Thread: Within A Curse ( High Fantasy / BDSM )  (Pazzo x Ironic)

A spiral wisp of silvery white clouds embraced by the light of the full moon decorated the night sky above his head... Countless stars shone brightly, and twinkled from far away... He could hear the faint rumblings of an avalanche from the mountain range high above and behind him... He now sat upon the thatched roof of his modest five bedroom stone cottage, looking at the night sky, contemplating... His view of his 3,000 acre mountain valley property was truly breathtaking on this warm summer night... Most people would find such a night peaceful, and utterly relaxing... But not Arch... He was a very handsome man who appeared to be in his mid thirties, but he was unsure since he did not appear to age in the past twenty years... Arch was fairly tall, and athletic and lean of build. His platinum blonde hair was worn long and combed straight, and swayed around him in the gentle night breeze. The Wizard's green eyes sparkled in the faint light of the wooden lantern he had brought with him... He ate hungrilly at a piece of spiced baked chicken, and yet he could not taste it... He drank deeply from a tankard of chilled ale, but his thirst was not slaked... This was purely psychological, as his tongue worked fine and he was not dehydrated... He was merely overcome with concern... The stars continued to twinkle as he made every attempt to enjoy his evening meal... A small but plump orange and white tabby was perched on the roof in front of him, her coppery eyes watching him closely as he ate, licking her lips hungrily. Every so often Arch would hand her a chunk of the baked chicken, which she would gratefully accept. This was one of his many adopted stray cats, This one in particular went by Callie... Whenever Arch was on the property, it was a sure bet this cat was nearby... About twenty years ago he had been found alone, naked, and unconscious deep in the ruins of an old forgotten temple, under a stone Archway. The dwarven brothers who found him brought Him with them on their monthly supply run to Geurnsfield... There he was cleaned, given food and clean clothing, and thoroughly questioned by the Magistrate about who he was. Only to his dismay, he did not know. Prior to these past twenty years the Wizard had no knowledge of his past, or even who he was... He was however found to have an unusually powerful grasp of the arcane, and the townspeople had started to call him The Arch Mage given the conditions under which he was found... The magic Academy took interest in him, and after a through regimen of testing he was offered a position of teaching Evocation, which he gladly accepted. Occasionally he would take the odd mercenary contract to fund a project or research. Sometimes he would work with the armies in the event the kingdom was attacked as he did during the red war five years ago with the north... This massive estate was part of the generous reward package he was offered for his efforts. With the help of an old war golem he had rebuild several years earlier, Known as Max, the two had somehow managed to defend the northern pass from a surprise assault. The battle was fierce and bloody, but the two had managed to beat back a force of 500 soldiers with ease... Arch was shook from his reverie as Callie touched his hand with her fuzzy paw, her coppery eyes pleading for another bite of the roast chicken. He chuckled, and handed her a large chunk of it. As she purred and chewed, The Wizard watched the large mirror like river that flowed around the central 140 acre Island that his cottage was built upon... He could see Max's Floating garden come into view... Max... The wizards closest friend... And much like himself, a serious oddity. Max was an artifact from many tens of thousands of years ago, a link to a bygone era of advanced technology. Maximillian was his full designation, War Chassis number 0147. A fully self aware and immensely power assault golem, built as part of a larger force when such automations were more common. He is easily twice the height of a normal man, and was originally designed to burn coal, wood, or other fuel to produce steam to power his internal systems. The golem had the Appearance of a burly humanoid clad in a suit of ornate full plate armor... Arch had found his battered shell during an excavation of the ruins where he himself had been found, and immediately sought to rebuild him. Many of his rusted parts had to be reforged and replaced, but Arch is very skilled. The Automation now used fire crystals in his main boiler, which last for many months before needing replacement. His steam system was likewise reworked to contain a small portal to the elemental plane of water, keeping his tanks full at all times. Once Arch had him operational, the machine greeted him, and asked him for a mission... Arch was at a loss and said Alright, you are my body guard... at which point the Golem gladly accepted. After the war, the golem had become restless, and asked Arch if he could have a garden... The wizard and the golem decided to lash many tree trunks together, and made a huge raft. They then dredged the bottom of the river, and piled the mud high upon it, and let it dry. It was then tilled and planted. With many exotic seeds... From that day on, the Golem had paddled the huge raft around and around the Island tirelessly, taking great pride in his hobby... Another touch from a fuzzy paw drew Arch from his reflection. Alright dear, yes... Here, now that's it... he murmured as he scratched Callie's ears, and gave her the last bite of the chicken... The Wizard slid down the roof to land in a bale of hay, and he grunted at the impact, making the singed flesh upon his chest sting... The wizard groaned... About a week ago he suddenly felt an intensified burning at his chest while he slept, and smoke began to billow out of his chest as his nightshirt caught fire... Screaming, in pain and anguish, he ran outside of his bedroom, and bolted headlong toward the river just one hundred feet from his front door, and dove into it... The heat from the fire at his chest was not snuffed out by the water, and only served to boil it around him, giving off gas bubbles and violent torrents of steam... Thankfully the effect, whatever it was, had ended... Crawling from the river, the Wizard looked at the charred hole in his shirt at his bare chest... It bore a symbol about the size of a dinner plate, and resembled a horrid branding. Try as he might, the symbol was unrecognized in all of the Ancient texts... But was clear what it was... Something very powerful had cursed him... To what end he could not fathom... The Wizard just shook his head, and walked down to the river bank to speak with Max for a few moments, and then retire for the night...