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madmarchhare · 2 years

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For the DnD writing thing

@chaosunit0010, it's a day erly I know, but for the Forgotten God one. I can't draw, so here a short story!

Hope you all like it! If you do, I have other writing stuff on my blog! Have a love-ely day~!

Forgotten Star

I was sat in the back of an erratic little carriage that jumped and jerked as it was pulled up a rough little highland road that led to my friends estate. He was not overtly fond of carriages, and even less so of automobiles, so he left his roads rough, as he usually either walked them himself or rode where he wanted to.

Not that he was home enough that it would ever have been much of a concern to him. He spent far too much time on safari or adventuring out wherever and whenever he could. The carts movement steadied as we reached the end of the road and I peered out of the window to look at his estate, the beautiful sight never boring me.

It was a large grey stone manor, stately and old fashioned in its shape. Yet its roof was bowled out and pointed in various points, apparently called shikhara, more akin to a great eastern palace. The bricks were engraved with great tribal patterns making it look like a grant temple from the Dark country. Finally it’s windows and doors were grand affairs, the formers made of grand slabs of eastern crystal thinned and polished then painted in beautiful patterns: the latter carved from ebony wood with deep and beautiful patterns etched deep in their faces. All this surrounded by the dense embrace of a forest of pines, firs and sequoia trees that seemed to shield it from the view of the world.

I stepped out from the carriage down onto the drive, giving a nod to my driver along with a tip. He returned the nod then turned the carriage back and began to depart back down the rocky road. I walked up to the beautifully carved door, brushing my hands slightly over the smooth patterns on it’s face before snapping together the brass knocker on them.

The door was pulled open after a few seconds by a pale looking Tiefling, he wore a tribal mask from the Dark country, covering his whole face while he wore a pale bone coloured suit. He bowed to me, then pulled the door further ajar and stood aside to let me in.

“Master East is expecting you, if you’ll wait here in the hall I shall go get him.” He said, speaking with a slight bobbing accent, his voice slightly muffled from behind his mask.

“Of course,” I replied, removing my hat as I stepped in, looking about the lobby as he walked off, his tail twitching slightly behind him as he walked off. The lobby was tall, reaching up two stories, the main house steeple at it’s top, which carried the grand chandelier that hung down into it, illuminating the various tapestries, stuffed heads and antiques around the room pinned to the grand wood walls or on plinths on the mosaic floor.

There was a door either side of the room, excluding the entrance itself. Next to either door was stood a stuffed bear, for the one that the Tiefling had went into for the parlour, the bear wore a top hat. The other wore a pith helmet and clenched a musket in it’s jaws. Likely to his hunting room.

“Sven! How are you my friend? Have you been well?” Called out a new voice from behind me as I studied the helmeted bear. I turned around to see the friend I had come to visit. East was a reasonably tall man just breeching six foot. He was thickly built, with broad shoulders and a bold chest that was full of mirth. He was dressed in a reddish smoking jacket and a wide smile, the latter he always wore. He had maple brown hair, trimmed short on his fringe, but platted on his back; and a great beard obscuring most of his face in autumn coloured hair.

“I am well. Though having to go up that drive of yours had made me rather sore.” I replied, walking over to him as I held my hat, the servant coming up to our side and taking it from me. East gave a guffawing laugh in return and put his arm over my shoulder and pulled me in close.

“You always act like every seat is a bed of nails for you my friend!” Pulling me forward past the top hatted bear into a hallway.

“With what that drive is like it might as well be!” I responded, making him break out into a laugh once again.

“Yes, your not the first to complain. Though the politest about it so far.” Opening the door to the parlour as he spoke, letting us into the splendid room.

It was a long, almost hall like room, like what you would read about from old adventure novels. It had a trio of massive fireplaces across the opposite side of the room, all dressed in brick and aged oak with great portraits above them, all from different countries ad vastly different styles. They were never the same paintings that I had seen the time before either.

It was carpet in a great purple velvet, ebony tables and leather chairs were dotted about it as a quartet of grandfather clocks tutted together at the emptiness of the room. I walked over to the table that East gestured to me, a tall ebony round table with a pair of sherry glasses and a large blue bottle of the sweat drink.

“Thank you,” I said as I sat down, the servant pouring me a drink as I did, getting a smile from me in return.

“So, how has work been treating you? I still can’t believe you’re a police officer, that type of work doesn’t suit you!” East remarked as he slackened in his chair, the cherry in his glass seeming to have disappeared before I saw it poured.

“My superior seemed to take the same view.” I replied, looking down at my steepled hands, my face tensing slightly. East shifted in his chair, straightening up.

“Pardon?”

“He fired me from the force. He couldn’t even come up with a reason why, just told me to go and not come back. They never did like me there anyway.” I said, my voice becoming slightly hollow without my noticing. I cleared my throat, trying to push past the subject. “Well, you all said it never suited me. This might be for the best, there’s always work if you peak under the corners.” I finished with a chuckle looking up at East, who regarded me with a stern look, catching me off guard.

“Yes, but it was what ,you, wanted to do.” His response caught me off guard, making me stiffen up. “Whether I, or anyone else thought it didn’t suite you was irrelevant. We were happy that you were.” Resting his head on his palm as he spoke. I looked down at the floor, not having anything to say, trying to hold back a warm tear, and only just managing.

East was silent for a long moment before standing up. “Well,” he began as I turned up to look up at him, “if you are looking for work, I might have something to tide you over before you go back to the force.” He stated, gesturing for both I and the servant to follow.

“Wha-” I began before he continued on, out through the door we came through, making me quickly chuck the rest of my glass down my throat and scurry after him, the servant following on after us much more calmly, yet easily keeping pace.

“What do you mean? Firstly, I don’t need a job, I’m more than fine. Secondly, what do you man get back on the force? It didn’t work out! I’ll just do something else.” I blurted out hurriedly, panicking as I scurried after him, my glasses rocking about on my nose with every other step.

“You give up too easily on your ambitions my dear friend.” East replied, making me stop mid-step. He stopped as well, turning around to me with a stiff expression, a line of disapproval clear in his countenance. “While, it is, and will always remain your own right to decide your own path. It remains my right to be concerned for you as your friend, you can refuse my help, but that doesn’t mean I will stop offering it.” He finished, his face the same, though less disapproving now than before.

“Now, either, you can follow, looking at a job offer. Or, you can follow simply as my friend, who I want to show off to. Though, you’ll remain the latter in either case.” He finished, walking through the hall and past the pith hatted bear. I looked at him as he went, stopping for a moment, unable to stop a single tear from falling from my eye and blurring my glasses. I lifted them from my face, and wiped it with a white cloth from my vest pocket as I followed after him, a small smile on my face.

“You’re too good. Simply too good.” I mumbled to myself as I walked, noticing the servant was regarding me quietly, but then quickly turned his masked face forward again. I followed after them, darting my gaze around as we advanced through the hall to the various paintings, tapestries, animals and fineries that beautied the menagerie of a manor.

Then we came to a large, pale door, a great valve set on it’s face, like a ships bulkhead. The servant stepped past both East and I and grabbed the valve with a single hand, then twisted it open with great ease. I stared at him for a moment in quiet bewilderment, feeling my glasses slide down my nose once again.

“Thank you Nivika,” East said to him, a pleasant smile on his face, the latter giving a small bow in return. East then continued on, lifting a foot over the step into the rooms threshold, both I and Nivika following on after, seeming to gravitate towards my friend.

The room itself was covered wall to wall in stacked glass cabinets, filled with various objects of either great beauty or things that I simply could not explain.

“What is this?” I asked, eyes scatter, flicking my gaze about the room, almost making myself dizzy as I found object after object that snatched up my curiosity.

“A collection of mine. Mythical and magical artifacts, form Dwarves, Elves, Kobolds, Gnolls and what have you,” he replied, with a slightly exited tone, puffing his chest out slightly. “Though, there’s plenty of things from humans in here as well. We were always a race obsessed with the materiel after all,” chuckling as he finished, then seemed to calm himself suddenly.

“But, that’s not what I wanted to show you however,” walking over to one side of the room to a particular cabinet in a dark corner of the room, his words pulling me after him, “that honour, belongs to this.” He held out his hand and Nivika passed him a wooden rod with a brass head that East used to push open the face of the cabinet, then pull out it’s contents.

It was.. Well, a smallish round iron ball, somewhere between a watermelon and a grapefruit. It was unpolished, seeming to sit in his hand with a dull lustre, and yet, seemingly out of place in reality, like it didn’t quite fit.

“What is it?” I asked, curious what about it made it so fantastic it deserved a place among all these other treasures.

“Something forgotten.” East replied, rocking it in his hand as he walked around in front of me.

“Pardon?” I asked, taken slightly aback by his response. East regarded me for a moment, seeming to think about something as he looked down at the clump of metal in his hands.

“You know that this world has seen far more nations and cultures and peoples that what is left in this current age, yes?” He put to me, his inner scholar breaking out across his face.

“Yes, what do you mean?” I replied, a bite of sheepishness breaking my words.

“Well, we have our Gods don’t we?” He said, looking to me for confirmation, so I, and Nivika both gave a nod in response. “Then, here is the question you should be asking. What happened to theirs?” Lifting the ball high above his head as he studied it’s underside. I felt my jaw slacken as he finished, what he just said slowly digging itself into my mind.

“Y-you mean…” I stammered out, feeling my glasses finally fall from my face, then be caught by the chain from my jacket pocket.

“Yes. This is what is left of a forgotten God.” He turned to me after that, a smile pulling at his face, “but, if something is left. That can only mean, it’s not forgotten.” I felt myself getting exited as he spoke, my knees weakening beneath me as a manic smile seemed to break across my face before I could notice it.

“The job I have for you,” he continued, snapping me out of my little reverie, “is to find who, or what, still remembers this one.” Bouncing the ball in his hand as he finished.

“But, how do I do that?” I asked, trying to remain serious, my excitement almost flooding my brain.

“I’ll leave that up to you.” He replied jovially, tossing the ball into my arms, which I caught with both hands, making me gasp out from it’s surprising weight for how easily East had been tossing it about.

“But,” I began, but when I looked up, neither East, Nivika, the room or anything was there. I looked all around me, looking up and around to try and find something, but there wasn’t anything. Just cold blackness. Yet, it felt oddly comfortable.

I spun my head around for a moment before I heard a voice come from behind me, as if spoken directly into my ear. “So, you’re the new one then?” I whirled around to where I had heard it, but nothing was there, somehow even less than there was before.

“Who are you?!” I shouted out into the emptiness. “Where are you?!”

“I should really be asking that. You came up here to me after all, or would it be down? Maybe a bit to the left? Never mind…” The voice dismissive as it spoke, always seeming to be just behind me no matter where I looked. “I suppose I should grant you the honour of an answer. You are the first one to come and see me in a while after all.” It finished, leaving me slightly confused, but before I could think about it, I felt a clap of air from behind me as if a massive explosion had silently gone off behind me, accompanied by a great silver light as well.

I spun around to see what it was, to snap out some retort, but when I did, nothing came out. The figure that floated before me was over seven feet tall, dressed in a splendid red, blue and gold tunic, covered with gold and turquoise jewellery. But what was more fascinating was it’s body, it was covered in turquoise feathers that covered it’s arms, legs and face, then pale nutmeg scales that covered its stomach and chest, along the bottom of it’s tail.

But what was even more remarkable than that, was something else. A large section of it’s gut, an arm and a leg on opposite sides, and the top half of it’s head, seemed to be shattered, with part of them hovering near where they used to be part of him, following delayed after he had already moved the limb, delayed slightly in their movement.

“Speechless then?” The figure responded, making me jump, “that’s to be expected when people gaze on my majestic figure.” Placing the hand of his shattered arm on his chest proudly, dragging behind him a shattered halo of white light.

I wrestled with my stunned mouth for a moment before I was able for force out my question. “Who-who are y-you.” I bundled the question out of my mouth, my tongue not seeming to fit within my jaw any longer. He seemed to look at me slightly surprised, like I had asked something obvious, not that I could truly tell, considering he lacked most of what could be used to make an expression bar from a long muzzle stuffed with large teeth.

“Well, you should know that already, shouldn’t you,” Spreading his arms out wide, his muzzle breaking out into a grand smile, the fractured halo expanding out behind him, “I’m your God!” His response making me stiffen, not able to breath for a moment. “Good to meet yah! But, I think it’s time for goodbyes. Caio!” He called out, the last note of his voice seeming to coincide with the world around me snaping back to where I was before, both East and Nivika giving me concerned looks.

I smiled back to both of them, making them relax slightly. “East, I’ll do it.” I stated, my smile stilled pulled across my face as I gripped the at the steel sphere.

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