I'm taking a worse point hit than either of you: My game still crashes every time I leave neighborhood view. I'm really glad I had decided to use my haunted house as one of my sets, since I had entered it into a building contest at CS3 and was therefore able to get my picture count up to 4! But miracles aren't happening, so here's my second round.
Summary: Kylara, an orphan, was locked in the library overnight. Her successful experiment with spell-casting attracted the attention of a ghostly wizard. Lord Alfric was skeptical at first, but once she proved her talent he mentioned that there were signs that someone was seeking the Crown of the Master, and asked her if she would like to be adopted. She agreed, and he adopted her in a blood ritual. Later, she was about to be rejected at the Wizards school.
Much to her uneasiness, Lord Alfric took over her body and did something that caused her to be accepted.
Previous plot points: Makeover
Current Plot point: Time Travel
Word Count: 1626
CC used: Allowed: Skin and ears.
Kylara woke up in the middle of the night, and discovered that she had been sleepwalking. As she turned to go back to her bunk, she saw Lord Alfric.
He smiled at her. "Forgive me, Child, but there is an emergency."
"Does it have anything to do with the fact that I have a final in the morning and I'm not getting any sleep?" she muttered under her breath.
He apparently heard her. "Your final may be much more final than you believe it will be. If all of your classmates cast their spells correctly, the traps around the Crown of the Master will be deactivated and there will be nothing to prevent Greymane from claiming it. And if anyone fails casting their spell, they will receive the backlash." He paused. "I must admit, that -is- a clever way to reduce the risk. But I refuse to allow MY child to be used in that scheme."
Kylara was puzzled. " PROFESSOR Greymane?" she asked.
Lord Alfric nodded. “He's a devil in disguise… Trust me. It takes one to know one”
Kylara shivered. "How did you find out about this? The test sheets are always kept locked up."
He gave her a scornful look. "Are you forgetting that I can walk through walls? It takes a great deal of effort to physically interact with something, but passing through a safe door and reading papers inside it is child's play!"
Then she thought about her classmates, many of whom had become friends over the course of the semester. "What will happen to someone who miscasts their spell?" she wondered.
He shrugged. "It depends on the trap they trigger. Death. Mind burn. Soul freeze. Nothing you need to worry about."
"But I have FRIENDS who need to worry about it!" she protested.
He shook his head. "What have you learned about the crown in your history class?"
She sighed. "It was a symbol held by the Master of the royal Battle Mages until the last one, which was you, was assassinated. Your successor was never able to claim it, because it vanished when you died. Without the crown he was unable to consolidate the differing factions, and the whole order collapsed."
He smiled at her. "My successor was also my assassin, or he would have been able to call it back. I know where it lies, and I know the traps that I placed around its hiding place. You and I are going to retrieve it tonight. When Greymane sends his cannon-fodder students to open the way for him, it will be long gone. They will not need to be concerned about the traps, because the traps will be inactive. And it was more than just a symbol. It holds great power. The only reason that I was able to be assassinated was that I had been occupied with something that required me to remove it."
She slowly nodded. "I suppose that is probably the best way to protect my friends from the traps. But what are we going to do with it after we retrieve it? I can't very well just stick it in my locker."
He smiled at her. "Leave that to me. Now go and get dressed. Wear expendable clothing; you'll be changing when we arrive, and I cannot guarantee that the clothes you bring will return with you."
As she returned to the dormitory to dress, she couldn't help wondering what his real motive in all this was. But given his ability to possess her, she decided that it was probably better to go along with him. At least this way she would know what she had been doing. And if the traps were as bad as he said they were, she didn't want her friends getting caught by one.
When she finished dressing, he was waiting in the center of an obviously magical diagram which she didn't recall seeing in that corridor before. He looked at her outfit. "Those are expendable? I thought that was your favorite outfit."
She laughed. "I'm glad to see you haven't been mind reading while you were using my body. This isn't my favorite outfit; it's my only one."
He nodded. "Very well, there is a slight change in plan. Are you ready?" When she nodded, he lit the candles around the star. When the last one was lit, there was a bright flash, and she felt herself being pulled in directions that she hadn't known about.
They arrived in front of a small manor which gave her a very eerie feeling. He floated through the wall, then returned and motioned for her to come to the side of the house. She caught a glimpse of what looked like graves in the back. She started to ask about them, but he cut her off. "I'm not here right now, so there should be no paradox. Greymane might be here, though, so we should be cautious. There is a secret entrance here, and it would be wise to use it rather than the front door. "
Kylara gave him a confused look. "You aren't here, but Greymane might be? Are we still talking about Professor Greymane? And did we just go back to the past?"
He flipped a hidden switch and a door appeared. "I can't confirm the actual plane of origin, but I did say that he's a devil in disguise, didn't I?"
"You also said that it takes one to know one," she muttered as she stepped through the door. She arrived in a torture chamber, and began to feel faint. He started to lead her up the stairs, then stopped when he saw the look on her face.
"Yes, the history books neglected a few details about our order. Now come. We must get you prepared before someone comes. There should be something that can be adjusted for you. And those glasses must go. You look much better without them."
"I may look better, but I see worse. I need them!" she protested.
"That may change, but until then we can make a few adjustments," he smiled. He led her to a storeroom, and began rummaging through boxes. She resolutely avoided looking at the skeleton that was on display as if guarding the contents of the room. Or the sarcophagus against the wall. Or the bloodstains on the floor under the dust. He finally startled her by tossing several pieces of clothing to her. Nothing matched very well. He floated outside the room and left her to see what she could do with what she had. She finally chose an outfit that might work, and called him back. He was carrying a bag with shoes, jewelry, and another pair of glasses. He also had an azurebell, which he put in her hair. She felt something on her face for a few moments, and then he handed her a small mirror. She was astonished at how her appearance had changed.
He smiled admiringly at her. " Very lovely, especially with what you had to work with. Now, if anyone does meet you, you will appear to be a new apprentice of mine. If you are questioned, the sign is 'The crown of the master is his reputation.' The countersign is 'May the Master's crown shine brightly forever.' If you see anyone else, give the sign, and demand the countersign. If you see my past self, give the countersign, and then demand the sign from him. Say nothing else."
"Now are you going to explain why we came 400 years into the past?" She asked.
"These are your expendable clothes. Your real clothes are going to be hidden in an etherial chest in the basement of the school, with a 400 year preservation spell on them. You are also welcome to keep any of the other outfits I gave you. And what I have in mind can be done just as easily two hours after my death as it could 400 years later. Once we return, you can call the chest to yourself and retrieve everything."
"So exactly what -are- we doing?"
"You are the one with a physical body, so you are going to need to be the one who maipulates things. I will advise. I will also be invisible, to minimise the possibility of a temporal paradox. We will retrieve the crown once it has been hidden, replace it with an ordinary duplicate, and then set the traps to fall upon your command so that there will be no suspicion that something is amiss until you return to your time."
"So I'm going to break through some deadly traps to retrieve a crown, and you're going to advise me while safely being already a ghost? Why does this sound like I drew the short straw?"
"Being a ghost will not protect me from the Hellfire traps. I will be trusting you for that. As you are the one passing through the gauntlet, it will be you casting the spells. I will provide raw power, and I will tell you which spell needs to be cast or countered, but it requires a physical presence to pass through the final segment. There is one trap which must be triggered to avoid the final one. Have no fear; it is painful but not as dangerous as it appears to be."
She nodded. "I assume we are ready to go now?" she asked nervously. He pointed to the small chest which her clothes were stored in, and she carefully lifted it and began following him. Suddenly he whispered "Someone is approaching. Remember, sign and countersign only. Nothing else. My apprentices are forbidden to speak with the others unless I give permission," and vanished. She wished she could vanish as well.
24th Jul 2012 at 1:31 PM
