Chapter 2: So it Begins
"Wakey wakey...." A voice from the beyond, calling out to me. "C'mon, don't tell me I was too late..." the ethereal voice spoke again coming from all around. There was another sound too, crackling... like a fire...and a feeling... like a cool breezed mixed with heat "Shoot, don't tell me I went and wasted time cooking two portions like this for nothing." The voice again spoke, why was Altana's messenger talking so, odd? A sharp sensation on my... cheek? Suddenly, I saw a horizontal sliver of light forming in front of me, slowly, it grew wider, and brighter, and wider, and then.
"Good of you to finally rejoin the living." Right above me a figure... male... Hume - with silver hair and golden eyes... Wait a minute...what? "Hey what's with you? I got something nasty on my face?" What the hell? Was I dead or what?
"Hey didn't anybody ever teach you its not nice to stare?" teach...lessons. Grandpa! SIS! Is sat bolt upright, which unfortunately resulted in my clonking y head hard against the head of the guy looking down at me. He fell back and put a hand to his head while used both of mine to rub my aching skull. Well that clinched it, the pain was there, but it wasn't horrible, though it felt like it, not heaven, but not hell either.
The silver haired guy laughed as he brought his hand down from his head. "Hehehe, Am I-ha - am I that scary? Heheha..." I didn't see what was so amusing- I looked around. I was wrapped in a blanket near a small fire which had clearly been much bigger not so long ago on the other side of the fire was a sleeping bag. I looked all round, we were near a cave. Most of the area around was barren. Off in the distance, I saw big hulking creatures hefting mining equipment along with smaller Humes. My sister, my grandfather- were where they? I looked at the guy with silver hair. A million questions ran through my mind at that moment. Where was I, what happened to ramps, what about my sister, who was this guy... and most importantly, what the hell was with these deck-of-cards like clothing that were laying next to me? Red and black were their predominant colors, along with a hat... what the hell was going on.
"Hey where are gramps and my sister?" I asked with urgency." The silver haired guy looked over at me. "Eh? I only found you buddy, wasn't a single other soul on that island but you. Damn strange too, everything was burnt to a crisp. Guess mebee all those layers of soot that acculated on you kit you safe from the worst of the fire, still, pretty weird hat you actually managed to survive." It was then that I noticed what the guy was wearing, and it struck me odd that one such as him would say such a thing. "You're a...paladin aren't you? Then why do you refer to my survival as if it were luck?"
He looked up. "Heh, yeah I get that a lot, I'm something of a black sheep among the Holies. Not to many of my brethren are fond of me, they say I have a tendency to second guess the gospel or whatever that means."
"My sister and grandpa-were gone?" A hollow felling suddenly welled up inside me it felt at once like a shocking chill and a flash of burn. My mind began reeling at the implications. "What about our home? The trees the other people from town? (I say town but it was little more then collections of shacks lined up together where people both lived and did their business. The island isn't that big after all.) Surely, SURELY there was something else someone else...
"Like I told ya buddy, not a single solitary soul, no grass no trees no animals no people, just you and soot and sand." The hollow sensation in me grew considerably; this simply COULD NOT be real. "No, that's not possible. I WON'T ACCEPT IT!!" The silver haired guy gave me a surprised look. Impulsively I grabbed the cloth that had been set aside for me, now my only possessions, and I ran, ran as for as I could from that disgusting liar with his stupid aimless attitude.
Without intending to, I found myself at the entry-gates to Bastok. Two large Galka guards looked at me with a look of supreme dislike (I had run past them and slammed into the gate that lead into Bastok.) "Proof of Citizenship?" one said curtly. I looked at him dumbfound, I then remembered the clothing that I had in my hands, I decided to search the pockets, not knowing what I intended to produce; Altana must have been smiling on me though, because my hand found a small object in one of the side pockets, a ring, not just any ring, a Signet Ring with the symbol of Bastok emblazoned upon it. I showed it to the guards who inspected it suspiciously, then, grudgingly, they opened the gates and allowed me into Bastok.
By Altana what a sight, machines everywhere, people of various colors sizes and races, I found it difficult to take it all in. I walked around aimlessly for awhile, not knowing what I meant to do, but noticing that many of the oddly clothed people giving me suspicious and curious looks, I noticed that a few of the people here were dressed in clothes similar to my own. I decided that the first thing I would do was get changed out of my own clothes (which I only now realized were charred and covered in soot.) and don the clothes that had been given to me, it displeased me to think I owed thanks to that Paladin, though my mind was slowly beginning to wrap itself around the idea that I no longer had a home to go back to.
I found an Inn where the keeper was gracious enough to permit me the usage of the bathroom in order to change without having to pay. I relievedly went in and removed the clothes which I had grown accustomed to wearing for so long, and piece by piece, I slipped on the pants, shirt, boots, gloves and hat, As I finished dressing I picked up my old clothes, which were too burnt and sooted to do me good anymore anyway- and threw them in the trash. As I was about to leave the bathroom I happened to catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror. I turned and walked toward it. It was a strange feeling, somehow I knew that this was not simply a different look, these clothes indicated who I was, just as they did for all those people I saw out there. I was no longer simply Carlin Ol'orin resident of the isle. I was now Carlin Ol'orin, -The Red Mage.
"Wakey wakey...." A voice from the beyond, calling out to me. "C'mon, don't tell me I was too late..." the ethereal voice spoke again coming from all around. There was another sound too, crackling... like a fire...and a feeling... like a cool breezed mixed with heat "Shoot, don't tell me I went and wasted time cooking two portions like this for nothing." The voice again spoke, why was Altana's messenger talking so, odd? A sharp sensation on my... cheek? Suddenly, I saw a horizontal sliver of light forming in front of me, slowly, it grew wider, and brighter, and wider, and then.
"Good of you to finally rejoin the living." Right above me a figure... male... Hume - with silver hair and golden eyes... Wait a minute...what? "Hey what's with you? I got something nasty on my face?" What the hell? Was I dead or what?
"Hey didn't anybody ever teach you its not nice to stare?" teach...lessons. Grandpa! SIS! Is sat bolt upright, which unfortunately resulted in my clonking y head hard against the head of the guy looking down at me. He fell back and put a hand to his head while used both of mine to rub my aching skull. Well that clinched it, the pain was there, but it wasn't horrible, though it felt like it, not heaven, but not hell either.
The silver haired guy laughed as he brought his hand down from his head. "Hehehe, Am I-ha - am I that scary? Heheha..." I didn't see what was so amusing- I looked around. I was wrapped in a blanket near a small fire which had clearly been much bigger not so long ago on the other side of the fire was a sleeping bag. I looked all round, we were near a cave. Most of the area around was barren. Off in the distance, I saw big hulking creatures hefting mining equipment along with smaller Humes. My sister, my grandfather- were where they? I looked at the guy with silver hair. A million questions ran through my mind at that moment. Where was I, what happened to ramps, what about my sister, who was this guy... and most importantly, what the hell was with these deck-of-cards like clothing that were laying next to me? Red and black were their predominant colors, along with a hat... what the hell was going on.
"Hey where are gramps and my sister?" I asked with urgency." The silver haired guy looked over at me. "Eh? I only found you buddy, wasn't a single other soul on that island but you. Damn strange too, everything was burnt to a crisp. Guess mebee all those layers of soot that acculated on you kit you safe from the worst of the fire, still, pretty weird hat you actually managed to survive." It was then that I noticed what the guy was wearing, and it struck me odd that one such as him would say such a thing. "You're a...paladin aren't you? Then why do you refer to my survival as if it were luck?"
He looked up. "Heh, yeah I get that a lot, I'm something of a black sheep among the Holies. Not to many of my brethren are fond of me, they say I have a tendency to second guess the gospel or whatever that means."
"My sister and grandpa-were gone?" A hollow felling suddenly welled up inside me it felt at once like a shocking chill and a flash of burn. My mind began reeling at the implications. "What about our home? The trees the other people from town? (I say town but it was little more then collections of shacks lined up together where people both lived and did their business. The island isn't that big after all.) Surely, SURELY there was something else someone else...
"Like I told ya buddy, not a single solitary soul, no grass no trees no animals no people, just you and soot and sand." The hollow sensation in me grew considerably; this simply COULD NOT be real. "No, that's not possible. I WON'T ACCEPT IT!!" The silver haired guy gave me a surprised look. Impulsively I grabbed the cloth that had been set aside for me, now my only possessions, and I ran, ran as for as I could from that disgusting liar with his stupid aimless attitude.
Without intending to, I found myself at the entry-gates to Bastok. Two large Galka guards looked at me with a look of supreme dislike (I had run past them and slammed into the gate that lead into Bastok.) "Proof of Citizenship?" one said curtly. I looked at him dumbfound, I then remembered the clothing that I had in my hands, I decided to search the pockets, not knowing what I intended to produce; Altana must have been smiling on me though, because my hand found a small object in one of the side pockets, a ring, not just any ring, a Signet Ring with the symbol of Bastok emblazoned upon it. I showed it to the guards who inspected it suspiciously, then, grudgingly, they opened the gates and allowed me into Bastok.
By Altana what a sight, machines everywhere, people of various colors sizes and races, I found it difficult to take it all in. I walked around aimlessly for awhile, not knowing what I meant to do, but noticing that many of the oddly clothed people giving me suspicious and curious looks, I noticed that a few of the people here were dressed in clothes similar to my own. I decided that the first thing I would do was get changed out of my own clothes (which I only now realized were charred and covered in soot.) and don the clothes that had been given to me, it displeased me to think I owed thanks to that Paladin, though my mind was slowly beginning to wrap itself around the idea that I no longer had a home to go back to.
I found an Inn where the keeper was gracious enough to permit me the usage of the bathroom in order to change without having to pay. I relievedly went in and removed the clothes which I had grown accustomed to wearing for so long, and piece by piece, I slipped on the pants, shirt, boots, gloves and hat, As I finished dressing I picked up my old clothes, which were too burnt and sooted to do me good anymore anyway- and threw them in the trash. As I was about to leave the bathroom I happened to catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror. I turned and walked toward it. It was a strange feeling, somehow I knew that this was not simply a different look, these clothes indicated who I was, just as they did for all those people I saw out there. I was no longer simply Carlin Ol'orin resident of the isle. I was now Carlin Ol'orin, -The Red Mage.