“I became a teacher so I wouldn’t have to look at this kind of carnage anymore. In all my years I have killed and bore witness to so much death and destruction. I thought I had put all that behind me and now this happens.”

When Tearin and Chime get inside the gates, the wailing of bereaved people reach their ears. This makes Tearin stop in his tracks. Chime puts her arm around him and gives him a bit of a hug. He just stands there. Chime says,‘This really isn’t your fault. Nobody could have predicted what that kid did. Should he have even been able to do what he did? Plus I don’t feel cursed.’

“No he shouldn’t have been able to do half the stuff he did. Not at such a young age. Now he will never reach his true potential.” Then he looks Chime in the eye and says, “Trust me you’re cursed and we’ll have to figure out what this curse does. I’m sure it’s a unique one.”

A chill ran up Chime’s spine when he says this. She then has visions of those things popping up randomly and chasing her for the rest of her life until one catches her and gives her the rag doll treatment. Even though it is a terrifying vision she pushes it aside for now and asks, “Should I be coming into town then? Might I be putting everyone in Soulfill at risk?”

“No, it will be alright for now but we will have to hurry and figure out what he’s done to you exactly. There are measures we can take to keep everyone safe. But we need to hurry and get back to Silva’s corpse.” Tearin completely breaks down when he says Silvas corpse. “So young: so young.

By now Chime is starting to feel like she could lose it. She keeps envisioning herself getting the rag doll treatment. Apparently they need to hurry back but the person she has to depend on right now seems to be having a complete mental breakdown right in front of her. Also they still have to face the destruction between the front gate and the school. She really is cursed and has no idea when those demons are gonna show up again. Yesterday her life was fine, normal and safe. At that moment words to describe her life failed her.

At this point Tearin’s young students show up. When they come around, Tearin starts to calm down some. A couple of them shoulder up to there teacher. They talk quietly but Chime could hear the students say things like “You’re exhausted sir.” and “It’s not that bad.” Then with a student under each arm Tearin starts making his way through the path of destruction back towards the school. A couple of Tearin’s younger students step up to Chime and with a, “Ma’am” offer their arms to her. She accepts the offer and the three of them follow Tearin back to the school.

“On our trip back to the school I was really surprised when everyone was so grateful towards us. Even the 2 families that lost loved ones. With tears in their eyes fresh from grieving… they thanked us for killing the demons. That’s when it hit me. Nobody realized that we were somewhat responsible for the demons being here in the first place. I was so glad Tearin wasn’t in a talkative mood. It could have been an ugly scene.

We finally made our way back to the school… back to Silva’s corpse. Luckily Tearin was starting to look and sound a bit steadier. Having his students around seemed to ground him help him focus on the task at hand. Tearin and his students made a circle around Silva’s corpse and bow their heads in a moment of silence. After that Tearin sent a couple of the younger students off to get some empty vials. Then Tearin turned his back to me and started talking to his 2 oldest students. He handed them something and pointed to Silva. Suddenly they had a look of horror upon their faces and began protesting strongly. That’s when Tearin said,“Stop! This has to be done and I can’t do it.”

The 2 students quit their protesting and looked down at their dead classmate with a different kind of sadness in their eyes. The young ones return quickly with the empty vials. Tearin spoke again to his students as a group. “This is not a lesson I wanted you all to learn like this, but learn it well or share his fate 1 day.” He pointed at the corpse. “This is why I’m so hard on you. This is what happens when you’re undisciplined. This is what happens when you’re unfocused.” Then he turned to the 2 eldest students and said. “Now do what has to be done.”

This next part makes me sick every time I think about it. The 2 students knelt down. 1 on each side of Silva’s head. One had an empty vial in his hand; the other a small dagger. The student with the dagger made a small cut on Silva’s neck right on an artery. The student with the vial stuck it right under the small incision and filled it up with Silva’s blood . In fact he filled up two and a half vials. I know I had a horrified look on my face when Tearin stepped up to me and said, “I’m sorry but it’s the only way. Come we have to hurry to the Alchemy Lab.” Over his shoulder he told his students. “Prepare the body for transport and get ready to go. We’ll be leaving soon.”

Once we were inside the lab. Tearin produced one of the vials of blood and set it on a table. Then he started hurriedly looking around the lab until he found a very small vial. He poured some of the blood into the small vial, corked it and sealed it with wax. Before the wax hardened he took a piece of string and tied the vial to the middle of it. Then he took each end of the string. Reached around my neck and tied them together: making a kind of Blood Necklace for me. I was completely grossed out and said,

“What is this gonna do and is it really necessary?”

He said, “Yes, it is more than necessary. That necklace is the only thing keeping the demons where they belong.”

I know I had a confused look on my face so he tried to explain.

I don’t have time to give you a years worth of Demonology classes so I’ll explain as best I can. Basicly as long as you have the blood of their summoner on you. They wont sense you exist anymore.

I’m afraid that’s as simple an explanation I can give. It’s a quick fix. For now this will keep everyone safe until I can fix this. During the walk back my students told me they found Silvas hiding spot. Apparently he was in a hurry and left a lot of things behind. My students will collect everything. I need to take it all back with me so I can figure out what Silva cursed you with. What he did was strange and unique. I’m not gonna lie to you. This could take a while… like a month or more. I’ll make you a couple of spare necklaces before I go. We will be leaving post haste. I think it’s best.

They managed to get out of town without indecent. About a month later a messenger showed up with a letter to me from Tearin. In the letter Tearin explained to me he had figured out the mechanics of the curse but still didn’t know how to remove it. However understanding how it worked, was at least something. I learned the demons would only come after me on the half moon. Because that was the day they were originally summoned. I was relieved I wouldn’t have to where that nasty ass necklace all the time. There was however, one piece of information sorely lacking in the missive. There was no mention of when he might could remove this blasted curse. The letter just ended in a P.S. Don’t lose the necklaces. That was over 3 years ago. The schools are still affiliated but it’s not the same. We’ve only had 1 faculty mixer since the event and it was poorly attended. When they send students over for field trips. The groups are very small now.

Just before entering town Mega says. “I’m sorry for whats happened to you but I have to ask. What happened today? Did you lose your necklaces?”

A look of embarrassment ran across Chimes face as she stammered to say “ Yeah Umm no I didn’t lose them there at home.

Megadan looks at chime rather quizzically now.

You see it’s like this. I …I got complacent. That was the first time I’ve had to deal with those things since the first time. I forgot the moon rose before sunset today. I knew I could pick some herbs and be home before sunset. Before I would have to put that damnable necklace on. My faux pas almost cost me my life. Thank you for helping me today. My father is the finest tailor in the area. He may show you his appreciation for coming to his only daughters aid.

As they rode threw the gate into Soulfill Megadan thought to himself. I was able to cut lose with my destructive powers today. I got a beautiful women riding with me on Matilda who is also cursed. I might get some new robes. I imagine she’ll feed me to. I still got my load of herbs to sell. Because we needed to get back here now so Chime could get her necklace. I’m ahead of schedule. Hmm all in all today has turned out to be less than half bad.

This episode ends with them entering Soulfill

figure out what the curse is

Make the blood necklace

P.S. Don’t lose the necklace

Narrator: Chime hadn’t thought of that day for quite a while. The incident happened a few years ago. She told Megadan about the Warlock school near the town of Shkrim. It’s only a couple of days ride from Soulfill; where the Mage school is and Chime lives. She told him about a Warlock master named Tearin. He had taken his students on a field trip to the Mage School. Warlocks and Mages have to learn how to work together. So the schools would often have faculty mixers and field trips to each others’ schools. This used to be a rather common occurrence. Until some young, dumb Warlock-in-training played a prank; a prank that went horribly wrong. That prank left Chime cursed and the trainee ended paying the ultimate price for his transgression. Ever since then the relationship between the 2 schools has been strained.

Chime: Every once in a while Tearin would come with a group of students that had a kid obsessed with trying to scare people. I never understood this behavior. Tearin could usually break his students of this annoying habit. Occasionally, he would get a kid who just wouldn’t quit and thought they could scare anyone.”

(Flashback)

Chime: Alright, so we have another one of these willful twerps, Tearin? My students and I will enjoy dealing with him.

Tearin: Yes, I think your Illusion detection glyphs enabled and the Dispell and Reflect spells readied will be sufficient.

Chime: (to Mega) Each time Tearin’s student tries to scare someone: his attempt is thwarted. Not just thwarted, downright crushed. Most of the illusions they try to use gets repelled by the glyphs. The rest of any illusions they might try are easily dispelled by me and my students with a mere flick of the wrist. We disspell them and act like the disturbing images don’t bother us a bit. Every once in a great while though, one of Tearin’s students comes up with illusions that are so horrific that it makes me question Tearin’s choice of students, Tearin assures me these students become some of his more astute Warlocks; once they become focused and disciplined.

It is one of these students that cursed me. His name is Silva. He is one of the more persistent ones. It is getting close to time for Tearin and his students to leave. Silva is frazzled and frustrated with the turn of events to the point that he tries to cast a fear spell on me. He doesn’t even try that hard. I am walking down a hall in the dormitory and I hear him whispering the Fear incantation from around a corner. Reflecting the spell back at him is too easy. For 10 full seconds or more Silva runs up and down the hallways screaming and running into walls.

(Sound effects here??)

When the spell is over, Silva ends up on his back, dazed, and with a little bit of blood trickling out of his nose. He makes such a racket that his fellow students come out of their rooms to see what is going on. When they figure out what had happened most of them start laughing. Some of the older students just shaketheir heads.

To say the least, Silva doesn’t take embarrassment very well. After he stops seeing stars and he comes to; Silva is quite angry with everyone laughing at him. As Silva slowly pulls himself up off the floor. He stares at me with such anger that it bothers me just a little. When he hears the other kids say things like “Told you so” and ”Dumb Ass” it seems to turn his anger into a seething hatred. The fact that he brought this on himself doesn’t seem to register with him at all.

Silva: “You’re gonna pay for this hag! You’re gonna run and scream for your life before I’m through with you”. Then he runs off.

Chime: Irun to find and tell Tearin this post haste.

Tearin: (Angrily) This is quite concerning. We must find Silva quickly before he caused any more problems. Assaulting someone on your own side with such an aggressive spell is a serious infraction. Harmless illusion pranks are 1 thing. Casting an attack type spell at your host is way over the line.

Silva is a bit of a prodigy. He’s mastered every lesson given him and has proven to be rather resourceful. In his spare time he taught himself the art of inscription. In fact he’s discovered how to bind spells to scrolls – spells that nobody had ever done that with. It is truly a phenomenal achievement, and the kid knew it. Perhaps this is where his superiority complex comes from.

Chime: Unfortunately Silva has a head start on us. The Mage campus is huge. So after searching all night we still haven’t found him. Tearin and Iare standing in the main courtyard right in front of the school. As we are talking I hear Silva from behind me say, “Are you ready to run for your life hag?”

As I turn around I’m struck by something that looks like a wad of paper. Except when it hits

me it dissolves into a this golden shimmering-looking stuff that seems to soak into my body. Tearin is visibly mortified with what his student has just done. Tearin is furious with Silva. He starts screaming at him,

Tearin: You insolent little fool. You have no idea what you have just done.

Chime: What has this kid just done to me?

Silva: “You’re cursed hag. In a moment some demons from the depths of the Nether World will arrive. They’re going to chase you down and rip you to shreds.”

Chime: Then right on cue 3 of the blob demons materialize behind Silva. They melt up through the earth and arrive making a demonic howling noise that chills you to the core. These have long serpent type necks with dragonish -looking heads. Tearin changes from looking angry to positively frightened and sad. Silva is laughing manically now. As if seeing these two grownups frightened out of their skins is the funniest thing he has ever seen in his life. As the demons finishing materializing and orient themselves to different realm of existence, Tearin speaks; his voice is rather calm and sullen.

Tearin: Boy, you know not what you have done. These demons are real. They are not one of your illusions. You only have seconds to run.

Chime: Silva starts to laugh even harder.

Silva: Come on old man that’s the oldest trick in the book. Trying to use my own illusion to scare me ba…

Chime: Silva never finishes the word’ back’ before the demon closest to him reaches out and snapps him up in his jowls. The demon shakes Silva like a rag doll and spits him back out onto the ground like tasting something bad. Silva has a quick but horrible death. Tearin and I wince in unison when we hear Silva’s body hit the ground with a dull thud. We also turn and run.

We head out of town. It is early so luckily there aren’t too many people on the streets. There were a few however; some merchants setting up shop, a couple of traders arriving to town. The demons

are focused on me but they will snap at anything within range as we run through the city headed for the gate. Most everyone gets out of the way. I hear a couple of people behind me get the ragdoll treatment. I run even harder. Out of the city gates and with some room to work I turn to face my pursuers. Tearin uses a run speed potion and is at my side in an instant. Once the demons clear the gate I freeze them in place.

Narrator: The rest of the fight was textbook. It had gone pretty much like the fight Chime and Mega had just had. Tearin banished 1 demon, enslaved another and turned it on the 3^rd remaining demon. While Chime and Tearin dispatched the 2 demons they had, Tearin’s students were taking turns keeping the banish up on the other demon. Apparently they heard the commotion and followed Chime and Tearin out to the fight. Once the last demon was taken care of everyone turned to return to town. When Tearin turned around the realization of what had just happen seemed to hit him. He had been so busy staying alive and dealing with the demons he hadn’t had time to process everything that had just happen.

Tearin: Dead townspeople, dead student, cursed associate, and it’s all my fault.

Chime (to Mega) I watched the realizations roll across Tearin’s face. He seemed to age or maybe die a little bit on the inside. I watched this man who was so confident and strong… just break. He didn’t even yell at his students for chasing after their teacher or involving themselves in the fight. They were just students, normally Tearin went ballistic for putting themselves in harm’s way like that. Now he just walked and stared straight ahead. I placed my hand on his shoulder and Tearin didn’t even react.

I am here friend. We shall face the aftermath together.

“ Time to let loose with a little Howl of Terror. I take in a huge breath of air and… damn it! I feel the curse take over. The only thing that comes out of my mouth is gibberish. Next, as if to make this disappointment even worse, the bane of my existence shows up, Newa.

Newa laughing hysterically. (Laughs for a long time.)

Megadan over top of the laughing: “Do you have something to say Newa or are you gonna just keep on laughing like an idiot?”

“I’d be careful about who you’re calling an idiot . You’re not looking like a genius right now yourself.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

(Says while still laughing some) I don’t know why you look so confused. Nothing’s changed, but thanks for the entertainment. I think your gibberish is improving. (Laughs at own joke)

“What do you mean nothing’s changed? I just blasted some Demons back into goo and made some Soulshards. By my own free will. I haven’t been able to do that for years now and you expect me to believe that nothing has changed!”

“Mega your level of ignorance amazes me. Tell me how did someone as unbelievably stupid as you are ever become a Warlock?”

By this point, if there was any way, Megadan could kill Newa right now: he would; even if it means being cursed for the rest of his life. He would still do it just to watch that insufferable little Imp die. For now anyway, Megadan still can’t touch her. So he just takes a deep breath and says, “Would you please dispense with the moronic insults and just explain to my dumb ass what the hell you’re talking about?”

“Alright if I must, but only because I want to see the look on your face when you’re stupid self finally figures it out.”

Oh yeah, Megadan would so rather remain ignorant and live with the curse. If he could just kill her right now.

“Simply put Mega this is what happened. You destroyed creatures of pure malevolence given form. They were evil creatures that didn’t belong in this world. Plus they were set upon an innocent. So dispatching them and turning their life-force into something useful (like a Soulshard) was actually a good thing.”

The look on Megadan’s face is priceless to Newa. When he learned he had done something good? His face twitching a little as the comprehension comes over him. Conflicted kinda describes what Megadan is feeling at the moment. He thinks “I did something good?” After gaining this piece of knowledge Mega wishes he could go back to being ignorant. That’s when he hears Newa say, “I’m gonna go and let you digest all of this new information. I wouldn’t want to tell you anything else. It might be too much for your pea brain to deal with. Have fun explaining all of this to your new friend.”

With that final insult Newa is gone; for now anyway. Which leaves Megadan with a new dilemma. How does he explain all this to his passenger on back? He completely forgot she was back there.

Chime: “I’m so relieved just to be getting back to the relative safety of home in one piece. However I am concerned about my current situation. This really smelly Warlock seems to be arguing with this Cherub looking person. Where the hell did she come from? Their conversation is very confusing. The Cherub is called Newa and seems to delight in insulting the Warlock. Whose name appears to be Megadan. I think I’ll sit here really quiet like and hope they don’t try and involve me in their madness.”

Megadan looks his shoulder and says, “Ummm hello! You probably heard but let me introduce myself. My name is Megadan and you are?”

Chime- I’m an associate professor at the Mage School in town. Would you mind explaining to me what I just saw?”

I’ll try, simply put; I have this curse and Newa is part of it. The witch who put this curse on me has Newa watching me. Don’t worry though my curse won’t affect you in any way.

Chime sighs when Mega says this. “I wish I could say the same thing, Megadan.”

Mega gets a quizzical look on his face before she continues, “Those Demons chasing me are my curse. It’s a long story.”

“Well we’ve got close to two hours before we get to town. You might as well tell me what’s going on. In case we have to defend ourselves again, any information you have could be helpful.”

Chime knows he is right. So she starts to tell Mega the whole embarrassing story.

“The other 2 Demons just ran by me while focused intently on their prey. I started thinking what I would do if I were in control of things. I would try and enslave the second demon and use it to attack the third. Then to my amazement that’s exactly what my body does and suddenly I’m in control of myself again?. I’m stunned for a moment; I’m not sure what’s happening. From behind me I hear that bone chilling wail these creatures make. Crap! The banish wore off. I spin around to see this hell spawn creature rear back on 2 of its appendages. The wailing comes from human looking mouths that just randomly form on the blob of a body. I barely manage to banish the creature 1 more time, but I know it won’t last long. I turn back to the other two. Some incinerate spells leave my fingertips: striking the demon I didn’t enslave. Aha! I start using Soul Siphon. If only this works. It’s been so long since I’ve had a Soulshard to use. I feel that ohhh so sweet (tink) of a soulshard materializing in my pouch and then another one(tink). The feeling I’m having right now is… is indescribable. Its been almost two years since I have been able to do that. I’d given up on the idea of ever making another Soulshard. When the demon expires I get a third shard (tink). I may actually survive this encounter. With a flurry of action I summon my Felguard. The demon I enslaved takes off after the woman on horseback which is not all bad because I know I still have to deal with the Banished one. It isn’t going to stay Banished much longer. I turn to face the creature. What I see surprises me more than I already was. Regaining control of my faculties still has me thrown me for a bit of a loop.

I can’t believe my eyes.. The instant the Banish spell wore off hundreds of mouths appeared covering its entire body. Next comes the wailing sound. This has to be what a thousand tortured souls sounds like. However I see the hideous sight for what it is; a diversion tactic. While it’s producing all this noise and making itself look all mouthy. I see it getting into a charging or maybe a leaping position. It doesn’t matter though because Marred is unaffected by lame diversion tactics. He charges in and stuns this atrocity. Everything happens so fast. The first demon I killed I did purely on instinct. What I’m capable of is coming back to me. I let loose with a torrent of flaming destruction. I’m releasing nearly 2 years of pent up frustration of walking around feeling impotent. I, of course, obliterated the mouthy creature, but the last incinerate popped it and the body liquefied into a thick black ichor. Now there is a price to pay for my outburst. Everything that the ichor is touching, is dissolving, including my minion. Damn it! I hate it when that happens. Using 1 of my last 2 soulshards to re-summon my Felguard, I’m back down to 1. Hopefully I can get some more off of the other demon.

Luckily I have a really smart Mammoth. She’s stayed far enough away so as not to get dissolved or otherwise injured but still hasn’t run off in a blind panic. So Matilda is still nearby when I call for her. I mount up quickly and take off in the direction that the lady on horseback and the demon went.”

Their path is easy to follow and Megadan catches up quickly. Upon entering another clearing about 40 yards away, he sees her inside a giant hunk of ice. The demon is beating on it ferociously. He thinks to himself, “She’s a Mage” as he quickly assesses the situation.

“Excellent, this should work out well. First I banish the creature. Then right on cue the mage drops her personal Iceberg and disappears. In the blink of an eye she reappears just behind me and to my right. Perfect, because I know I didn’t want her getting dissolved. I also tell Marred to stay put. I couldn’t afford to have him get dissolved either. I see out of the corner of my eye that the Mage is assuming an attack posture. I hold up a hand and say to her “wait for it”. She gives me a nod that says she understands what I mean. I can tell when the Banish spell will wear off. If we time this just right we can blast this thing apart where it stands. After my earlier outburst I don’t have enough energy to completely blast this one solo. I drop my hand, yell “NOW!!” and the mage starts casting. 2 seconds after the mage starts: I start casting too. When the Banish spell wears off, the Mage’s Ice Bolts are already there striking the creature and slowing it down considerably. My Incinerate lands next and finishes the job. The combination of our spells creates a huge steam cloud. Once the steam lifts we could see the results of our effort. Yep, just like the other 2. Nothing left but a nasty acidic puddle.”

Without missing a beat she turns to me and says

“Come on we have to go. We only have a couple of hours before more show up. They’ve killed my horse. Will you please give me a ride back to town?”

“I’ve done this much guess I better make sure you get home safely. Good thing I have a Mammoth for a mount. Then I call for Matilda.”

Download a little candy for your ear or read the text version below.

It’s been a few years since Megadan’s been cursed. We see he is a mere shell of the mighty warlock he once was; a beaten man. He lives as a hermit on this little piece of land out in the middle of nowhere, sheltering in a small cave with a nearby lake to fish out of. His clothing looks like rags and neither he nor his clothes have been washed in… well, who knows how long? If anyone that knew him before the curse saw him now, they probably wouldn’t even recognize him. But running into old friends isn’t likely. The only contact he has with others, is when he goes into town to sell the Liferoot and other valuable herbs that grow around the lake and in the nearby forest. It’s a week long trip on the back of a Mammoth so he only goes twice a year. Today we find Megadan on his way to town.

The thought of having to deal with others is turning Mega’s stomach as he thinks to himself, “My best outcome on these trips is when I only have to talk with two people; Isa to sell the herbs and Big Red to purchase my supplies.  If I can get in and out of town within a couple of hours; all the better. I sure hope that stupid dwarf Big Red has everything. I don’t want to walk around the market looking for what I need.”

I’ve been on this path for a while now. The next camp clearing should be coming up soon. AHHHH, yes, there it is in the distance. This puts me just outside of town. Once I get there I’ll hop off this Mammoth, make camp and cook myself some supper. Since I have exiled myself away from civilization I’ve not had to suffer the indignation of having that curse take control of my body. That’s what being possessed has got to feel like. You just watch helplessly as your body does things you really wish it wouldn’t. Plus, when my body doesn’t do the things I WANT it to; it’s even worse. Remaining in control of my faculties is worth any price.”

While Mega sets up camp, his Mammoth is quietly grazing along the edge of the clearing. Suddenly it comes to attention, sniffing the air and appearing to be listening to something.

“What is it, girl? I sure hope you’re just noticing a small predator chasing some prey.”

As he walks toward his mount, Mega hears some distant sounds growing louder; seems to be a fight. Then he sees flashes of light way off in the distance.  Those have to be spells.

“Damn It!!” he thinks as he grabs his Mammoth mount. “I haven’t completely set up camp yet: maybe I can load up and get out of here before whatever that ruckus is gets here.” (hurriedly) “I don’t have much unpacked. No. No. NO!! It’s getting louder. I’m so close to getting out of here.”

Before Mega can finish securing his provisions, a woman on horseback comes crashing out of the forest. As she hits the clearing, she spurs her horse into a full gallop.

“I watch as this woman rides by. Seemingly to not even notice me, but she comes close enough.  I see a look of terror and panic on her face.  What the hell could she running from? Now I’m hearing even louder crashing sounds coming from the forest. The crashing noises sound like the forest is being crushed by gigantic boulders. It’s starting to be mixed with some kind of demonic screaming. I can’t get out of here fast enough.”

“I begin to openly weep as the creatures break into the clearing. There are 3 of them. They are hideously beautiful. Their bodies look like blobs of ichor, black and seething. Each of them has 4 appendages that look like long bony arms covered with muscles and tendons but no skin. They are almost as big as Matilda and when they scream mouths seem to form randomly on their bodies. However it is not the sight of these demons that make me weep. It is the inevitable that makes me cry. As I watch the demons pursue the woman, I feel it begin to happen. My body straightens up and I’m no longer in control of it. My consciousness watches helplessly as my body steps into the path of the oncoming demons and starts to cast the first spell. I witness my hands make the subtle gestures and I watch the words appear on my lips. I feel like a human puppet in some sick puppeteer’s show.

Episode 8 Finished

In the mean time, however, I gave up bathing and went around smelling like I might be Undead or something in order to keep from having to be nice to people . The more people stayed away from me, the better it was for everyone. I’ve figured out that I can work on getting rid of the curse, as long as I don’t do anything evil in the process. But, just try and get rid of a curse without doing something evil. It’s proven to be impossible so far. I learned this lesson the hard way. You see right after The Incident I figured I’d just go find a priest and get this curse removed. No big deal. Boy how wrong I was. Finding a priest that will tell you they can remove the curse is one thing. Finding one that actually can do the job has proven to be a whole other thing.

The first person I asked was this shadow priest. She said “sure I can remove that curse how much gold do you have on you?”

I got enough (aside) “I hope” come on, it can’t be that much to have a curse removed, right?

Fine, give me 20 gold.

I went ahead and paid her the 20 G up front. Paying up front was never an issue for me.  Nobody can outrun any of my minions or my spells. We sat a table and the priest pulled out a small round mirror and placed it on the table. She told me to stare at it. Then she stared into my eyes thru the reflection in the mirror. She said this way she could identify the curse without catching it herself.

“Whistles” Daaaaamn you got a real nasty of a curse there. Ok close your eyes and keep them closed a min.

As I sit there I hear the priest get up and head toward the door. She says.

I just need to get some regents from my horse. I’ll be right back

Nooooo shes not gonna try me like this is she? I knew Priest’s kept there regents on them. If they need them in a pinch having them on the horse doesn’t help. I gave her the benefit of doubt before I did anything.. When I heard her mount up on her horse that’s when I moved. When I got out the door her horse was in full gallop. I just shook my head in amazement. One incinerate coming up. Right when the first few syllables of the spell started to leave my lips, my entire body froze up and I was forced to just watch helplessly as this thief rode off with my gold.
As soon as she was out of sight and unreachable, my bodily functions returned to me. That’s when you know who showed up.

Newa: Ummmmm yeeeah Mega you can’t do stuff like that anymore. Your not gonna be able to kill someone just for stealing from you. You’ll have to come up with other ways of dealing with things like this.
What the hell are you talking about I was well within my rights to do what I was doing

Ummm, no, Mega. As we both know, there’s a big difference between illegal and legal. Whats right and wrong, whats good and evil. Killing someone for stealing is inherently evil.

You mean I just have to let people rob me?

No, stupid, you just can’t hurt them. You’ll have to come up with other ways of dealing with things like this. That doesn’t involve killing people and taking their soul energy.

That’s when life got even more complicated than I ever thought possible.