Still all wet and foamy, Rufus forced a stiff smile on his face. "I'm...great, sir," he replied. "I'd presume you have been, too..." Behind him was Fenric, all wet and foamy as well and humping his back excitedly. Khadgar could not help but giggle at the sight of the two.
Magnus smiled at Rufus and Fenric, and shook his head. "All right, I'll allow you to use your magic this once," he said. The expression on Rufus' face brightened up noticeably as he quickly pulled out his wand from his boot and waved it in a circle. Sparkles glittered in the air and all the water and soap suds around the place disappeared while Fenric and himself became clean and dry again.
"You don't allow your little apprentice to use magic to handle such things, old boy?" asked Khadgar.
"Only occasionally will I let him," replied Magnus. "I don't want Rufus to take magic for granted!" Nearby, Rufus sulked.
"Anyway, as I was saying," continued Khadgar, his expression suddenly sober, "I've received news from Sir Morguerat about the Dark Knight and his undead legions. From what he has learned, the Dark Knight is apparently gathering his forces to launch an all-out Crusade of Darkness across the continent, all the way from the Northern Ice to the Dark Jungles of the far South. If that's really his intention, and if he succeeds, our entire world could be plunged into Endless Night..."
"Of late I have discerned stirrings of things unclean in my World-Scrying Orb as well," confirmed Magnus, "which gave certain indication of the presence of a rising force of extreme malevolence. I actually meant to invite you over and ask you what you would know of this, but now you've come --"
A knock at the door interrupted Magnus' words. "I'll answer it," said Rufus, who went to the door.
"Help... Help me..." gasped a beautiful female dark elf with utter exhaustion and weakness as she fell through the door. Rufus quickly held her in his arms to prevent her from falling.
"Hey!" cried Rufus in astonishment. "Who are you?"
"I'm...
Chun-Li..." gasped the elf. "I'm a necromancer who once worked... for the Dark Knight, but..." Magnus' and Khadgar's eyes went wide open with alarm upon hearing the words.
"But what?" pursued Rufus.
"He... wanted to slay my whole family and clan... and make them into undead troopers... so I
defected..." Then she lost consciousness and went limp.
(ooc: Thought I'd introduce a
female character -- not very healthy for everyone in the party to be male, right?
And she can help a great deal, too, since she formerly worked for the Dark Knight and would therefore know a lot of things. Of course, if you folks don't like the idea, then just ignore it. Don't mind me naming her after one of my favorite Street Fighters, BTW.
And SecretMaster, would you like me to draw you a picture of Sir Jorlon?
)