Fresh Horrors (Eternal Whumptober)
Series Metadata
Listing Series
-
Tags
Summary
Caleb is late coming home from Soltryce and Essek is worried. He is right to be.
Caleb had approximately four different paths he regularly took from Soltryce to his home. Given that it was a Wednesday, Astrid was on business in Nicodranas, and their usual butcher had a family emergency in the countryside, there were really only two routes he was likely to take. Factoring in Caleb’s distaste for the cacophony of Wednesday’s market in the square at the midway point and that it was sweet corn season, Essek assumed he would take the more winding of the routes to pass by the quieter vegetable stand and the baker.
It was not a overly long walk, but as Essek marched through the street, he bitterly thought that it was long enough to take time he worried he did not have.
Series
- Part 1 of Fresh Horrors (Eternal Whumptober)
-
Tags
Summary
What determines where you end up when you hold one location in your mind with intent, but touch a different teleportation token? Essek will consider this later. Instead, as he plunges into the ocean off the coast of Rumblecusp, his body and mind freeze.
Essek does not have a first thought.
His second thought is less of a thought, and more of the primal, deep scream of the body locking up from the combination of rapid temperature change and sudden immersion. Verbal, somatic, material: it is all irrelevant when one is unable to think or move.
Essek accidentally teleports into the ocean while evading the Dynasty. 0/10 does not recommend.
Series
- Part 2 of Fresh Horrors (Eternal Whumptober)
-
Tags
Summary
A cheerful voice echoed in his head like a temple bell: Heeeeeeey Essek! How are you? We miss you — especially Caaaayleb. Orange festival soon in Nicodranas, we’ll be at port then. Come see us, pleeeeease!
His tongue felt like dead fish in his mouth. Had he had fallen asleep? He hadn’t done that since he was a child. Why was he on the floor? He tried to form words, but it just came out as a groaned exhale.
Essek is poisoned-- luckily his new friends won't stop bothering him and one in particular knows a little something about poisons.
Series
- Part 3 of Fresh Horrors (Eternal Whumptober)
-
Tags
Summary
The Uthodurn scene with the shopkeeper and residuum got me thinking, what if Caleb thought the residuum might still be there? How would he deal with that knowledge? (Not well)
There’s gold in his arms. Well, not exactly gold, but maybe better (maybe worse, definitely worse). He heard it from the nice lady at the store, residuum is better than gold — worth more — it’s right there in the price, several gold for just a bit and he knows his exchange rates, that means it’s better than gold. Simple math. His skin itches and well, it’s itched since he got out, that’s not new. It itched before too, but in an excited, young way, a magic-waiting-to-get-out way, not a get-it-out-please-take-it-out way. What itches must out, is that a thing people say? He doesn’t know; words rotted in his mouth when he was locked up and now they skitter away from him like roaches. That’s what happens when you lose a decade.
Series
- Part 1 of Exercises & Drabbles
- Part 4 of Fresh Horrors (Eternal Whumptober)
-
Tags
Summary
“I had to take precautions, you see. I lost seven men bringing him in, so best not to take risks,” Sorn said.
“Feeblemind,” Essek whispered through numb lips.A Dynasty mage with a personal vendetta imprisons Caleb to get revenge against Essek. They must escape and then unravel the damage done.
Series
- Part 5 of Fresh Horrors (Eternal Whumptober)
-
Tags
Summary
Seth Domade had many good qualities. He was human and, as such, could traverse Rexxentrum with ease. He had some unremarkable magical capabilities, so it was not odd that he might, say, use Comprehend Languages to read a book or cast Prestidigitation to clean the muck from his boots.
Seth Domade, however, was not a powerful wizard. He did not wield spells that could disrupt the gravity of an entire street or send his attackers flying into a wall. Seth Domade was a quiet, unassuming man. He spent most of his days editing volumes in the Cobalt Soul’s library, and he looked the part.
Around the time the silence manacles clapped around his wrists, Essek realized he should have dropped the facade of Seth Domade earlier.Series
- Part 6 of Fresh Horrors (Eternal Whumptober)
-
Tags
Summary
You like to watch when he leaves. The tightness around his lips, his only anxious tell, is there and gone so quickly, you must look carefully to spot it. He is scared that one day, you will not allow him to return to the Dynasty. You will forbid it, and keep him. It’s not an idle concern. You’ve thought about it, gamed through the logistics. He would rest and work at your command, like Astrid and Eadwulf, like your others. Your progress would be quicker, but there would be complications. He gives Astrid and Eadwulf a wide berth as he moves towards the door, as though he knows you have been contemplating springing the trap shut around him, as though the extra foot of distance might make a difference if you wished to make him stay.
Series
- Part 7 of Fresh Horrors (Eternal Whumptober)