest. I barely had the strength to beat her, but she won't be a problem because she is too stretched thin with all the other families she is terrorizing to focus her efforts here. I thought with you help - and your permission - that Lentil and I could guard your family, all your land, and all your crops. In return, you could let us buy all of the Manna Berry on your property. For a fair price. ", he explained that his cost was to exclusively buy Dick's crop when the time came for the going market price, which would make Dick just as wealthy as he had hoped before all this had happened.

His speech had taken a lot more out of him and he looked very, very tired. "Just for tonight though, I could really use some water. And a hot meal. I can't send Lentil because it is too dangerous, and if I leave to help myself, your property will be unguarded and someone else - someone worse - will take it."

Marc paused now, looking at his hands. "I think ...", and then he tried to cast a spell. Nothing seemed to happen, and then his hands began to glow, and he rubbed them together, looking visibly healthier. "Much better. I have more strength now.", he must have recovered enough to cast a healing spell on himself because he looked more vibrant and awake.

Dick is not impressed by the man's magic. He is concern for his neighbors because some of them are his friends. He doesn't know what is the going on but the magic man is not helping at all unless given a payment.

Dick is growing more and more concern because of what is happening in the background. There's a lot of fire and burning farmlands that is close to his home. He wants no part of this and the way he see it. It is the fault of the mages including this man in front of him.

Dick maybe old and not smart enough to read but he is not dumb enough to fall to a con artist. He knows the mages come here to pillage their farm and Dick was not having any of that.

He took his swung his sword at the direction of the magician and he say "What ever it is you want. You will not get it. 53 years of my life is in this farm. This is my home and I won't allow you to destroy it. Get out of here you thieves! RAAAH!"

Marc the Magician is stunned and surprised. He stumbles backwards, in a hurry to get off of Dick's property. "I will respect your decision, sir. ", he manages to find some manners, and makes a respectful bow. Limping, he hurries off of Dick's property. Marc doesn't understand what just happened, but it is against his morals to force anyone to do anything they don't want to do, and he can understand how the Ironballs family might be feeling angry or vigilant. Marc is gone before Dick can say much more.

Time passes and the night seems to simmer down into the quietness of night-time insects, and the bright, shining stars. There's even a shooting star. Some of the stars are hard to see from the smoke rising from skirmishes on some of the other farms. Dick's young daughter is very fussy and does not want to go to bed, she is afraid of the monster in the closet again.

Sometime in the night, town guards are quietly dispatched and one arrives on the street Dick's property is on, walking up and down to guard the farms in that location, including Dick's. His uniform and badge are plainly visible and he is quiet and seems to be doing as well of a job that any guard should.

The night is thick and heavy and Dick feels more tired than usual, probably because of all the riff-raff shenanigans that have seeming to happen lately, like this nonsense with those absurd, uppity, snobby Magicians. But also because all the stress lately has given many people in this town a difficult time sleeping peacefully.

OPTIONAL MODERATOR CHALLENGE EVENT:

If Dick chooses to stay up all night, he bypasses this event and will be awake the next morning, but quite tired from not sleeping. If Dick chooses to rest up and go to bed, he experiences terrible nightmares about strings and jellyfish.

If Dick falls asleep, and if Dick wants to wake himself from his nightmare, than you can participate in this optional challenge event : roll the Challenge dice once. If successful, Dick wakes up from his nightmare. If unsuccessful, Dick suffers through the silly nightmare all night and wakes up late the next morning somewhat tired.

With the creep gone Dick is relax. He closes the door and locks it because the creep may return. He walked over to his children. The children are all asleep but Maria their mother is still is awake.

"Maria stay with the kids in case that weirdo comes back. I will stay in the living room and keep watch" Dick said to Maria

"Ok Dick." Maria reply to Dick

Dick is walking over to the living room and sitting in the chair beside the fire place. He still has his sword in his hand. He lights a cigar and keeps watch in case the guy comes back. But Dick is old so he dozed off after a few hours of guarding his family.

And so the wise and discerning man full of years, Dick Ironballs, took watch over his family in the comfortable chair nearest the fireplace, with a cozy and familiar fire crackling occassionally and fighting off the night's chill.

Soon, Dick found himself asleep. Unlike other dreams, in this one, he felt as if he couldn't move, and even the ability to breathe felt restricted. In his dream, he saw light blue wires wrap up and down his arms, touching him in ways that only a wife should, but there was a sense of danger, and the longer this dream continued, the more exhausted Dick felt.

MODERATOR CHALLENGE EVENT:

Roll the Challenge Dice once. If successful, Dick wakes up immediately. If unsuccessful, Dick wakes up late tomorrow morning exhausted and at half health.

Dick is having a nightmare. He is forcing himself to wake up from the bad dream. Dick is having difficulty breathing because of the nightmare. Maybe Dick will be trapped inside his nightmare or maybe not.

Dick is being raped by a blue light. To him the experience is freaking him out. He was not a very sexually open minded person and this is bothering him very much.

To waking himself Dick tries to bit his tongue in his dream.

The member 'Gelo' has done the following action : FFMSL Dice

---

'#10 Challenge' :

Result :

250 EXP added to your floating tab for succeeding challenge event
Please update your My Player when it is added, battle is imminent




When Dick wakes up, as his eyes first flutter open, he manages to make out a bright blue shape and bright blue strings, but by the time he has opened his eyes fully, they have faded away.

He hears a soft sobbing coming from the direction where his wife is sleeping, and from his daughter's room, her hears a muffled screaming noise.

"Gwah!" Dick jumped out from his chair when he wake up. He is feeling like his was having a heart attack because his chest felt very heavy. Dick heard a something in his children's room. He grab his sword and hurry to the room.

"Maria. Is everything alright?" Dick asked as he entered the room on his children.

In the corner of his eye, Dick was able to spot a streak of blue vanishing into thin air, coming away from the direction of his wife's room, but he wasn't able to make much out. From Maria's room, there was the sound of turning over in sheets, and a light half-snore.

As soon as he rounded the corner into his children's room, he was able to spot the same shade of blue, only this time, he was able to make out more, much more. Bright, neon blue threads wrapped around his daughter, coiled around her feet and neck and arms, pulsating with a strange light that traveled from his daughter's direction to the main body of the thing.

Dick's daughter was tangled in the sheets just as much as she was tangled in the web of strands of blue coils. She breathed unevenly, her eyes closed tight, occasionally muttering nonsense, and sometimes trying to scream, but little sound could come out as she was still deep, deep asleep.


Please proceed to battle thread (here)

It took a little longer than perhaps Dick expected, but he was able to defeat the creature, leaving ribbons of florescent blue that illuminated the room gently and faded out of reality. Dick's daughter rolled over, snuggled her pillow, and smiled in her sleep, evidently now sleeping peacefully, safe and sound. If there were any more of those creatures in the house, they had left by now.

The next morning, the town guard that had patrolled Dick's street is nowhere to be physically seen - there is only a puddle of goop vaguely resembling human flesh, entangled in a guard uniform. There are armor and weapons in that pool, in a state somewhere between rusted and disintegrated and likewise lost in that undignified pool of maroon.

In front of every house on Dick's street, a hooded figure stands guard, somehow more somber and serious than the town guard had been. They smell of magic and mystery. The one who guards Dick's house holds a gnarled staff, and his robes are brown and tipped with gold-threaded edges.



The townspeople and farmers are restless and bleary-eyed, looking like a town of zombies because of how tired everyone is.

But that's not all that transpired in the night. A quarter of Dick's normal crops have been lost to some sort of fire-scorch, others electrocuted, and others withered and dripping from melting ice. A few of the manna-berry plants are missing their fruit. If the Ironballs family was hoping for a profit this year on normal crops, those hopes have been dashed now, making the manna-berry plants seem all that much more important since they are so rare and the fruit sell for an absurdly high amount of money. Dick's neighbors fields are in similar condition, some having lost more crops, some less, but all showing signs of magical fall-out.