Inotrope
Better to die free than live as a slave.
Inner Sanctum Nobility
♔ Champion ♔
- Local time
- Today 1:27 AM
- Messages
- 186
- Age
- 33
The hallways of The Tower were quiet minus the steps of the Grand Master ahead of him and William's own, a silence that had begun to wear on William as they approached a wrought iron door with no handle on the first floor. The Grand Master waved his hand and the door shrieked as it grated along a railing into the wall next to it.
"Enter, but do nothing else unless instructed." The Grand Masters voice echoed through William's thoughts as he stepped into the room and the door screeched shut behind him.
The room was devoid of any decoration and smelled faintly of incense. Instinctively William raised his hand to his nose to ward off whatever affliction the incense was fighting while he examined the room. The walls were steeped in darkness, the only light coming from a candle flickering in a pool of its wax. Next to the candle a well worn white porcelain mask stared up at him.
A course gravely voice broke his concentration and he noticed the vague outline of a figure standing in what little moonlight broke through the arrow slit that served as the solitary window for the room "Have a seat." As the figure turned the unmistakable golden glow of the healers eyes broke the darkness and buried itself somewhere deep in William's soul. William shifted uncomfortably and sat on a wooden stool his now adjusted eyes could barely make out on his side of the table.
The healer stepped into the light on his side of the table and had a seat and William buried his nails in the stool beneath him. The mans face was warped with lesions, half of his cheek had schlepped off and revealed pearly white teeth that briefly managed to draw Williams attention away from the missing nose and deep burn scars that covered his face.
"Don't fret boy, you can not posses the humors to heal others, and my condition is a result of that gift." The words offered some small relief, he had no interest in healing regardless of the cost. "You have come here for your own reasons but you must know that nothing comes without sacrifice. This is your last chance to change your mind." Fighting through a wave of doubt he managed to shake his head "No. No I want to be here." A ting of Melancholy edged its way into the healers expression. "Very well." The door shrieked itself open again "The Grand Master will guide you then."
"Why was he locked away like that?" William asked as they moved to the second floor. The Grand master looked back at him briefly before continuing up the stairs. "They take in a portion of the pain and suffering of all those they touch, eventually it overwhelms them. The first stage is always clarity, they can see and know things about living beings that can't be explained, the second stage is muttering screaming insanity, and the final stage is a slow painful death as they relive all of the injuries that they once helped cure."
Silence accompanied them for the remainder of the trip to the second floor. The floor was wide open minus the bookshelves that made up the walkways and the necessary tower supports. Like the first floor this floor was empty except for one simply dressed clerk. "Ah, the new one." The Grand Master stood in the corner and motioned for William to sit. William was surprised to find the chair was cushioned, something he'd never experienced before. "Now." The clerk pulled a form out of the desk and inked his quill. "You are not eligible to be a healer so that's out." The clerk looked at William's work worn hands and sun tanned skin "as is becoming a seeker since you cannot read." William went to protest but the Grand Master motioned for him to be silent. "If he makes his selection do let me know so that I can log it in the book."
The Grand Master started towards the stairs and a somewhat bewildered William followed. "What's a seeker, and what did he mean I can't read?" The Grand Master paused as if considering his question before he spoke "Seekers are bound to the library. They can divine information from afar and remember everything they see, but they are no longer allowed to be active participants in the world, or even in this tower apart from the library. They can't eat, or drink, they can't love, they just record and report. You were staring right at some writing that usually takes years for mages to be able to even see, those who are naturally able to understand it have almost always become seekers." Suddenly curious if the rest of that form had actually been blank William followed the Grand master up to the second floor.
The third floor was permeated by the smell of sulfur and sweat. Arcane inscriptions marked both staircases and all of the doors that marked the long hallway. They did not stop on this floor, instead the Grand Master spoke again. "Conjurers generally accidentally come about and then make their way to the tower for instruction. They bind otherworldly creatures to them at the cost of their own strength. They are frail themselves but the creatures they summon can break sieges on their own strength. The most powerful Conjurers can tap into that strength to summon other objects, or even people, to their presence. It is a fragile and often short lived relationship with few conjurers growing old despite advances in the extension of ones mortal coil. There are no summoners currently at the tower to test you, and I can use more Battle Mages so we're moving on." Williams nodded wistfully "Can I ask." The Grand Master spoke before he finished "They put you in a binding rune and dangle your soul like a worm on a hook, then if you overcoming the beast that comes you are a summoner, and if not you die and they try and contain the beast."
William went to speak again but stopped himself. Legends of grand dragons terrorizing the world, and demons wandering the streets draining their victims suddenly made more sense. The two of them reached the fourth and final floor inside the tower. Chain armors of various types lined the walls and a couple mages practiced fire manipulation on a forge in the corner, sprouting it from nothing, heating it until it switched from red to yellow, and finally to blue, then snuffing it. Despite the heat of the room and simple tunics they worse they wore heavy metal armor completely covering their right arms. William looked from them to the Grand make and barely noticed metal finger tips protruding from his overly bulky robes.
As William noted to ask about it later he was led into a room with a long wooden table. The table had straps for the arms and legs with a long plank of wood attached to a crank flush with the table about shoulder height. "Lay down." William paused for a moment before doing as he was told. The two men who were at the forge came in and held him to the table as the Grand master strapped him in. First his legs, then his left arm. Finally as they tried to strap his right arm to the plank William struggled, managing to throw one over him in a surge of adrenaline before the other assistant and the Grand Master's vice like grip managed to affix the arm to the plank. "You were warned at the start. There is no turning back now." The grand master dropped his bulky robes willed his armor to the floor, revealing nothing more than a stump. "To control matter you must give matter. If you survive you will be one of us. If not." The Grand master looked at him once again, a deep seated sorrow faceting his eyes before he willed his metal arm back on and walked out of the room. The crank slowly started to turn of its own accord and the assistants braced themselves against what was coming.
William screamed as the crank fought against the corded tendons in his shoulder, straining against the weight of the men and the secure leather straps as sweat ran down his body and dampened his hair. The crank picked up speed as the solid pop of Williams arm tearing out of socket broke through the screams that were now fading with the mans strength. Finally as the skin itself started to twist and tear from the strain William let out a final scream, a burst of energy splitting through his shoulder and separating the arm completely, then cauterizing the wound as he passed out.
William awoke in a cell much like that one that had first greeted him on a straw mattress. The pain had receded aside from the dull ache of an arm that he could feel when his eyes were closed. On a table next to him was a note, and a bowl of thick stew with a wooden spoon. He sat up awkwardly and fumbled with the spoon with his left hand, and read the note while he at. The note mentioned that he could leave once he could open the door, and that further instruction would follow. He finished the stew and stood up, his balance still a bit off from the change in weight, and moved to the door. Again it was wrought iron, and again it had no handle. He could just make out the railing in the floor from the sunlight that lit the room through the arrow slit but when he strained against it with his shoulder it wouldn't budge.
He calmed himself with a deep breath and thought back to the last moments of the wrack, the energy that welled up inside and all around him, then focused that energy on the door. At first nothing happened, the door started to quake before finally the unfocused energy exploded outward, slamming the door against the wall opposite of his chamber. With a deep sigh William stepped out of his cell and into the unknown.
"Enter, but do nothing else unless instructed." The Grand Masters voice echoed through William's thoughts as he stepped into the room and the door screeched shut behind him.
The room was devoid of any decoration and smelled faintly of incense. Instinctively William raised his hand to his nose to ward off whatever affliction the incense was fighting while he examined the room. The walls were steeped in darkness, the only light coming from a candle flickering in a pool of its wax. Next to the candle a well worn white porcelain mask stared up at him.
A course gravely voice broke his concentration and he noticed the vague outline of a figure standing in what little moonlight broke through the arrow slit that served as the solitary window for the room "Have a seat." As the figure turned the unmistakable golden glow of the healers eyes broke the darkness and buried itself somewhere deep in William's soul. William shifted uncomfortably and sat on a wooden stool his now adjusted eyes could barely make out on his side of the table.
The healer stepped into the light on his side of the table and had a seat and William buried his nails in the stool beneath him. The mans face was warped with lesions, half of his cheek had schlepped off and revealed pearly white teeth that briefly managed to draw Williams attention away from the missing nose and deep burn scars that covered his face.
"Don't fret boy, you can not posses the humors to heal others, and my condition is a result of that gift." The words offered some small relief, he had no interest in healing regardless of the cost. "You have come here for your own reasons but you must know that nothing comes without sacrifice. This is your last chance to change your mind." Fighting through a wave of doubt he managed to shake his head "No. No I want to be here." A ting of Melancholy edged its way into the healers expression. "Very well." The door shrieked itself open again "The Grand Master will guide you then."
"Why was he locked away like that?" William asked as they moved to the second floor. The Grand master looked back at him briefly before continuing up the stairs. "They take in a portion of the pain and suffering of all those they touch, eventually it overwhelms them. The first stage is always clarity, they can see and know things about living beings that can't be explained, the second stage is muttering screaming insanity, and the final stage is a slow painful death as they relive all of the injuries that they once helped cure."
Silence accompanied them for the remainder of the trip to the second floor. The floor was wide open minus the bookshelves that made up the walkways and the necessary tower supports. Like the first floor this floor was empty except for one simply dressed clerk. "Ah, the new one." The Grand Master stood in the corner and motioned for William to sit. William was surprised to find the chair was cushioned, something he'd never experienced before. "Now." The clerk pulled a form out of the desk and inked his quill. "You are not eligible to be a healer so that's out." The clerk looked at William's work worn hands and sun tanned skin "as is becoming a seeker since you cannot read." William went to protest but the Grand Master motioned for him to be silent. "If he makes his selection do let me know so that I can log it in the book."
The Grand Master started towards the stairs and a somewhat bewildered William followed. "What's a seeker, and what did he mean I can't read?" The Grand Master paused as if considering his question before he spoke "Seekers are bound to the library. They can divine information from afar and remember everything they see, but they are no longer allowed to be active participants in the world, or even in this tower apart from the library. They can't eat, or drink, they can't love, they just record and report. You were staring right at some writing that usually takes years for mages to be able to even see, those who are naturally able to understand it have almost always become seekers." Suddenly curious if the rest of that form had actually been blank William followed the Grand master up to the second floor.
The third floor was permeated by the smell of sulfur and sweat. Arcane inscriptions marked both staircases and all of the doors that marked the long hallway. They did not stop on this floor, instead the Grand Master spoke again. "Conjurers generally accidentally come about and then make their way to the tower for instruction. They bind otherworldly creatures to them at the cost of their own strength. They are frail themselves but the creatures they summon can break sieges on their own strength. The most powerful Conjurers can tap into that strength to summon other objects, or even people, to their presence. It is a fragile and often short lived relationship with few conjurers growing old despite advances in the extension of ones mortal coil. There are no summoners currently at the tower to test you, and I can use more Battle Mages so we're moving on." Williams nodded wistfully "Can I ask." The Grand Master spoke before he finished "They put you in a binding rune and dangle your soul like a worm on a hook, then if you overcoming the beast that comes you are a summoner, and if not you die and they try and contain the beast."
William went to speak again but stopped himself. Legends of grand dragons terrorizing the world, and demons wandering the streets draining their victims suddenly made more sense. The two of them reached the fourth and final floor inside the tower. Chain armors of various types lined the walls and a couple mages practiced fire manipulation on a forge in the corner, sprouting it from nothing, heating it until it switched from red to yellow, and finally to blue, then snuffing it. Despite the heat of the room and simple tunics they worse they wore heavy metal armor completely covering their right arms. William looked from them to the Grand make and barely noticed metal finger tips protruding from his overly bulky robes.
As William noted to ask about it later he was led into a room with a long wooden table. The table had straps for the arms and legs with a long plank of wood attached to a crank flush with the table about shoulder height. "Lay down." William paused for a moment before doing as he was told. The two men who were at the forge came in and held him to the table as the Grand master strapped him in. First his legs, then his left arm. Finally as they tried to strap his right arm to the plank William struggled, managing to throw one over him in a surge of adrenaline before the other assistant and the Grand Master's vice like grip managed to affix the arm to the plank. "You were warned at the start. There is no turning back now." The grand master dropped his bulky robes willed his armor to the floor, revealing nothing more than a stump. "To control matter you must give matter. If you survive you will be one of us. If not." The Grand master looked at him once again, a deep seated sorrow faceting his eyes before he willed his metal arm back on and walked out of the room. The crank slowly started to turn of its own accord and the assistants braced themselves against what was coming.
William screamed as the crank fought against the corded tendons in his shoulder, straining against the weight of the men and the secure leather straps as sweat ran down his body and dampened his hair. The crank picked up speed as the solid pop of Williams arm tearing out of socket broke through the screams that were now fading with the mans strength. Finally as the skin itself started to twist and tear from the strain William let out a final scream, a burst of energy splitting through his shoulder and separating the arm completely, then cauterizing the wound as he passed out.
William awoke in a cell much like that one that had first greeted him on a straw mattress. The pain had receded aside from the dull ache of an arm that he could feel when his eyes were closed. On a table next to him was a note, and a bowl of thick stew with a wooden spoon. He sat up awkwardly and fumbled with the spoon with his left hand, and read the note while he at. The note mentioned that he could leave once he could open the door, and that further instruction would follow. He finished the stew and stood up, his balance still a bit off from the change in weight, and moved to the door. Again it was wrought iron, and again it had no handle. He could just make out the railing in the floor from the sunlight that lit the room through the arrow slit but when he strained against it with his shoulder it wouldn't budge.
He calmed himself with a deep breath and thought back to the last moments of the wrack, the energy that welled up inside and all around him, then focused that energy on the door. At first nothing happened, the door started to quake before finally the unfocused energy exploded outward, slamming the door against the wall opposite of his chamber. With a deep sigh William stepped out of his cell and into the unknown.