Yes, in a sense. Though I believe the term someone misappropriates divine origin to what is ultimately a mortal endeavor. It is something beyond a spell. Ur-magic. It is the workings that Mystra has forbidden mortal mages from even attempting after the fall of Netheril. The ones she forbade to me specifically, despite my pleading. You can ... move mountains, control the heavens, steal the power of a god. The spell that Karsus attempted in his usurping of Mystryl was one of these. Though I suppose that simply is an example of the point that a vast majority of attempts would simply kill the caster - or worse.
That was what I wanted to be remembered for. There was a time I could have I could have been more than a great wizard. I could have been the greatest wizard who had lived in over a millennia.
[ pushing the grandiosity button on the difficult person chart 4000 times. the wizard rat race really does things to your fucking brain. anyway, he half-shrugs and then taps his mark. ]
Not now, of course. Now the memory is of a bit of a fuck up.
[ honestly it's a bit harder to admit some of these things to an actual person who is staring you in the face rather than an emotionless mask. he does sort of do a snort of laughter at the admission in turn.
wizard brain problems. ]
Quite the pair we are then, both stuck here in this rotting swamp instead of trotting about the Outer Planes.
Do keep that to yourself. It'd be unfortunate to end up like Nehan. [ he will try some of the food. his brows go up - but he purposefully does not comment on it yet. ] That was... Jester, a tiefling cleric with more exuberance than sense, and a penchant for being her namesake.
She always harasses me via Sending, does not understand the meaning of brevity, and refuses to not use every word offered by the spell.
She is one of... seven. They're... [ hesitation ] ...friends.
Don't worry, your secret is safe with me. Both the name and the fact you have friends you care for.
[ pretty cute honestly. sitting back down with his own bowl, though he's taking a second here to actually kind of look at essek's face. weird. he has expressions. ]
I see her point, actually, as a non-believer in brevity myself. It seems like a waste of magic to not use all the words?
[ you know. maybe he is petty enough to push away the bowl if he finds it unappetizing. maybe he's that petty. ]
No. Not to worry, she asked them again later. [ :| ] They spent most of the time begging me to teleport them to some such or another as if I'm the local wagon.
[ something lands in gale's lap unexpectedly and unannounced. it's a little heavy? but not painful. it's a cat ]
[ is he doing that? if he does that, gale's eyes go slightly wide. an emotional creature ...
but the kitty cat is instantly distracting! hello!!!!!! he will politely hold out a hand for this mysterious creature who I have no idea who it could be to sniff. ]
[ THESE EMOJIS? maybe he should have pushed the bowl away.
frumpkin chirrups and stretches his neck to receive the scritches, but then he hops right on up onto gale's shoulder. giving gale's face a little sniff before he leans his entire weight against gale's head in a rub.
sorry, gale gets the cat ass sorta as cats do, the tail folding over across gale's eyes. GREETING! ]
He is a wizard, yes. Hopefully, Frumpkin is apologizing for attaching to your face in the water.
[ gale is a cat guy, so this is totally fine with him. he just kind of genially enjoys it, cat butt and all. tara isn't here or she would be soooooo jealous. that is her boy? who is this slut of a familiar.
gale reaches up to keep petting as politeness demands. he's more than used to a kitty cat's weight on his shoulders at least. ]
And you ended up with this-- Caleb, you said? Caleb's familiar how, exactly?
[ he peers at frumpkin for a moment or two in the midst of finishing what's in the bowl. frumpkin is having a great time naturally. tara can be jealous. ]
If I didn't know any better, I would almost think I'm being spied on. I lost most of my senses and took them all up on an offer to have dinner. Frumpkin made himself comfortable in my lap.
Then I was here on business. I'm sure they're devastated their teleporter has vanished for some time.
Are you a spy? I notice you can change your form - a more modern Find Familiar spell then, probably, yes? Fey, fiend, or celestial? You don't strike me as fiendish, nor angelic, so ...
[ after he was so openly judgmental of this spell in like. their first conversation. haha. oops. his filter ... well frumpkin doesn't seem to have taken it badly so its fine. gale hums a little at the remarks. ]
From the tone of the messages, I imagine they are devastated for more reasons than your utility as arcane carriage driver, Essek. I remember the words super cool and miss you in quick succession.
frumpkin lets out an activation noise again and ducks under gale's face to string himself from one shoulder to the next precariously, forcing gale to lift the chin to make room for HIM. fey cat behavior.
essek snorts in resigned amusement, but his expression slowly fades to something more pensive, and whatever he considers causes him to look into the middle distance. frumpkin abandons gale momentarily to hop onto the table in front of essek and meow. essek comes out of the reverie and gives frumpkin a momentary head rub. ]
They are simply sticking their noses where they don't belong.
[ gale stands by his disregard of this spell even if he thinks frumpkin is great. just not as great as tara? he does obediently lift his chin to allow for this, squinting an eye shut as frumpkin's tail bops into his face. And then he leaves, goodbye sweet frumpkin.
gale sort of tilts his head, regarding essek. it's still odd to be able to see expressions, though gale is not the greatest at reading such things. putting his hands in his lap and twiddling his thumbs together, looking at the table between them after a moment. ]
[ (frumpkin voice) checking in. checking in. checking in.
after the head rub, frumpkin turns around to sit instead in front of gale. has had plenty of essek time. now more time to look upon others. released from his confinement. frumpkin paws at the clothes over gale's chest. ]
...No, they do not. In fact, they're... No, I can't blame them, I guess. [ he glances thoughtfully at the ceiling. ] Let's just say... they have caused my plans to begin to unravel, as annoying as it is. They want to be friends, and now it is... more difficult to do what I was doing because they are an opposition.
[ frumpkin is off the leash. gale again just lets frumpkin do this, reaching to scratch under his chin. ]
... When I was in my tower for that year, it was far easier than expected to cut myself off from the world. Friends that I thought I had, and colleagues who I thought might notice the absence; all pushed away within a few short weeks. My life until that point was often consumed with Mystra and her workings. In the times she bade me seek mortal companionship outside of herself and her realms, it never went particularly well for very long.
It isn't that unusual for a wizard to become so embroiled in a project or line of study that all other functions of life become meaningless by compare. But I think our most damaging mistakes are often made in isolation. A lonely mind is the one that can conjure the greatest destruction, inventing excuses and reasons for the most terrible decisions that we might have not otherwise made.
If you are lucky enough to have these people, who would seemingly reach out again and again, I would consider the hand offered. I think you deserve that. I can hardly blame them? I've found our talks enlightening and I look forward to them greatly. You are quite "cool" as both of our tiefling friends might refer to it.
[ essek shifts slightly, looking mildly flustered for a moment in the way he isn't sure what to do with the last part. begging people to stop finding him anything. he glances down.
THE GUILT IS BECOMING REAL. ]
I think you would probably change your mind if you really knew everything. They probably would, too.
Pish-posh. I travel with a former cultist of Shar and a vampire spawn, and I personally very nearly unleashed something that could have destroyed the entire Weave.
Whatever it is you've done, I suppose as long as you feel somewhat sorry for it, you're bounds ahead of most. You don't scare me a bit.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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[ he allows gale to have this without argument. it's fine. at least gale is now self-aware. ]
Not really. A miracle...?
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That was what I wanted to be remembered for. There was a time I could have I could have been more than a great wizard. I could have been the greatest wizard who had lived in over a millennia.
[ pushing the grandiosity button on the difficult person chart 4000 times. the wizard rat race really does things to your fucking brain. anyway, he half-shrugs and then taps his mark. ]
Not now, of course. Now the memory is of a bit of a fuck up.
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You wanted to be a god. I see. [ there isn't really much judgement here even if there should be, mostly because gale apparently died, so. ] Well.
That makes two of us then.
[ fuck ups. ]
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wizard brain problems. ]
Quite the pair we are then, both stuck here in this rotting swamp instead of trotting about the Outer Planes.
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But I am interested in perhaps leaving a legacy of some kind. Through research.
[ he leans back a bit so he can take up a bowl, then gestures at what gale has made. ]
Should I just look at it, or will you serve me some?
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[ LOOOOOOL. ugh fine, he will be a good host. standing, taking the bowl and serving some for him - setting it down in front of him. ]
Now I believe it is your turn ... Essek, was it?
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[ HE CAN BE POLITE... he takes the bowl back. ]
Do keep that to yourself. It'd be unfortunate to end up like Nehan. [ he will try some of the food. his brows go up - but he purposefully does not comment on it yet. ] That was... Jester, a tiefling cleric with more exuberance than sense, and a penchant for being her namesake.
She always harasses me via Sending, does not understand the meaning of brevity, and refuses to not use every word offered by the spell.
She is one of... seven. They're... [ hesitation ] ...friends.
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[ pretty cute honestly. sitting back down with his own bowl, though he's taking a second here to actually kind of look at essek's face. weird. he has expressions. ]
I see her point, actually, as a non-believer in brevity myself. It seems like a waste of magic to not use all the words?
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Don't agree with her. Just say what needs to be said concisely. And don't send more than one when you screw up the first one.
[ ok, well, he continues nibbling on it so that is a good sign... ]
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If you have the spell slots …
[ smoke em if you got em. ]
Well, they were rather informative! All things considered. Though I suppose you didn’t answer all of her questions.
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No. Not to worry, she asked them again later. [ :| ] They spent most of the time begging me to teleport them to some such or another as if I'm the local wagon.
[ something lands in gale's lap unexpectedly and unannounced. it's a little heavy? but not painful. it's a cat ]
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but the kitty cat is instantly distracting! hello!!!!!! he will politely hold out a hand for this mysterious creature who I have no idea who it could be to sniff. ]
Ah! You again. I assume? Your familiar, yes?
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This is delicious, thank you.
[ SO CASUALLY JUST SAYS THIS AND CONTINUING ON ]
He isn't mine. He belongs to one of the seven, Caleb Widogast. His name is Frumpkin.
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[ 🥹💞🌸😭🙏💖 ]
Ah, I see ... ? Another wizard's familiar?
[ frumpkin you whore but your CAMEOS he is the the stan lee of murdergames. giving him a polite scritch on the cheeks. ]
A pleasure to meet you, Frumpkin. Formally this time, I suppose, considering we've met before.
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frumpkin chirrups and stretches his neck to receive the scritches, but then he hops right on up onto gale's shoulder. giving gale's face a little sniff before he leans his entire weight against gale's head in a rub.
sorry, gale gets the cat ass sorta as cats do, the tail folding over across gale's eyes. GREETING! ]
He is a wizard, yes. Hopefully, Frumpkin is apologizing for attaching to your face in the water.
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gale reaches up to keep petting as politeness demands. he's more than used to a kitty cat's weight on his shoulders at least. ]
And you ended up with this-- Caleb, you said? Caleb's familiar how, exactly?
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[ he peers at frumpkin for a moment or two in the midst of finishing what's in the bowl. frumpkin is having a great time naturally. tara can be jealous. ]
If I didn't know any better, I would almost think I'm being spied on. I lost most of my senses and took them all up on an offer to have dinner. Frumpkin made himself comfortable in my lap.
Then I was here on business. I'm sure they're devastated their teleporter has vanished for some time.
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Are you a spy? I notice you can change your form - a more modern Find Familiar spell then, probably, yes? Fey, fiend, or celestial? You don't strike me as fiendish, nor angelic, so ...
[ after he was so openly judgmental of this spell in like. their first conversation. haha. oops. his filter ... well frumpkin doesn't seem to have taken it badly so its fine. gale hums a little at the remarks. ]
From the tone of the messages, I imagine they are devastated for more reasons than your utility as arcane carriage driver, Essek. I remember the words super cool and miss you in quick succession.
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frumpkin lets out an activation noise again and ducks under gale's face to string himself from one shoulder to the next precariously, forcing gale to lift the chin to make room for HIM. fey cat behavior.
essek snorts in resigned amusement, but his expression slowly fades to something more pensive, and whatever he considers causes him to look into the middle distance. frumpkin abandons gale momentarily to hop onto the table in front of essek and meow. essek comes out of the reverie and gives frumpkin a momentary head rub. ]
They are simply sticking their noses where they don't belong.
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gale sort of tilts his head, regarding essek. it's still odd to be able to see expressions, though gale is not the greatest at reading such things. putting his hands in his lap and twiddling his thumbs together, looking at the table between them after a moment. ]
Do they know about this mistake you've made?
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after the head rub, frumpkin turns around to sit instead in front of gale. has had plenty of essek time. now more time to look upon others. released from his confinement. frumpkin paws at the clothes over gale's chest. ]
...No, they do not. In fact, they're... No, I can't blame them, I guess. [ he glances thoughtfully at the ceiling. ] Let's just say... they have caused my plans to begin to unravel, as annoying as it is. They want to be friends, and now it is... more difficult to do what I was doing because they are an opposition.
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... When I was in my tower for that year, it was far easier than expected to cut myself off from the world. Friends that I thought I had, and colleagues who I thought might notice the absence; all pushed away within a few short weeks. My life until that point was often consumed with Mystra and her workings. In the times she bade me seek mortal companionship outside of herself and her realms, it never went particularly well for very long.
It isn't that unusual for a wizard to become so embroiled in a project or line of study that all other functions of life become meaningless by compare. But I think our most damaging mistakes are often made in isolation. A lonely mind is the one that can conjure the greatest destruction, inventing excuses and reasons for the most terrible decisions that we might have not otherwise made.
If you are lucky enough to have these people, who would seemingly reach out again and again, I would consider the hand offered. I think you deserve that. I can hardly blame them? I've found our talks enlightening and I look forward to them greatly. You are quite "cool" as both of our tiefling friends might refer to it.
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[ essek shifts slightly, looking mildly flustered for a moment in the way he isn't sure what to do with the last part. begging people to stop finding him anything. he glances down.
THE GUILT IS BECOMING REAL. ]
I think you would probably change your mind if you really knew everything. They probably would, too.
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Pish-posh. I travel with a former cultist of Shar and a vampire spawn, and I personally very nearly unleashed something that could have destroyed the entire Weave.
Whatever it is you've done, I suppose as long as you feel somewhat sorry for it, you're bounds ahead of most. You don't scare me a bit.
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And if I don't feel sorry for it at all...? Maybe I don't feel the least little bit sorry. What then?
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