AN: This is a DND 3.5e epic-level character with 23 levels in Wizard with access to epic-level casting.
The feats he has is Brew Potion, Craft construct, Essence Mastery, Silent Spell, Skill Focus (Knowledge(arcana)(Spellcraft), Epic level spell casting, still spell, craft magical arms and armor, craft wondrous items, empower spell, forge ring, Scribe Scroll, Spell Focus (Evocation) Craft Rod, Craft Wand, Craft Epic Wondrous Items.
Epic-level spell casting along with rules for epic-level characters are in the Epic Levels Handbook
Essence Mastery is from Feats book by Alderac Entertainment Group
The adventures mentioned are Savage Tide from Dragon magazine and Bastion of Broken Souls
The other feats can be found in the Players Handbook.
Wizarding in Worm
Chapter 20: Mouse House
April 15, 2010
Finding her apartment was a simple task. All I had to do was use Google to figure out where Mouse Protector lived. I think this is her apartment. There is a heat signature inside that is roughly the shape of a person. I have a spell ready just in case it's an imposter or intruder. I knock on the door. The heat signature jumps slightly. It moves to the door rather hurriedly. I do sense the magic items away from the heat signature so I can assume she isn't going to "mask" up for me.
The door opens to reveal who I assume to be Mouse Protector. She looks…..smaller than I remember, not in height but in presence. She doesn't look as bulky now that she isn't in the armor. She is wearing some sweatpants and one of those t-shirts. A quick glance inside reveals a few trashbags lying around. I guess she hasn't had a chance to clean.
"Oh Magnus," her voice sounds clearer now that there isn't a helmet covering her face. I like it. "I didn't think you would actually knock." I snort.
"I didn't want to be rude and teleport to you. I might manifest in the air or stuck in a wall if I don't scry on you. I also didn't want to scry on you since that's also rude." She laughs.
"Let me introduce myself as my civilian persona!" she does a spin on her heel. At the end of the spin, she uses her first 2 fingers on her left hand to make a "V" shape sideways over her left eye.
"I am Melanie Mouscavitz! I am cheesed to meet you!" I smile. I give her my own introduction again.
"Well Ms. Mouscavitz, My name is Magnus Mysthaven. A pleasure to meet you." I even did the bow with the hat thing like that one guy. Her eyes gain a small twinkle.
She gestures for me to enter her abode. I make sure not to step on anything. I sit on the long couch and observe whatever is on the TV. Oh, it's that cop show again, I think it is on its 12th season. However, I do question why they do not try to do things by the law instead of just breaking into people's houses with mild justification. Also, the lawyer lady is really mean for no reason most of the time.
Ms. Melanie returns from the kitchen with a can of soda for the both of us. I wait for her to open her can and take a sip. The odd fizzy taste still bothers me but I don't want to be rude.
"It has been a good while since we spoke right? How have you been Ms. Melanie?" I take another sip of the brown drink thing.
Her mouth quivers slightly, "I'm doing fine Magnus. I've just been taking a break for a while. You know how it is. Karma is doing a vlog while traveling around the country so occasionally I get a little gift basket from wherever she stays." She takes a sip of her soda. I notice a…..light tremor. That's not good.
Do I say something? I don't want to be rude since I'm in her house but…she is a friend and she is in distress of some kind. Is someone bothering her? I'm pretty sure I can get away with glassing a family or two if I said they were bastards or something. If it's a company or something that might take at least a day or two. I don't think she has a whole government branch bothering her. Is it the PRT? I could level a few of their buildings to prove a point. They might send heroes but I like my odds of slaughtering them.
Fuck how do I word it? I wasn't good with it back home after telling my employer her brother was now a soul larvae thing that couldn't be resurrected. I offered to just seal him in a jar or annihilate his soul if she didn't want a reminder of him. It did mean I would have to go to that necromancer to help me make a mother cyst inside of me but I wouldn't mind too much. She slapped me and called me a "Souless Monster". I just left seeing as how her colony was going well.
Do I dare? I do. Who dares wins and all that.
I try to…..word my next sentence correctly. I don't want to upset her more but she speaks up before I can formulate my question.
"You know," she takes another sip of her can before looking at me with unusually serious eyes, "I never got the chance to thank you when you saved me and Karma from the Slaughterhouse 9. I honestly expected to die or whatever Bonesaw was going to do if I remember what Jack said. You came in like a hero and saved us, staying to fight Crawler." She had this smile. I have no idea how to describe it. A sad smile?
I clear my throat, "Well, uh, you're welcome Ms. Melanie. I was glad I saved you while also slaying evil." I take a sip of the soda. The bubbly feeling in my gut bothers me as much as the situation.
I need to focus but how? Hmmmmm….. Didn't Anderson push his thoughts to his undead slaves to stay relaxed? At least that's what I remember he told me. Time to see if that bastard lied to me. I spread out my psyche slightly to my clones and command them to kill an S-Class or two while sending me the feelings of slaying evil and looting back to me to soothe my nerves.
Huh. I feel kinda better already. They picked the rapist in Canada and the fat preacher in California. Both of these creatines probably have little armies for them to kill….God's damn it, I push into them to not evaporate the area if its unneeded.
I blink to refocus on Ms. Melanie. Oh good, I think I didn't miss anything she said. I can feel the clones peeling the soul of the Canadian via the more "evil" spells. I wonder if by manipulating the soul means I can manipulate the power of the person? I think Riley said the powers manifest somewhere from the brain so if I start fiddling with the brain could I fiddle with the person's power? I order the clones to harvest some blood from the fat man in California.
Damnit brain FOCUS.
"Ms. Melanie….Are you okay?" oh so I just went and said it. Damn clones, don't let him die! I think his kids might like carving him up.
Her façade of being okay cracked, "….I haven't been Mouse Protector past the day I took you for your first day on the job," she hitched, "T…that day when you saved me was the closest I came to death." Oh.
"But you have been a hero for about 15 years right? Surely you had other close calls." She nods but doesn't look at me.
"…I have. Those I could bounce back quickly. But that day…..there wasn't a way out. No trick or gimmick I could use to get out of it." She chuckles oddly, "I must seem like a terrible hero to you. You defeated the 9, slayed the Goblin King, brought Chicago to heel, and beat back Behemoth. In your first year no less…"
I shake my head, "I think you're a better hero than I am. I'm just lucky that nothing I have fought here is magical or has counters to my magic. You had to train and strain your power to get as far as you are now." the clones kill a few problematic people in the priest camp. Good. The feeling is centering me.
I don't think this strategy is working…I could use [Heart's Eas-. I stop that train of thought. She is my friend. Using spells on my friends without their consent is wrong….Fuck. I need to keep trying to talk to her to make her feel better.
She goes quiet so I can use that.
I clear my throat, "While it might not make sense without spending literal days providing context, I can say with absolute certainty that you are a hero Melanie Mouscavitz. I have seen the blackest pits that reside in the soul and the highest of high in humans back in my world. People willing to damn the souls of thousands just to live somewhat longer and people willing to suffer pain unimaginable just to save a single person with no regard for their lives. Most of the Heroes I have met here lack this quality. The willingness to go above and beyond to save people. But I can see it, shining through you. The aspect of a hero that many try and fail to emulate."
"But," her voice quivered, "I have been hiding away because I…I don't want to die!" I can slightly understand. When I first left Candlekeep, I was warned by my mother and those old wizards that I should watch for big birds that could pick me up and eat me. I stopped being afraid after I killed one with [Magic Missile]. Ah, those were the days.
The clones have gone with the fake angel bit. Hmm. The prostrating capes amuse me. The clones with the Canadian have moved the physical therapy session to the outside. I tell them to use the other scroll to remove the pile of meat so it doesn't stink the whole building.
Slowly, I reach over and touch her hand, "Being afraid of dying is understandable…It's that you must accept that fear and continue anyway. If you want to be a hero, you must accept that you might die at any time but that doesn't mean you let the fear anchor you in life. I'm not saying for you to go out right now and fistfight Leviathan or something, I'm saying you can do a simple patrol for a few hours."
I stole everything but the last sentence from a book Cassandra made me read for a play. Good thing those Cyric cultists ruined it. The noble brat I was the "mystical advisor" in the was decent by noble standards even though he was wet behind the ears. He did kill one of the assassins by beating her to death with the blunt prop sword. Now that I remember, he started gathering other not- shittynoble-brats to practice being adventurers. I gave the little mage girl a spellbook with a decent start for her and a sword for the brat. I can imagine they are currently helping the queen with minor tasks like checking the guards and clearing out rats.
…damn it! Now I want to check on them. I have the clones skin the Canadian for the 3rd time with rusty knives. The terrified screams of evil soothe my heart. Hmm. I could get more apprentices. Mimi is progressing well but I think she might benefit from being smug at the other apprentices who aren't as fast as her.
While I am thinking of more lines from the book to verbalize, I feel I am yanked forward. For half a second, my body adjusted to be ready to glass the direction I lurched towards. Its…..Ms. Melanie. She is hugging me I think. Did I do it right? I hear her crying still but it doesn't feel as sad. I think.
I think I'm going to be held for a while.
2 hours later.
"And you feel you were unprepared to help a friend feel better?" I nod to Ms. Yamada's question. I called her since she has good ideas and she is a therapist so she should be able to help.
"I can deal with having to fight for days on end against a literally infinite amount of demons but….I don't have a lot of experience with trying to cheer someone up. Especially when I can't just vaporize the person or people or group causing the sadness or pain. I just winged it and used lines from a romantic book and hoped they worked." She scribbles something down.
"Have you considered asking other people to help Mouse Protector feel better?" I slouch in my chair.
"I did consider involving Alan and his wife since they are the most capable of doing so but I was put on the spot since I expected I could butcher something to end the sadness. If I had known in advance, I would have brought them over to get a better idea on what to do. I also considered having her brought her here so you can help her." She scribbled something down.
"I see. Do have anyone els-." I stop focusing on the conversation. Alexandria and one of the Guild's stronger capes are bothering one of the damn clones. The same one who lost at a children's card game to a child.
I know I gave these little bastards the full language pack. This is annoying the people around them so I'm going to leave it in. This Narwhal lady seems fun. I see dragon-marked golem shells moving in through Evoker.
Alexandria figured out the trick. She asks a question. I answer it…Just maybe, I can ask her for help sometimes. I should wait when it's something dumb like getting charges cleared if I ever get any. She should be able to do that right?
I go to whine at her about not explaining anything of Ms. Melanie when my phone rings.
I point to the phone and Ms. Yamada nods. I complain to Alexandria more.
"Yes Mr. President? How can I help you today?"
"Are you the reason why the Pope is calling me about why an Angel is in California?" I cough.
"Uhhhhhhh…. Why? Couldn't the Pope phone his God to check if he is missing any?" I hear a loud bang.
I hear a sigh, "I don't know Magnus. Maybe God hasn't checked his answering machine? Anyway, are you the cause of the Pope bothering and now being on the local news?"
"Yes. My clones thought it was funny." I hear laughter in the background. I guess I was on Speaker.
He hangs on me, the bastard. Guess he is going to throw V and the First Lady at the problem to fix it.
I turn to Ms. Yamada, "Do you mind if I cut this short, Ms. Yamada? I need to see what else my clones messed up." She chuckles.
"I don't mind Magnus. Have a good day." I nod.
I teleport home.
A.N. Hey everyone. Sorry its been more than a damn month since I posted a chap, life hit me like a bus.