Dorian sat in the Restful Slumber Inn, sipping a sweet summer island wine that was lightly chilled and perfectly offset the spicy grilled flat fish he'd just finished. The innkeeper's kitchen was one of the most well renowned in the entire realm, and Dorian had made it a habit of eating here at least twice every time he visited Nujel'm. This latest concoction was a fiery seasoned flatfish grilled over an open flame served with steamed saffron rice and roasted corn relish. There was a thick ginger sauce drizzled over the fish and rice that tied everything together. Dorian was already so full that his belly hurt, but he was determined to finish the last third of the fish before he left the table. This was not the kind of meal where one left scraps on the plate. Dorian took another slow sip of the chilled sweet wine and closed his eyes momentarily. As he breathed a soft sigh of contentment, a new scent tickled his nose. It was jasmine with a hint of lavender and rose and the smell made him frown. The last time he'd smelled that particular blend of fragrances in just that proportion he'd been paid a very rude visit by Fate. That meeting had set his feet on a path that ended with him nearly being skinned alive by a Lich in the caverns of Wind before being rescued by a certain Grey Wizard. In the end, the meeting had been fortuitous and Dorian had survived to make a sizeable profit, but that wasn't the point. He opened his eyes just a slit and saw the fiery haired Fate sitting across from him, a sardonic smirk on her beautiful young face. Her bright emerald eyes twinkled as she waited for Dorian to acknowledge her. He would have to, and they both knew it. The flame on the candelabra between them no longer flickered. Time, for the moment, had been suspended in its march. The universe marked time while Fate spun her webs. Dorian breathed a heavy sigh and opened his eyes all the way. "G'devening Dorian," Fate said, her voice light and with a lilting accent. "Glad to see you made it here safely." "You mean it was your hand guiding me here this whole time?" Dorian asked. "I might have known. Did you set up the meeting with the man in black as well?" Fate shook her head. "That was done of his own accord, I could have no part in it," she answered cryptically. "In any case, it's done, and you accepted your role in it. That's what was important. Now there are things you need to know. That is, assuming you want to survive this." Dorian frowned. "If you didn't set this up, then why are you here?" "Haven't you been paying attention, you dolt? Believe it or not I actually like you, Dorian. I enjoy your company. You're an actual gypsy, and one of few left in the realm today. I miss that and I guess that gives me a soft spot when it comes to you, but there it is. I want you to make it out of this alive because I like you. I'd think you'd be a little more grateful for that." Dorian opened his mouth, but found he had no words. As he looked back at his past interactions with her, he couldn't deny that Fate had always been there to get him out of trouble. Granted, she was also often the cause of the trouble in the first place, but she hadn't yet left him completely high and dry. And he'd always managed to come out ahead in the end, some how, which was worth something as well. "Okay, how are you going to try and get me killed this time?" Dorian asked, softening his tone by a hair. "That's hardly fair, Dorian," Fate replied, flashing him a smile sultry enough to make him weak in the knees. "You got yourself in plenty of that trouble right by yourself, if you'll recall. And I got you out of it in the end, didn't I?" She asked, eerily echoing his own thoughts. "Besides, I'd say I more than made up for it." Dorian actually felt himself blush. It had been years since anyone had been able to make him do that. "Alright, fine," he said at last. "What do you need me to do?" "Just what you were going to do," Fate replied. "Find the bottle you were sent after and secure the job. And I'm going to help you do that as much as I can. The bottle you're looking for has been found, I can tell you that. I can't tell you where it is, but I can tell you that it's no longer on the bottom of the sea. And I can show you the blue you'll need to know to recognize the real deal." Fate stood and sauntered over to Dorian's side of the table. She bent low, nearly spilling out of her shimmering jester's suit, and undid a pair of sparkling blue earrings that shone with an odd indigo light unlike anything Dorian had seen. She handed the earrings over Dorian and leaned close to whisper in his ear. "The bottle will be the same shade of blue, with that odd inner light," she said. As she spoke, Dorian felt something odd in his mind, as if the words were taking root in his subconscious. "Remember the blue, remember the light. The shimmer. Nothing else like it in the realm. Remember it well. The bottle will shine with it when you see it." Fate straightened and Dorian felt the odd enchantment he was under take root. Her words sank deep into his memory and echoed in his mind as he stared at the earrings in his hand. When he looked up again, Fate was nearly to the door of the inn. She looked back over her shoulder at him and winked an emerald eye at him. "I can't tell you where the bottle you seek is," Fate called back to him, "but if you look for it in the Glow of a new Moon, I'm sure you'll find it. Good luck, gypsy. If you live through this we'll meet again." As she turned, Fate disappeared, fading from view as a mist drying under the sun. Dorian blinked a few times and then tucked the shimmering blue earrings into a pouch hidden in the inside lining of his cloak. He took another bite of the spiced fish and washed it down with a drink of wine. He thought about what she'd said at the end, the glow and the moon, rolling the words around in his head. Something about what she'd said didn't make sense to him. A new moon was dark and had no glow, so was he supposed to find the bottle by looking for it in the darkness? And how could that possibly help him see it more clearly? Dorian decided to forget about it and finish his fish. He needed to focus on his search and he didn't have the time to decipher Fate's riddles. She'd helped him by handing him the earrings and giving him a reference for the color of the bottle. Dorian intended to press that advantage and hit every fence he knew looking for anyone trying to pass off imitations. If they were smart they'd try to get as many of the details for the real artifact correct, and that meant the story they told about where they found the thing would probably be close to the truth. If he could find a few fakes that had the same origin story it would at least give him a reference point from which to begin a search. As Dorian ate the rest of his meal, the flame on the candelabra in the center of the table flickered and danced once more.
Thanks! I appreciate that a lot. I don't always get to spend as much time as I'd like in-game, so I try to make up for it by adding a bit o' flavor to the old tavern stories. Plus it's a great way to hammer through stubborn writer's block. I'll have another installment for this series coming up this evening. Also, how do you like the use of screen shots with the stories? Just started trying to incorporate that a little, so if there's too many let me know. Trying to strike that right balance between narrative and visuals. Thanks for reading!
Yes on screens. Lots of folks will shy away from walls of text. Having a few screens and visuals will help to break that up. If you are wanting to continue posting some pics, I suggest having a pre-set screenshot template set up in Photoshop, or some similar photo manipulation software, so that everything looks exactly the same in all your shots. Thanks for taking time to write some cool narratives like this!
That's a good point, Lord Krake. I've gone back and forth as well. It is nice, but sometimes can be distracting with 'computer game' photos detracting. But that's the point, really... cool stories in the setting of UO. I need to up my game for mine, for sure.
