"I wonder what the strange man's name is," mumbled Rufus. Just then Socramedes the owl suddenly flew towards Rufus and perched on his shoulder. He smiled and stroked the owl.
"The owl likes you," commented Sir Morgeruat.
"There's just one thing that worries me," said Khadgar. "If there can be
one eavesdropper around, there can be
others -- who might have less than well-meaning intentions, unlike the one we just met."
"Perhaps we should come to my underground home to spend the night," replied Rufus. "My master surrounded our dwelling completely with a magical screen to ensure that none from outside could intrude or spy upon us by magical means. He had to do that because much of the magical knowledge contained in our tomes would simply be too dangerous to fall into the wrong hands. So once we're at my home, we'll be safe from all eavesdropping. And when we set out on the morrow, my master will also know how to screen us from all spies on our journey."
"Yup, that's Magnus all right," said Khadgar. "Always the super-cautious type."
"Dear friend," said StoneRock to Rufus, "all that sounds very well, but d'ya know
what time of the night it is now? Are ya gonna ask us to travel all the way to yer place at
this time?"
"We
don't have to
travel there," replied Rufus. "I can
gate all of us there -- including the steeds. It's a very big place -- there'll be ample room for all of us."
"All right, then," said Sir Jorlon. "Let's go!"
**************************************************
In a large room with stone walls, eight figures appeared -- Sir Morgeruat, Sir Jorlon, Rufus, Khadgar, StoneRock, Socramedes the owl, and two steeds. (ooc: SecretMaster, your character has a steed too, right? [img]smile.gif[/img] )
"Welcome to my home!" said Rufus happily. "Here is -- "
All of a sudden a strange creature sprang upon Rufus from a dark corner. The two landed on the floor, all wrapped together and tumbling about. The strange creature seemed half human and half canine, with shiny black fur all over its body and strongly built like Rufus himself, wearing nothing but what appeared to be some kind of harness. Sir Morgeruat, Sir Jorlon and StoneRock all readied their weapons and Khadgar began to whisper a spell, but with the two being tangled together it was difficult to aim and they were afraid to hurt Rufus by accident instead. Then again, it seemed the beast's intention was not to hurt Rufus...
"He won't hurt me, he only wants to play!" said Rufus to the party as he continued to grapple with the creature. "Don't hurt him."
At length Rufus broke free. "Sit!" he said to the creature in a tone of annoyance, pointing a finger at it. The creature growled and bared its fangs.
"Fenric...
not sit!" defied the beast. "Fenric...
play!"
"Fenric?" said Sir Morgeruat.
"My master's... experiment," replied Rufus, panting and looking very annoyed as he dusted himself. "He was once a wolf but my master is attempting by degrees to turn him eventually into a complete human being. The stupid beast
always likes to wrestle with me."
"Yet another reason why you're so strong," said Sir Jorlon with a smile.
"Sure," replied Rufus, "but frankly I --"
Suddenly Fenric dashed towards Rufus again, snatching one of his boots before dashing off with the boot between its teeth, leaving Rufus with one foot bare. "
Give me back my boot!" yelled Rufus angrily. He ran towards Fenric and a tug-of-war ensued with Rufus attempting to pull his boot free from the beast. Khadgar, StoneRock and Sir Jorlon giggled.
"Fenric," said a voice, "return the boot."
Everyone turned in the direction of the voice. There stood a tall, gaunt man with long, white hair and beard, dressed in blue robes with runes sewn in gold at the trimmings.
"Master Magnus!" cried Rufus.
(
Here's roughly how I picture Fenric -- in case anyone's interested.
)
[ 04-08-2002, 09:14 AM: Message edited by: K T Ong ]