AN: Do mine eyes deceive me, or did I miss an update in April? Huh, looks like I did. Well, school's finally ended, so here's the next chapter now that I'm not distracted. Season 2 Episode 3 - Quest to Sleepy Peak Peak.
Nerris loves stories. Reading them, writing them, LARPing them. Her love for stories never wanes. She has loved them for her entire life, and likely even before that.
Her mother, Lina, would watch Nerris run around the house with her magic staff, trusty dice, and newly created character sheet and shake her head fondly.
"You're just like your father." Lina would say before sweeping Nerris into her arms and spinning her around, helping Nerris the Cute take flight whenever her levitation spell got a high roll on the D20.
Her father, Samuel, loved stories just as much as Nerris. By age 23, he'd written a world renowned fantasy series that rivaled that of the great J.R.R. Tolkien. And after making millions, Samuel left the authoring world entirely, never writing another story.
He'd found a new passion, in the table-top roleplaying game known as Dungeons and Dragons, and it was there that his true abilities as a storyteller shone. His weekly podcast DMing various campaigns skyrocketed his popularity more than his books ever would have.
Eventually, Samuel settled down with the lovely Lina, and the two of them gave birth to the cutest mage this side of the cosmos.
It was from them that Nerris learned the ways of the bard, the skills of a true storyteller.
So, yes, Nerris loves stories. Her trusty stuffed animals were avid listeners as she spun her tales of suspense and intrigue.
And this particular story sounds like it will prove to be very interesting indeed.
It all began when three adventures came to the Fair Lady Nerris's tower to request an audience with the sorceress who dwelled there.
The Alchemist, Neil the Knowledgeable approached the tower with a perfectly executed bow of respect. "All we require are some of the good lady's dice, which we will return once our quest is complete."
But before the fair lady could grant their request, the false one appeared. The Magician whose powers almost rivaled Nerris's, and thus wanted to usurp her title as grand mage of Camp Campbell.
Harrison the Hoax.
He lures in her audience with a promise of dice, ones of obviously inferior make. For the ones granted to Nerris by her mysterious paternal grandmother were imbued with enchantments that none could mimic.
The Cute Sorceress scoffs at his display of mystics. While impressive, they paled in comparison to her plus 5 proficiency in luck. Her dice have never failed her, no matter who her opponent is.
But before the adventurers could be taken in by the Neophyte's charms, the Earth shook, turning the attention of all those present to the now glowing peak of Sleep Peak Peak.
From the shadows emerged the Dark One, Quartermaster, Guardian of Camp Campbell. His aura rolled off him like smoke, foul and repugnant, yet ancient and powerful.
"The dark forces have awoken within the mountain." He spoke, his voice echoing throughout the activity field. "It is time to re-balance the magic sealing the evil."
The Alchemist quickly intervened, his analytical mind unwilling to compromise the integrity of his craft with the unknowable nature of magic. "What are you talking about? It's just an active volcano."
"Not this again." The Resigned Seeres Gwendolyn, Matron of Camp Campbell, shakes her head in frustration. "Look, Quartermaster, there is no prophecy. And even if there was, it's-"
"The Prophecy decrees that one with a magical spirit will quell the evil sleeping within the volcano after they finish the quest of destiny."
Quickly putting her dice in her trusty pouch, Nerris stormed down the steps of her castle. She refuses to be denied the chance to go on a quest in this lakeside forest teeming with unexplored corners and filled to the brim with magic.
With exuberant glee, Nerris the Cute, Harrison the Hoax, Nikki the Wild, and Neil the Knowledgeable gathered their gear to begin their trek to Sleep Peak Peak.
A sigh came from the ever tired Matron. Giving her four adventuring charges a pat on the head each, Gwen made her way back to the mess hall, a warning thrown over her shoulder to be done with their "quest" by dinner.
"You coming too, Max?"
Max the Spiteful looked skeptically onto Harrison. "Still got those dice?"
With a wave of his hand, two glistening dice appeared, only to be quickly snatched by the other.
"Nope."
And with the exit of the Spiteful One, the quest officially begins.
Their quest had barely begun when the party of heroes came across the border to the Forbidden Sacred Secret Dark Elven woods.
The keen sorceress broadened her senses, checking the surroundings for arcana that are undoubtedly present now that they have left the safety of the Camp's borders. Taking out her trusty dice to do an arcana check, High Sorceress Nerris looked on in bafflement. The dice were glowing far more than usual.
"Oh, there's definitely some arcana around here." She told her party, looking into the dark woods for the dangers hidden within.
The Dwarven Neophyte spoke, pride in his voice. "You're probably just picking up me." Nerris the Cute just rolled her eyes, readying herself for their first encounter.
(For all that Sorcerers like Harrison are born with their magic, Nerris does not give them that title unless it is earned. With how little control The Neophyte has over his vast breadth of power, the Nerris is forced to refrain from bestowing him that right for now.)
In the shadows of the trees, shadows ran past, the leaves rustling as the unseen creatures prowled. The heroes could hear the malicious giggling of pixies as the fae watched on in glee as the party was unknowingly surrounded.
Her spell already activated, The Cute's elven ears picked up on the dark presences.
"Neil, get your potions ready!"
As the Alchemist began to gather his materials, the Untamed Warrior pounced. She growled at the shadows, her Intimidation making a shadowed creature cower. It emerged from the bush, revealing its deceptively adorable form.
"It's just a squirrel?" The Alchemist questioned in disappointment.
Feeling the volatile energy radiating off the enemies that surrounded them, Nerris the Cute replied, "No... It's the Secret Sacred Dark Elves!"
"Hail and well-met, squirrels!" The Neophyte said as the army tightened their entrapping circle, his Charisma check failing to halt their advancement.
The Untamed Warrior, born in Wilds much like this forest, attempts to speak with the Dark Elves. With a low role in Persuasion, the battle commenced.
The Heroes banded together, and fought back the hoard. The party, still new to fighting as a team, struggled against the combined might of the fluffy dark elves.
(Apparently, The Spiteful One was speaking truth when he spoke of the ferocity of the woodland warriors once subjugated by the Dark One.)
With a final cast of "Magic Missile," the Dark Elves were defeated, and the party moved onward through the woods.
Trudging through the dark mines, the party proceeded with caution. The bodies of heroes who fell on their way to completing this very quest the party was doing scattered about corridors.
"How are we supposed to reach the top of the mountains from here?"
At the questioning of the Neophyte, what should appear before the heroes but an abandoned lift, poised to take the party to their destination at the peak of Sleepy Peak.
As the Alchemist began tinkering with the lift, the party felt the mines rumble in warning. Looking down the path they'd walked, the heroes gasped in horror as the mines began to collapse. Obviously, the dark forces were trying to stop the party's progression… permanently.
Nerris the Cute could do nothing. Having expended most of her mana in the fight against the Dark Elves, the only hope the party had of surviving was if the Alchemist could repair the lift before the tunnel came down. Either that, or…
"I'll handle this!" Cried the Neophyte. All thoughts of the spell failing left his mind, for failure was not an option. "LEVITATE!"
And with the spell cast, magic swirled around the lift, shooting the party up, up, and up to the top of the volcano. The mine lay collapsed in their wake.
Looking around the peak of the volcano, the heroes were stumped. They found no enemy to fight, no artifact to seal, and no dark forces to subdue. Despite checking everything there, from the lava boiling 15 feet below them to the piles of rocks scattered about, the party found no sign of the "dark forces" the prophecy spoke of.
Stepping forward, Nerris the Cute began to cast her spell. In order to quell the dark forces, you must change their nature. She would turn the darkness into kindness.
Wa khalado welolosh suno no levo la.
Helhun deikhenesh lu lebulu vaha derevu.
Barukhata hanai vamorekhu melekhaulau.
Dark Forces Begone!
But when the spell was finished, the only change on Sleep Peak Peak was the fact that the party now had a blind Alchemist.
"Oh, Nerris. That attempt was adorable as it was useless. Guess it's my turn! Stand back and prepare to be dazzled!"
With a smug smile, Harrison stepped forward to try his hand at vanquishing the dark forces on the volcano.
With a wave of his hands, Harrison brought out a red handkerchief.
"I'm going to make the volcano... disappear!"
And when the cloth was removed, a hole where mountainous rock used to be appeared. But before the Sorcerer could repeat the process, the mountain rumbled in displeasure. It did not appreciate being a sacrifice in order to balance the dark forces.
Feeling an uncharacteristic rage fill her bones, Nerris the Cute pointed at the obvious cause of her ire. "You've angered the mountain, Harrison! God, you suck."
"I do not suck!" He yelled back, the rage rushing through his veins like a virus. "You're the sucking one!"
"There's only one true Magic Kid, and it's ME."
The gauntlet thrown, the two sorcerers took their places on opposite sides of the crater, magic dancing on their fingers.
Spells of destruction cast, Harrison's red lightning clashes with Nerris's blue wave.
So caught up in their battle for power, the sorcerers didn't notice the leader of the dark elves, battered, bruised, and dying, come up behind Nikki the Wild to have his revenge.
"Guys! Help!" She cried, grasping tightly to the handhold she found as she hangs over the rising lava, "The dark forces are going to consume me!"
The sound of their friend's desperate plea broke through the fog of rage that had consumed the two sorcerers.
"I get it now. Nerris!" Harrison yelled out, "The dark forces were in us the entire time!"
With the truth finally revealed, the darkness surrounding the two dissipated. They canceled their spells, feeling a sense of peace that had not been present ever since the both of them were dubbed "Magic Kid."
But the Dark Forces refused to be vanquished without taking a hero with it.
Just before the sorcerers could grasp their friend's hand, the dark forces gave one final tug, pulling Nikki the Wild into the volcano's slowly waning lava.
"NIKKI!"
The darkness was defeated. But at what cost?
Nikki, so deep into her role of a warrior dying in lava, continues to cry out in "agony" from the pool of pudding that was acting as their volcano.
"What the hell are you idiots doing?"
Max, breaking all attempts at suspension of disbelief, walks into the pool of "lava," his green visor hat unable to conceal the annoyed look on his face.
"Um... Saving the world?" Nikki says, answering the question with a rhetorical one of her own.
"I'm trying to win all of Nurf's bullying money! Can you keep it down?" And with a huff, Max makes his way back over to the gambling ring he'd set up by the theater camp stage.
As the boy walked away from their party, who should walk up but their other councilor, David.
"What in the name of fun is going on here!?" David said, a disappointed look on his face that could make grown men cry, "Nikki, that was supposed to be tomorrow's pudding!"
"And it will continue to be tomorrow's pudding." Quartermaster interjected, his tone deadpanned as usual.
"Sorry David," Nerris replied, "We must have gotten carried away with our quest."
"Well," David looked at the children before him, obviously having fun despite the oddity of it all, "Make sure you clean everything up soon. Dinner's almost done, and Gwen will not be a happy counselor if you're not finished with your "quest" by then."
With the exit of the adults, Nerris gives a bow to her party. This campaign had reached its end. Watching the redhead counselor and groundskeeper walk away, Nikki sprung out of the pool of pudding.
"That was so cool, Nerris!' Nikki exclaimed, jumping around joyously in the pool of pudding, "How'd you make the mat look so realistic?!"
Nerris felt pride flood her body, tossing her glowing dice into the air as she replied. "It is a Bard's duty to ensure that her audience is wholly enraptured by her tale. T'was nothing but a technique passed down in my household for generations!"
As she helped her fellow campers clean up the royal mess their section of the activity field had become, Nerris felt herself sigh in contentment. It'd been a while since she went all out on DMing like that.
As the quartet of "heroes" made their way to the mess hall, her attention was drawn to the instigator of her campaign's central conflict.
Harrison was an enigma, a sorcerer in his own right just like she was. But where her magic came from her stories, dice, and mat, his came from someplace entirely different.
He wasn't the threat she initially thought he was. They both sought to bring joy to others through the innate magic of their crafts.
And he apparently had so little control over his, Nerris is surprised he hasn't accidently banished one of the campers to the shadow realm yet.
So, Nerris will take it upon herself to teach this young sorcerer all her techniques in control and intent when spellcasting. One would do well not to leave such raw power to run loose without an outlet or any training.
(Max still keeps his distance most days after the incident with the ribbons.)
For all that he still irritates her, Nerris the Cute thinks she's found a pretty good friend in Harrison the Indistinguishable. She hopes he's looking forward to her next story.
AN: Good Lord, Nerris has a mouth on her. I was not expecting her to be so verbose when I decided to write from her point of view, but here we are.
Mnemosyne gave Nerris her DMing equipment, her enchanted dice and a custom mat that transforms depending on the campaign. They manifest physical avatars to carry out her campaigns, so she experiences quests without leaving the safety of her table. That's why this chapter didn't end with Sleepy Peak Peak erupting like in Camp Camp proper. They actually went on that quest, without leaving the camp. Despite this, she knows little about her father's mother, and thus does not know she's a legacy, as it's not a term one often runs into unless you're involved in the dark side of the world or a high clearance member of the government.
If you didn't guess, Nerris has given all the people at Camp Campbell a title. Nikki the Wild, Max the Astute/Spiteful, etc. Harrison's kept changing throughout the story because Nerris's opinion of him kept changing. At first, it was "The Hoax" because she saw him as a threat to her title as "Magic Kid" and thus wanted to undermine his ability by calling him a fake sorcerer. Once she saw how little control he had over his magic, he was upgraded to "The Neophyte," acknowledging that he had power and a right to the "magic kid" title, but was too inexperienced to take it from her. In the end, he gained the title of "The Indistinguishable," to show how Nerris now sees him as her equal. They're both dubbed "Magic Kid" and strive towards a similar goal, after all.
So, according to "Garbargle" in the comment section of this episode on YouTube, the spell Nerris says is actually the Jewish Sabbath prayer mixed with a bit of gibberish. The more you know.
If you have any questions about what the heck is going on in this story, leave a comment. If you don't have questions and just want to say something, leave a comment. If you want to bash on my horrendous writing, leave a comment! All comments are welcome in this household!