The Dread Wizard Valel Hex was a woman who’s ambition was to shroud the world in darkness. A powerful spell caster her will was made manifest, and hundreds of soldiers and adventurers alike found the last sound before their death to be her malicious cackle. Truly there was not a greater wickedness than the Dread Wizard Hex, and all who suffered under her power spoke silent secret prayers to her untimely end.
Luckily for them, she died.
It’s not quite clear what killed Valel, likely stories tell
of two bands, adventurers seemingly, coming together to unleash their might but
doubled. The ring of the clash between them and Valel was heard across the
realm, the story goes, until the two bands drew out the wretched Wizard’s very
soul, leaving her nothing more than a husk. There,
the two bands rested in the Dread Wizards labyrinth, the source of her power,
and were never seen again.
Not that people didn’t try, once a labyrinth of madness full
of dangers and numerous tragic ends for those foolish enough to venture forth,
the once great lair of Valel Hex was now a dusty old ruin, ravaged by time and
adventurers and treasure hunters seeking a fortune in boon and magical items.
It wasn’t much more than a home for a particularly unagreeable band of Goblins.
The once mighty palace to despair and home of Valel’s sinister machinations…
now the stomping ground of some pint sized ruffians. A century since the woman’s
death and few even speak her name anymore, not with fear anyway, she is a ghost
story, a boogeyman for disobedient children, a lost relic of the ever cruel
nature of time.
However, let it not be said that none of Valel’s power still
reside in her lair… Though time may wither at all things a labyrinth is still a
labyrinth, and a Wizard’s labyrinth is something more still. The traps that
protected the halls still have a lethal bite and the corridors still twist and
wind so that there is still stone untouched in a centuries passed. The
Labyrinth of Valel Hex still draws in those seeking fortune, and Valel’s body
count does continue to grow even after her own demise. What fool would it take
to enter this space and risk their life for a chance to find whatever baubles
lay unplundered?
“I am a fool.” The woman said dryly. “And I should not be
here.”
Her name was Madrona, and she had been stuck in this damned
tomb for the better part of two days. It was funny, Tromping around these stone
hallways barely avoiding pressure plates and trip wires and of course the blasted magic glyphs that activated no matter where
you stood or how silently you moved! Really, it was a laugh riot… She could
almost hear his laughter from the Hells. At this point she didn’t even care about
the job she was on, foolish venture as it was, she just wanted out of this
place! Who cared that some goblins knocked over some ‘Emporium of Mystery’? So
they had some cheap trinkets and the shop keep loses a pittance in revenue…
But what’s a Inferni to do? It’s hard enough to find a town
that didn’t assume Madrona was a Devil on sight, hard to live in this world
with red skin and ridged black horns curving along your scalp to fine points,
assumptions get made quickly for most but for Madrona? Instant. Hell some of
the other Infernal Touched get pink skin, or blue skin, some have less, how to
put it, aggressive looking horns, some don’t have eyes that glow like dull
embers… And some don’t have a spade tail that tails out from your backside that
forces you to buy specialty tailored pants for your entire life!
Focus.
Yes, some of the Infernal Touched souls on this plane don’t
look so much like a literal Devil, but Madrona did. So she was quite surprised
when the town she had wandered into earlier this week was, modestly at least,
welcoming of her. It put her in a pleasant mood, well, a less dour mood than
normal. She still sneered somewhat when the little Halfling man, the owner of
the aforementioned ‘Emporium’ approached her at the café she was frequenting
that afternoon.
‘Scuse me, madam’. He started, and Madrona knew at that
moment he was going to ask for something.
“Yes?” She said dully placing a book she had been reading on
the table, doing her best to stifle an audible sigh. Was it this town’s way to interrupt
a person during their noon tea? Perhaps she should not stick around after all.
“Yes hello there I’m Gilbert, Gilbert Hofferound, and I
happen to be the proprietor of the Emporeum of Mystery right over yonder.” He raised
a walking stick and gestured down the street. Madronas gaze lifted for a
moment, seeing an extravagant sign over a stop window, a barren window.
“Seems your low on stock, Gil.” She said, glancing back down
at her book.
“Yes well that’s what I wanted to to get in contact with you
about. See, last night these Goblins came around and, well…” He stammered.
“They robbed you, the goblins. Tragedy” Madrona finished, eyes
snapping back to the man as she sipped from her tea. “Not entirely sure why you’re
coming to the new girl in town about that. Seems more a job for the town guard,
maybe the sheriff? Do you have a sheriff here? I wouldn’t know because I’m new,
but you’re not so you should know already.”
“Well yeah but ya see, well, I got this eye for folk.” He
stated. Madrona grimaced. “No really I do!” He then proceeded to reach up and
pull his eye out from the socket.
Madrona was suddenly no longer interested in her tea. It
took a moment to see that it was simply a glass eye that he had removed.
“It’s magic, ya see, well… You don’t, but I do, I see magic.”
The Halfling leaned in to her, popping the false eye back in. “And I see a magic
in you.” His words came in hushed whispers now. “I can see yer not no Wizard.
Wizard magic is all up in their head, Sorcerer is in the heart, Druids got
their magic in their hands and feet, Bards got it in their tongues, lungs, or
their fingers… No, your magic don’t come from inside you, it’s all mingled and twisted
up in your soul!”
Madrona stared at the man coldly, a quizzical eyebrow raising
to the man, underneath the table her hand clenched tightly around the hilt of
her dagger.
“I’m Inferni, Touched, some Devil from the Three Hells
messed with my family line an age and a half ago and I came out with red skin
and horns. We all Touched have some magic in us, even the Celesti and Elems. Celestials,
Elementals, Devils, get too close to the outer planes and your child comes out Touched,
nothing mysterious.” She stated, leaving her free hand at the man dismissively.
“Nah. Seen plenty of touched in my day. Even seen a Demos… They
got magic in em, yeah, but its in their skin… Inferni got skin that roils like fire,
Celesti got skin that cracks like dried mud, straining to hold the radiant
light in, Elem’s swirl with their element, and Demos just steam with an unbridled
fury in em. I see your roiling skin, the heat comin off your devil flesh. I see
something else though. I know what you are, and I ain’t planning on tellin no
one, not their business. Won’t even tell them if you said no to my offer, swear
it on my deat departed mother’s eternal spirit. But I want my product back, and
what you is is what I need. You say yes, I’ll put you up in an empty apartment
I happen to own in this town, completely free for as long as you want it.” He
stood there for a long moment, waiting for a response.
“…Free?”
And here she was.
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