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|  New Character Submission - Desdemara
Character: Desdemara
Age: 19
Gender: Female
Class: Sorcerer
Race: Human
Alignment: True Neutral
Biography:
Desdemara ran and ran. It felt as if she had been running for hours, her mouth felt dry and her legs weak, and she had no breath left. Exhausted, she fell to the ground. The damp earth of the forest stuck to her clothes. For minutes, she just lay there, breathing hard, regaining some strength. When at last she managed to raise herself from the ground, and sat up, the first thing she saw were her torn and soiled clothes. She desperately tried to brush off the dirt to no avail. It had gotten too deep into the coarse fabric.
"Oh no" she murmured. "Auntie is going to get me bad for this..." She had been living with her aunt and uncle for years, ever since her parents had died. Their farm had been raided by a group of gnolls. Desdemara had crawled in a tight space under the house when she first saw the monsters running to their home. Her parents had been killed, but she had not been discovered and survived. She stopped twiddling with her clothes and looked up. For the first time she actually registered her surroundings. She was sitting under some trees at the edge of a forest. When she looked out across the fields in the direction she had been running away from, she saw the smoke. At first it looked like smoke coming out of a chimney, but when she looked closer, she started to see the orange flames. She could not take her eyes off of it, seeing then that it was a farmhouse on fire.
"What...?" she whispered to herself. Then, remembering, she exclaimed "Oh.. oh.. oh no.". It started to come back, what had happened. She had been at her uncles farm, working in the kitchen, when a fire had started in a pile of wood lying in a corner of the kitchen. When Desdemara had seen the flames dancing over the wood, she had been fascinated by them. "Where had they come from?" she had wondered. "They just started when I..." Startled by the slightest of sounds, she looked up and saw a beautiful woman wearing a long black dress standing not more than six feet from her. Her face was as pale as bone and her hair white as snow.
"Do not be frightend little one.. Come here..." The woman said, the words spoken in a soft voice. Desdemara crawled up and stared speechless at the woman. She had no idea who she could be, but it was clear that she emanated an air of great power. Without thinking, Desdemara bowed and walked to the woman.
"You should know that was your doing, little one." She said and glanced ever so briefly at the burning farmhouse. "You may think you have lost something in that fire, but you have actually gained more than you can imagine. We will start our work on you." With these words, the events that had happened earlier that day came back fully to Desdemara. She had been doing her chores in the kitchen of the farm, bored to death. Daydreaming about running away from the farm, she had stared at the pile of wood. She had seen a small flame crawling on the logs, growing bigger and bigger. Fascinated by the dancing flames, she had only broken out of the daydream when it was too late, and the fire had spread to the furniture. Instead of trying to quench the fire that had started to rage across the kitchen, she ran from the place, from the house, from the lands, and ran to the forest. Had she actually started that fire? But how? And... who was this woman that was talking to her now?
As if she had read her mind, the woman smiled at her like a mother smiles to her daughter. "I am Tulaesara... hmm .. but you may call me Tuli." She giggled softly, turned and started to walk away. Then she glanced over her shoulder at Desdemara, playful and friendly.
"Come, little one." She beckoned her to follow her. As if entranced the girl followed her to a small house a little further down in the woods.
Desdemara entered the house, and found the lady Tuli already busy, searching for something in a chest. "Why did you ask me to come here, lady Tuli? And ..." Desdemara hesitated for a moment before continuing, "... and how did you know what happened at that fire?" Tuli glanced around with a mild interest as she mumbled a few words of the arcane. "We have been watching you for a while, from a distance, little one." she said with her soft voice, and turned around. In her left hand, she carried something she kept wrapped in a silken cloth. Only then did Desdemara become aware of the pentagram painted on the floor. In the center of it, a ring was attached to the floor, with two chains leading from it, ending in shackles. She took a step back and kept her distance from it. Tuli mumbled silently and extended a hand with the palm facing downwards, causing a reaction off the pentagram. Sparks were flying in the air above it, touching the pentagram and dying there. Desdemara jumped from the sudden show of power and took a quick step back.
"Still active..." Tuli mumbled, and looked up at the girl. "Desdemara... Come here little one." Desdemara hesitated. "I... I'm not sure." she said, and stopped just outside the pentagram. "Why would I do as she bids?" She wondered. Tuli tilted her head and fixed her gaze upon Desdemona, clear and penetrating as she she watched her in silence. The girl found she could not stop herself from obeying the lady in black. Carefully, she took a step inside the pentagram. Looking at the floor, she saw nothing was changing. "Mmm" she murmurred.
"Nothing will leap at you from the shadows..The most lethal creature in the vicinity is us. And we have little reason to see you dead or injured." This seemed to ease Desdemara a little, and slowly she stepped fully inside the pentagram. Tuli took a step back and pointed to the center of the pentagram. "Kneel..." she commanded with her soft voice.
"Alright...." Desdemara frowned. She was unsure of herself. "What do you require of me, lady Tuli?"
"That which we just asked of you..." she answered, her gaze still fixed upon the girl.
"Yes.. yes.. I know.. but..." Desdemara mumbled. Then, as if she suddenly realized she had to obey, she knelt in the center of the pentagram.
"Be calm.. We will not have you hurting..." Tuli spoke and snapped her fingertips. Suddenly, five lights stood as pillars of fire from the corners of the pentagram and the shackles sprung to life. Flying forth through the air, they locked about the wrists and ankles of Desdemara. "We promise..." Tuli smiled softly as she nodded at Desdemara. The girl looked frightened at the shackles, doubting if she made the correct choice of obeying the strange but compelling lady. Tuli unravelled the silken cloth she carried, and took from it a skull with bright red, gleaming eyes. An ominous presence filled the room as it was revealed, appearing still to be alive. Leaning down, Tuli placed it on the ground in front of Desdemona. The girl followed her moves, and looked at the skull on the floor with growing unease.
Tuli then unravelled a second item, pulsating with magical energies, even to someone as inexperienced as Desdemara. It was a cup of sorts, and Tuli placed it on the ground behind the girl. She tossed out two bright rocks on each side of the girl. She then smiled at her softly "Patience..." Desdemara followed Tuli placing the cup and other items around her. Her big eyes darted round, maybe looking for a way of escape should it be required. She did not find any. Tuli then took out a bottle. After opening the seal of the bottle, she slowly poured the contents over Desdemara and the items around her.
"Altering your destiny little one..." she whispered to Desdemara. The girl looked up at the woman, her eyes now showing fear. "My destiny... lady Tuli?"
"It will hurt... Thus the chains... But once we are done.. You will thank us.. We will make you like us.. A being of magical power... rather than one... crawling in the mud beneath our feet..."
"Magic?" Desdemara asked, her voice betraying her fear. "Me? But I have no powers... I have no magic..."
The woman in black ignored her and mumbled a word, at which two tendrils shot forth from her hands, taking the shape of daggers. They flew to Desdemara's wrists and slit them. The girl gasped at her own blood pouring out of her, falling on the stones beneath her. Panic formed in her eyes, and she started to fear for her life. Tuli ingored her and spoke. "Khest du Mege a Kaoul.. Khest de Mege a Kaoul... Khest do Mege a Kaoul.. " She uttered the words with a different incantation each time. Desdemara's blood flowed from her body without end, and as if controlled it began to fill the marks of the pentagram. Yet she suffered no apparent bloodloss. The pillars of fire changed color from orange to bloodred. Tuli's eyes flared up, as she drew deep upon the energies residing within herself, reciting the words from memory. The eyes of the skull flared up as if attempting to draw upon the energies to reawaken itself. Tuli raised her head. From each of the five candles a ray of pure energy shot inwards, striking Desdemara from each direction, pulsating with magical might. It did not leave a mark upon her skin but it shook the very core of her being. The skull was slowly raised from the ground as its body began to build.
"Desdemara... one of you... will leave the circle alive... You... with it's strenght... or it... with your body... The one of superior will... can break the other..." She spoke the words directly into the girls mind as the raging energies made it impossible for anything audible to be heard other than the crackles of magical energies.
As the energies raged around her, Desdemona grasped the situation she was put in, and understood she had to fight to get out of it. She tried to calm her mind, and took a few deep breaths. As she opened her eyes, she saw the lich having risen entirely. Yet its body remained etheral, without flesh. A mere ghostly visage of what it once was, burning with the opportunity it was now presented with to once more rise into the world of the living. To feed of the wretched mortal before it. As the lich extended its ethereal hands, touching Desdemara, it felt as if she was touched by death itself. Cold and lifeless, attempting to drag Desdemara down with it. Desdemara shivered as she felt the cold touch. She opened her eyes, looking calm of mind now, and stared blankly at the creature.
Tuli was smiling softly now. A soft mumbling was escaping her lips as she kept the two trapped within the pentagram. She looked seemingly indifferent about the outcome, as she watched the two lock within a mental battle for domination.
Desdemara held her hands out, nearly touching the skull. She felt a great, cold force driving back the arms, but she slowly succeeded in bring the arms forward. A warm feeling grew inside her. Then, a dark red flame formed around her hands, and she closed the distance between the hands and the skull, finally grabbing the skull.
Tuli giggled softly and clapped in her hands. The chains, the skull, the pillars of fire, the wounds on Desdemara's hands, all of it dissapeared. Desdemara blinked and saw the last traces of the illusion fade away.
"Good girl..." Tuli said. Desdemara could not believe what she had just witnessed, looking round until she focused her eyes on Tuli.
"What.. where is it? Where has it gone...?" She asked.
"Illusion becoming reality.... If you believe in it..." she said, her words soft and gentle.
"Yes... I believed in it.. it was all so real... that touch.. " The girl shivered, remembering. "So cold..."
"It would have killed you... had your own powers... not been awakened... We merely brought it to the surface. Now you know, that it is there. If you'd had no powers inside you, you would have died."
Desdemona nodded. "Yes, I understand. I feel... as if a great energy has been released in me, as if part of my being was locked away, not allowed out."
Tuli smiled gently and nodded at Desdemara. "We know."
"Lady Tuli, this power... how do I control it? Keep it in me, prevent it from taking over me?" The girl asked.
"Why not let it do so...? We did. It is the reason for our existance. Feeling the thrill of it." Tuli said. "Now, come over here, little one." The girl slowly got up and walked over to her, gathering her strength from to keep from falling over from exhaustion. When she took the last step closer, Tuli gave Desdemara a firm slap over the right cheek before she grasped a steady hold of her chin.
"Shhhh. We are never mistaken. You possess the strength of magic. Yet you need time, to get to know the new you." Tuli looked up and scanned the room as if she felt a presence. She then turned back to Desdemara. "It is time for you to go out." The girl nodded and thanked her, not really knowing if she should've been thankful.
"This journey you are about to embark upon, little one, you have to make this on your own." Tuli said to the girl in her soft voice. She stroked Desdemara softly on her chin. "Now that your powers have been awakened, there is nothing we will do to guide you on your path. You will come across many crossroads, and upon each you will need to make a choice." She looked sternly at the girl. "One bad choice, and your newfound powers will consume you. Do not think lightly of this, little one. Many before you have failed." She walked to the door, opening it for Desdemara, who walked to her. When the girl stood in the doorway, Tuli spoke to her a final time.
"This is the last you will ever see of us, little one. Go now, and find your inner power."
Desdemara walked out of the little house in the woods. When she turned to look back at the house, she could no longer see it. It was as if the forest had reclaimed its space.
She never went back to her aunt and uncle to find if they were hurt in the fire. Instead, she took a road she had never taken, and walked to the nearest town, Haven.
Last edited by Tjeskee : 07-09-07 at 12:50 PM.
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