Quote Originally Posted by Tawmis View Post
Heh - this one has an Easter Egg if you've ever played the Sierra game King's Quest III: To Heir Is Human it will be immediately recognizable once seen.
If you've never played it, then it's fine just the way it is. Just a little extra pumpkin spice to the story for folks who may be as old as I am and played old DOS games!
That said, I had fun developing this story and this mentality...
As someone who loves camping, campfires, and fire in general... I was able to tap into myself a little...
Then turn it up to 11. (Spinal Tap, anyone?)
As always, would love to hear feedback!
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I admit I might have a problem.

You see, when I first decided to become to be a Wizard it’d been because during a visit to Baulder’s Gate, there’d been a massive explosion at Felogyr's Fireworks – and I witness several wizards shaping and controlling the fires to bring it under control. Something about the sheer natural force of fire was enchanting; as the flames danced and burned, I was enthralled as if the fires had been speaking some kind of secret sign language message to me.

I was only six years old at the time. Growing up in Waterdeep, I had access to the Great Library and began studying what it took to be a Wizard. Apparently it took a lot of study because manipulating the magical spectrum not only took a great amount of patience, but recalling the words of the spell, and studying them all night to have them memorized was a daunting task. One simple misspoken word or the word amount of salt being thrown could lead to catastrophic results.

By the age of twelve, I had convinced my parents to allow me to enroll in The Order of the Evocation. I studied under the widely known, but often cruel, Manannan. He took his Wizardry very seriously and would scorn us if we tried to take any of the spell components home to learn magic on our own. He explained that without his guidance we could turn our families into sentient green slime or bring the roof down around our ears.

Our first few sessions, after weeks of readying, studying and testing, was learning how to manipulate cantrips. There were some I enjoyed; such as Acid Splash, Fire Bolt and Shocking Grasp – but the others in my class seemed obsessed with things like Message, Mending, and Prestidigitation. When Manannan saw that my interests bled more towards things of violence he began to take a larger interest in me; I wasn’t sure if that was so I don’t burn myself to death or because he thought I could be trouble in the near future.

Three months in, Manannan approached me after one of the classes had ended and said, “I see your interest wanes when it is spells that don’t deal with fire specifically. I had thought learning Ray of Frost would interest you, since it was more of a damaging spell, which I’ve noticed you enjoy.”

“Ray of Frost is fine,” I said with a smile, “but it lacks the punch of fire. Chilling someone’s bones rather than setting their flesh on fire seems so mild.”

“You would rather set someone’s flesh on fire?” Manannan raised a grey brow.

“Not necessarily,” I admitted, “I just feel like fire does so much more. It’s destruction when it burns through a home, but its rebirth when it burns down a forest.”

“Rain and water, and so by nature, ice,” Manannan contradicted, “are things of destruction and life as well. All of the four elements – whether they be stones falling from the sky, storm winds of great power, fires that rip through a city, or a watery flood – the four forces of nature are all symbols of life and death, depending on their use.”

“True,” I acknowledged, “but there’s something different about staring into an open flame… it’s like each fleck of fire is a soul, dancing in the planes of Hell… and the shadows the fire cause to constantly shift and move around you… the crackling of the wood, the explosion of small flecks of ash ascending to heaven, only to be snuffed out before their journey has ever begun… There’s something about the fire that talks to me.”

Manannan smiled and opened the palm of his hand where a small sphere of fire began to spin. “Good, I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page. Now, let me show you the true power of fire…”

For weeks I would meet Manannan after the class and he would continue to show me the power of fires; and how, one could even summon a fire elemental to do their bidding…

There was so much to learn.

There was so much to burn.
WOW! you're incredible! (I've never played the game) this is incredible and so special-feeling! it's perfect, and I hope you enjoyed writing. Thanks!