Sweetie Todd
11-01-14, 01:01 PM
Closed to The Muri.
It isn't written anywhere in the Code of the Candymancer that, once you are pulled through a dimensional portal and unceremoniously dropped into a strange new world, your first task is to test your mettle against the strongest of that strange new world's wizards and warriors.
But alas, that's exactly what I find myself doing today. Not of my own free will, of course; rather, I seem to have run afoul of a group of ruffians in one of the darker alleyways the city the natives call Radasanth. They insisted on me handing over all my valuables, while calling me "Sunshine" and "Dandy"--both of which I assumed were local colloquialisms for gentlemen dressed in garb similar to my guild uniform.
Of course, I politely refused their one-sided offer. Of course, I was forced to defend myself. Of course, I accidentally broke the jaw of the leader of the pack of smelly mongrels with a swing of the ol' Gobstopper.
Of course, that was when I was overwhelmed and dragged towards this towering stone citadel I currently found myself in, where I was informed that I would feel the pain of death many times over for what I did to the hulking, dirty brute of a man.
A few of the thugs took their places just inside the door, striking up conversations with several of the plain brown robed monks, shooting me nasty looks that implied I would suffer even more pain if I didn't play along with their silly little game.
I swallowed a lump in my throat and wiped off a little blood on my lip that remained from the scuffle in the alleyway. I shuffled deeper into the entryway of this citadel, approaching one of the monks. "Uh--um, excuse me, sir," I managed to squeak out.
The monk, a balding man who looked as if he had seen better days and brighter horizons, looked up from the tome he held open in his hands. "Yes, sir? Can I..." He looked at me for a brief moment, his gaze lingering on my peppermint swirl brooch and wavy cotton candyesque hair before continuing. "Can I help you?"
I shot a worried glance back at the thugs before leaning in close to the monk. My voice was soft, barely louder than the whispers of the swirl-o'-the-wisps of the forests back home. "Can you please tell me where I am, sir?"
The man pursed his lips and took a deep breath in, clearly thinking that I was mad as to not know the hallowed halls that I currently stood dumbfounded in. I let it slide--the reaction was increasingly common among those I made contact with since my transportation to this strange new world. "You are currently standing inside the hallowed halls of the Citadel--"
"Yes," I interjected, "but which citadel is this?"
"It is the Citadel--"
"Which one?"
"The one and only Citadel," the monk said sternly, his eyes flaring up in anger, believing I was wasting his time with a silly little joke.
I snapped to attention, blushing a bit at the man's outburst. "S-sorry... The Citadel, yes, alright." I offered. I decided that finding out this citadel's true name would be something I could do later. I thought for several seconds, choosing my next words wisely. "I'm... not from around here, I guess you could say. Can you please tell me what kind of establishment this is?"
The balding man softly closed the book in his hands and opened his mouth to speak. Our conversation was interrupted by a hearty, but still a little too rough slap on my back that made me wince. "Oul' Sunshine 'ere lost a bet wi' us, gov." The thug's accent was thick, but not as much as his vomit-inducing body odor. I turned to see his wicked grin staring at me, complete with six missing teeth. I cringed inwardly. "Weev come t'see that 'ez debt be repait wif' blood."
"A bet. Right." The monk nodded as a bead of sweat formed upon his head. Had he been paid off or even strong-armed by this gang of savage simpletons to ...dispose of those who crossed them? Several beads of sweat formed on my head, clumping wisps of my pink hair. A chill crept down my spine. Nothing good would come from this situation. "This cannot possibly be legal," I whispered softly to nobody in particular.
The grotesque, clearly unshowered thug leaned in close, his grin yellowed and blackened by continue tobacco use. "Don' worry, first coupla' deaths are th' most painful."
'Wait--the first couple?!" I shrieked. "What--what have I gotten myself into? What is this place?"
The chocolate-clad monk and the dirty brute shuffled me through the massive antechamber towards a wooden doorway. I began to back-pedal, a lump of pure fear forming in my throat. I didn't want to die--once or even multiple times. Especially in this hostile foreign land. I had to return home--I had to help the Council rebuild and avenge my fallen brothers and sisters at the hands of the Saccharinians... I had to track down Nadia and ask her why...
The monk opened one of the myriad of doors that lined the stone walls of the citadel. It revealed a massive portal that shone brightly with pure magical energy. I felt the thug's hand leave my back. Quickly, I spun around... only to catch a heavy leather boot in the stomach that stole my breath and sent me reeling backwards through the doorway. The dirty rat's raspy cackle sounded like a soupy echo in my ears as the portal engulfed me. "Give 'em hell--or go to it. We ain't picky either way, Sunshine. So long as yeh end up payin'."
It isn't written anywhere in the Code of the Candymancer that, once you are pulled through a dimensional portal and unceremoniously dropped into a strange new world, your first task is to test your mettle against the strongest of that strange new world's wizards and warriors.
But alas, that's exactly what I find myself doing today. Not of my own free will, of course; rather, I seem to have run afoul of a group of ruffians in one of the darker alleyways the city the natives call Radasanth. They insisted on me handing over all my valuables, while calling me "Sunshine" and "Dandy"--both of which I assumed were local colloquialisms for gentlemen dressed in garb similar to my guild uniform.
Of course, I politely refused their one-sided offer. Of course, I was forced to defend myself. Of course, I accidentally broke the jaw of the leader of the pack of smelly mongrels with a swing of the ol' Gobstopper.
Of course, that was when I was overwhelmed and dragged towards this towering stone citadel I currently found myself in, where I was informed that I would feel the pain of death many times over for what I did to the hulking, dirty brute of a man.
A few of the thugs took their places just inside the door, striking up conversations with several of the plain brown robed monks, shooting me nasty looks that implied I would suffer even more pain if I didn't play along with their silly little game.
I swallowed a lump in my throat and wiped off a little blood on my lip that remained from the scuffle in the alleyway. I shuffled deeper into the entryway of this citadel, approaching one of the monks. "Uh--um, excuse me, sir," I managed to squeak out.
The monk, a balding man who looked as if he had seen better days and brighter horizons, looked up from the tome he held open in his hands. "Yes, sir? Can I..." He looked at me for a brief moment, his gaze lingering on my peppermint swirl brooch and wavy cotton candyesque hair before continuing. "Can I help you?"
I shot a worried glance back at the thugs before leaning in close to the monk. My voice was soft, barely louder than the whispers of the swirl-o'-the-wisps of the forests back home. "Can you please tell me where I am, sir?"
The man pursed his lips and took a deep breath in, clearly thinking that I was mad as to not know the hallowed halls that I currently stood dumbfounded in. I let it slide--the reaction was increasingly common among those I made contact with since my transportation to this strange new world. "You are currently standing inside the hallowed halls of the Citadel--"
"Yes," I interjected, "but which citadel is this?"
"It is the Citadel--"
"Which one?"
"The one and only Citadel," the monk said sternly, his eyes flaring up in anger, believing I was wasting his time with a silly little joke.
I snapped to attention, blushing a bit at the man's outburst. "S-sorry... The Citadel, yes, alright." I offered. I decided that finding out this citadel's true name would be something I could do later. I thought for several seconds, choosing my next words wisely. "I'm... not from around here, I guess you could say. Can you please tell me what kind of establishment this is?"
The balding man softly closed the book in his hands and opened his mouth to speak. Our conversation was interrupted by a hearty, but still a little too rough slap on my back that made me wince. "Oul' Sunshine 'ere lost a bet wi' us, gov." The thug's accent was thick, but not as much as his vomit-inducing body odor. I turned to see his wicked grin staring at me, complete with six missing teeth. I cringed inwardly. "Weev come t'see that 'ez debt be repait wif' blood."
"A bet. Right." The monk nodded as a bead of sweat formed upon his head. Had he been paid off or even strong-armed by this gang of savage simpletons to ...dispose of those who crossed them? Several beads of sweat formed on my head, clumping wisps of my pink hair. A chill crept down my spine. Nothing good would come from this situation. "This cannot possibly be legal," I whispered softly to nobody in particular.
The grotesque, clearly unshowered thug leaned in close, his grin yellowed and blackened by continue tobacco use. "Don' worry, first coupla' deaths are th' most painful."
'Wait--the first couple?!" I shrieked. "What--what have I gotten myself into? What is this place?"
The chocolate-clad monk and the dirty brute shuffled me through the massive antechamber towards a wooden doorway. I began to back-pedal, a lump of pure fear forming in my throat. I didn't want to die--once or even multiple times. Especially in this hostile foreign land. I had to return home--I had to help the Council rebuild and avenge my fallen brothers and sisters at the hands of the Saccharinians... I had to track down Nadia and ask her why...
The monk opened one of the myriad of doors that lined the stone walls of the citadel. It revealed a massive portal that shone brightly with pure magical energy. I felt the thug's hand leave my back. Quickly, I spun around... only to catch a heavy leather boot in the stomach that stole my breath and sent me reeling backwards through the doorway. The dirty rat's raspy cackle sounded like a soupy echo in my ears as the portal engulfed me. "Give 'em hell--or go to it. We ain't picky either way, Sunshine. So long as yeh end up payin'."