Phantasmagoria

Here is one I prepared earlier in the year... Once again only the beginnings of a story... The story is based on a story played out by a character I played during my Uni days in an online RPG called Paths to Immortality (P2I), a great game that always had some interesting presents given to the characters each Christmas by the Dungeon Master playing Santa Claus (reading back over that last sentence just sounds wrong...) I plan to flesh out the rest of this tale as a part of my compelation of short stories to be titled (funnily enough) In Short Supply... I hope you enjoy...


I've been in a real mood for writing lately, lots of random stuff... This one is based on a classic horror with a fantasy twist... Please tell me what you think...

Title - The House Amongst the Vines

My name is Xarra, I am a paladin, a warrior whose faith in the glorious Dawn Goddess Ursha grants me special powers. Together with my friends we saved Red Cove Bay, my home of sixteen years and this part of my tale begins as the city of Red Cove prepares for a great feast to honour the heroes of Red Cove.

The hammer of the blacksmith guided me and my two closest friends onwards through the twisting maze of the city's streets as we searched for Old Mick. I had a job for him.
"What do you even see in that shell of metal?" Asked Samuell Heartsthief, a bard, an elf and all-round trouble maker. "What I meant to ask was... Why the big hunk of ugly metal, my lady?" Sam added quickly after I gave him a narrow-eyed look with my ice blue eyes. The bard had romantically proposed only last night and already I was starting to regret my hastily given "YES!!"
"The cleric that brought all those poor citizens back from the grave wore this hunk of metal... It bears the symbols from the deity of fear, death and undeath and yet..." I began in explanation.
"Sammy... Sammy... You have luck in the dungeons... Luck with the ladies... And when a wizard is not around I'd turn to you for advice on anything to do with magic..." Calmly stated Theo, our mutual friend, a half-elf ranger from the Griphon Glen forest only two or three days East of Red Cove.
Samuell beamed at the comments, all mostly positive and all certainly true.
"But," continued Theo, "if you have not sung about it you're hopelessly unaware of all things relating to the Gods."
"Here we are," I announced, coming suddenly upon a ramshackled shed with a crude sign hanging from the door announcing that here abided the blacksmith Old Mick.

Within the forge a grizzly old man instructed one of his sons where to strike upon a red hot blade shaping up to look like a mean edged short sword. "Thanks to you lot we're busier than ever," snarled the old man as a way of greeting.
"Steady on," began Samuell, thinking his honour attacked. Both Theo and I grasped the bard about the shoulders, preventing him from gracefully drawing his rapier, a surefire way of getting all three of our trio killed.
"You and your family are most welcome, Mick," I replied, stepping casually in front of my fiancé and dropping my hunk of dark and dented metal upon the bench.
"Hmmm..." Murmured the blacksmith as he examined my treasure in the flickering light of the forge. "Lady Xarra... This is delicate work... This will definitely cost you extra..."
"My father will pay... Anything you ask old man... I'll want to pick it up before we leave in three days..." Was my response.
The father I referred to was Master Johann, Mayor of Red Cove and my step-father after elves brought me as a toddler to the markets one Spring. Taking pity on a helpless child Mayor Johann Dorth took me into his house and raised me. The wife of the Mayor was a devout worshipper of Urshas and so when I was fifteen summers I followed my mother, the Mayor's wife North to the fort that protected Red Cove Bay and the surrounding cities. After a year of military training and instruction in faithfulness I returned home with mother only a week before my homeland was attacked. Now with the battle over my father had demanded the citizens become better prepared for other battles, vowing that his city would never be caught unawares again. Little did we know what was to come...

As Mick placed his hand upon the evil cleric's armour to remove it from the bench I thought I caught a strange red flash pass across his sight. "Girly heed my words," the old man slurred. "Even they who be pure of heart and speak their prayers faithfully, by night they may become the wolf when the wolf's flower blooms and the winter moon be bright..."
Around Mick his three sons laughed at their dad and began to howl. They had not seen the look that had crossed that man's face though.

Confused and concerned I brought it up with Sam and Theo as we headed back for my home. It became quickly obvious that I had been alone in catching the strange look and the stranger words that Mick had shared with us.
"Yes, I am most desturbed by the foolishness demonstated by those boys and their father," Theo murmured, deep in thought.
"Boys will be boys and it is great to see that the father is just as much a boy as his sons," chimed in my love, less than helpfully.
I wanted to investigate further, wondering if my bringing this evil artifact into my home had somehow cursed my friends and family. I had a feeling though that the armour was a gift from the Goddess, not just a trophy of victory but something that I was supposed to make my own.