Chapter One: Awakening
A body fell from the heavens, whooshing through clouds and floundering about in the sky, until a thunderous crash echoed through the forest, hills, and mountains.
...
Good Day... I am the great orator Fenamir... ahrmmm. I know, I know, this story is not about me, but as we get to know each other through the pages of these never-ending chapters I thought it was only right that you knew my name. I am an Elder God, and most likely the best of the bunch, if I do say so myself. All the other Gods are so uptight about their rules, worship me this sacrifice that. Anyway, I have a tale to tell of a human who found himself lost in my realm, quite the story indeed. Before I go on, I must make things perfectly clear, I had no hand in his arrival into this world, but being the curious sort that I am, I decided to follow him and detail whatever fantastical adventures would come of him.
Let us begin with the misadventures of a human in a fantasy world.
A human child with the appearance of about twenty and two years of age maybe twenty and one found himself astray and with little memory of how he camest to this Teravisca, (an Earth on a different plane of existence than the one you commonly know). He laid in a bountiful field of flowers and tall grass, unconscious. I happened across his thrombled body as I traveled over the field, it was a nice field I often visited, for the bright yellow marigolds and perennials that adorned the wandering hills and the fresh breezes that drifted through them. His heavy frame bent the bed of perennials and the ground where he laid. Gray clouds rolled in, bringing with them the smell of rain, and a frosty breeze from the snow-laden Avengrad Mountains in the east, a beautiful day, the ones I enjoyed the most.
Diggory shuffled around the bed of flowers, goosebumps invaded his skin as he awakened from his cold and forced slumber. He was uneasy because of the many bruises that covered his body from a fall that landed him in my field.
It was mid-day, but the sun was covered by a puff of giant clouds spreading across the high noon sky. On this day our adventurer wore a pair of gray leather trousers with a flowing oat colored shirt of linen, he was coated with a cotton yellow cape and cowl, as bright as the marigolds surrounding the fields around him. His shoes were weary brown leather boots, hefty and tattered. He awoke as confused as a chicken in a lion's den, his wide eyes and gawking mouth showed as much. He threw a small satchel strapped across his side under his cape and stood up, stepping over the beautiful perennial flowers. He closed up his coat to protect himself from the breezes that blew and as he wrapped himself in the cotton cape he felt a tug on his hip. He unsheathed a small silver dagger from his belt, held it up with his right hand, he stared at it and caught a glimpse of his reflection on the blade. Diggory paused and examined his face with his free hand feeling his skin, nose, and mouth, he saw before him a pair of dirt brown eyes, tufts of black hair splayed about his head, a dimpled chin, and a tan complexion. He dove into the deepest recesses of his mind to answer a question that lingered in his thoughts, yelling to the heavens.
Diggory: "What the hell is my name !?"
As if I would know, I barely met him. That's a joke, of course, he had no idea I was spying on him. He whispered to himself.
Diggory: "Why can't I remember anything, where the hell am I?"
He spun around looking far and wide, perhaps to find the answer written in the clouds or on the mountain tops. Like lightning, his name engulfed his memory and it was the only thing he could remember.
Diggory: "Diggory!?"
He fell over, being overwhelmed and disoriented by the situation he found himself in. He arose once again and crouched over wielding his dagger in front of him. He looked towards the Avengard Mountains and to the Fenamir Forest to the west.
Diggory: "Where should I go? Mmmaybe I can find a cave and find rest in the mountains" he said internally
Just as those words had come out of his mouth a pack of three giant dire wolves stood atop of the smallest of the five mountain hills, centered straight across the field. A giant pearly white wolf howled at the edge of the rocks. As the howl echoed through the field and forest Diggory stepped back towards the forest and then turned to begin a hasty escape, or at least he thought he was escaping, dire wolves are known to go for much larger prey than a measly human and they usually only hunt at night. not only that, they didn't even see Diggory.
Diggory: "I guess that's a no to the mountains... God almighty where am I, those things are huge!"
Now I admit I may or may not have been the one that incentivized the dire wolves to exit their abode in the mountains, but if I wanted my adventurer to survive he was going to have to go towards the great Fenamir Forest. To be completely honest, I've tried to write stories of other adventures, such as the courageous Santarius, a cheerful faun who had so much going for him, he was handsome and brave and had such a tragic back story sure to make me famous as the greatest Story teller in all the realms, but he was crushed by a rock just as he was to depart on his adventure to slay the great Dragon Rauokesh.
Anyway, he ran into the forest and stopped after being about two miles away from where he was originally plastered. Breathing heavy our young and unfit adventurer sat beside a giant blackwood tree. Now I'm not saying he was rotund in shape, but he certainly wasn't an Adonis. He tossed around as he sat because his bruises rubbed against the tree and his own body. He pulled his satchel from under his yellow coat and cleared the crispy autumn leaves around his seated area. *clank* trrrmm* *plink* *thud*, he dumped all the items out of his satchel and took his dagger belt off and threw them on the ground in front of him. He lifted each item one by one and examined them.
Diggory: "Okay so I have my dagger"
He put the dagger belt back on.
Diggory: "I have the satchel, I have a storage ring, a book of beginner spells... written by ... Amadeus Goma, a pouch..."
He dumped the items in the pouch onto the floor. *ting* *dttt* He placed each coin back in the bag as he counted them.
Diggory: "Two gold coins, five silver coins, ten copper coins, and lint. A never-ending-fountain-pen, that seems pretty useless"
He chucked it out of his bag and it bounced around into the depths of the forest.
Diggory: "A water pouch, and a medicine kit, the only useful items in this damn bag"
He put the storage ring on and drank from the water pouch. He started to rummage through the medicine kit, it was a small wooden box hinged on one side and latched with no lock on the other, he found twelve glass bottles filled with red and blue liquid, the red bottles said for minor cuts and bruises, he read the blue bottles that said for hunger. He drank three of the six small red bottles until all his bruises were gone.
Diggory: "*glug glug glug* ahhhh that's refreshing"
Diggory stretched his arms in circles one by one and noticed that the sun's light had begun to fade. He began to put everything back into the satchel except for the book of magic.
Diggory: "How the hell do I know what all this is and yet I didn't even know what my name was"
He paused and looked at the ring
Diggory: "How do you even use this stupid storage ring"
He began to hit it and wave it around but to no avail.
Diggory started to read through the book of magic to see if he could find out how to use the storage ring, or perhaps even better actual magic. On the first page, he read...
Diggory: "This book is for those who appreciate and use magic for the good of others, only learn with a scholar of the magic present as the dangers that transpire from this book are many. Enjoy the conglomerate of information and magic research compiled in this book. Through the passage of many centuries, it has accumulated many useful tid bits of information that give great insights to the world of magic. Sincerely, The Great Mage of Parthanosia Amadeus Goma the Fourth. I don't have time to go looking for a scholar just tell me how to use a magic ring."
Diggory ruffled through the pages of the gold and burgundy book, a quite cliche looking book of magic if you don't mind me saying oh "Great Amadeus", I told him to go for something more conventional but all mages are like that. Of course, this was many a year ago and now all books of magic look the same, golden inlays and red leather backings. At least when he first did it wasn't as common to use gold and whatnot.
Diggory read through the pages and skimmed over the glossary to see if he could find anything on magic items, he didn't. He then landed on a page that was titled How to Activate Magic. He figured it was a good an option as any other cause there were no other options.
Diggory: "How to activate magic..."
He mumbled to himself, even I could hardly hear what he was saying.
Diggory: "feel the energy blah blah blah... place it in a part of your body where tadadadadadada... okay I think I got it"
He put himself in a meditative state and looked like an absolute idiot, humming with his legs crossed under the blackwood tree, trying to focus like some sort of amateur monk.
Diggory: "Go to my hand then to my finger aaaaand activate the ring... go to my hand then to my finger, go to the ring. F*ckin shit, I wish I was virtuous with patience but damn this is pissing me off. Go to my hand and then to my finger."
First of all, I do not condone the language that the adventurer uses, however, I do admit that cussing was what helped him center his mana. He started to feel it and build it up and slowly but surely he managed to activate the ring.
Diggory: "finally, the damn ring works"
The ruby gem inlaid in the ring started to glow and the satchel Diggory had on was sucked into the ring. It was getting late and the sun was at the edge of the world, setting beautifully into a cloudy pink sky. Diggory was ecstatic he learned how to use magic and he began ruffling through the book to try and find how to start a fire.
Diggory: "Chapter two Fire Magic, grab a stick, dried foliage, and a string... rub them... create a safe area away from wind... what the hell is this where's the magic"
I remember that was a joke Amadeus had written into the book, I've read the book before and I had completely forgotten that... it always gives me a hearty chuckle.
Diggory: "Center your mana and think of warmth until your core begins to heat up... send it to the area in your body you want to activate the magic from... conjure fire by thinking of more and more heat... use your wand or staff and say the words BLAZE. What the hell do I do without a wand."
Diggory pointed his fingers to the ground and decided he didn't need one, what's next will surprise you cause it certainly surprised me but he used magic without a catalyst. It would have been less surprising if perhaps he was a master of the magic arts or something but at twenty and two years of age, he was certainly no expert. Of course, at the time I also didn't know that humans could use magic without a catalyst, but to my defense, humans are very rare in Teravisca.
Diggory: "Blaze, Blaze, Blaze"
A fire appeared in the pile of dried leaves he had gathered earlier and it lit up the grounds where he made his bed. The stars started to shine through the leaves of the trees and the moon shone over the land illuminating a flock of night birds flying over the darkened forest. The fire's light bounced off the bark of the trees and warmed the adventurer as he began to tire and shut his eyes. He fell into another deep slumber no longer shivering or bruised but still troubled by his unknown past. The howling of the Dire Wolves was heard once again, louder and certainly much closer.
Diggory: "Goodnight to anyone who can hear me, please don't eat me and thank you"
