Inside You all Along

Inside You all Along is the fifth and last encounter in Mushroom Magic.
==Enemies==
* The Wizard (1625 gold, 200 XP, 125 Energy, 1 HP All)
==Transcript==
===Introduction===
"Do we just knock?" Petra asks.
The four of you stare at the castle's tall doors as they loom nearer.
"We can try," Bernard says. "If he doesn't open them, I'll knock with my axe!"
But this destruction proves unnecessary. The doors open inward when you're still a dozen yards away, parting just enough for a man to step out through the gap between them.
He's an elderly fellow. The beard which consumes half his face and dangles to his waist in a wipe sweep is as white as snow, the skin above it deep with wrinkles. A pointed hat surmounts his head, covered in golden stars and crescent moons. The same adorn his long, voluminous robe. If ever a wizard there was, this is he.
"Welcome, welcome!" His voice is aged, but happy and robust.
"Greetings, wizard," Dalclis says. His torso tilts into a deep bow. "We have come to request your aid."
"Oh? And what do you want?"
"I desire wisdom, that I may be worthy of my order."
"I want a heart, so I can be a real person!"
"I need a beard!"
"I want to get back home. Or at least somewhere without honey-lava."
The wizard laughs.
"I'm afraid I can't give you these things."
"What?" the four of you chorus.
"But you have no need of them!" He saunters up to Bernard. "My dwarven friend, you've shown as much courage and ferocity as any Stonebound. That proves you don't need a beard! Dwarfishness comes from your soul, not your facial hair!"
Bernard scowls. The wizard walks over to Petra.
"My dear, you risked a terrible death to save your companion. You showed the greatest love a person can! A heart is just a messy lump of flesh. True humanity lies within, and it's already yours."
Petra frowns. The wizard moves towards Dalclis.
"You say you need wisdom, but the wisest thing a man can ever do is admit that he lacks it! Through this, you've shown that your spirit yearns for enlightenment. Go forth and strive for it, and know that you're on the right path. Wisdom will come in time to one such as you who's wise enough to seek it."
Dalclis' face is inscrutable. The wizard comes before you.
"[Player name], you're searching for a way home? But home is in your heart! It lives in the joy and companionship you feel this moment, standing with true and trusted friends!"
The wizard steps back and stares at you each in turn with his bright and smiling eyes.
"So you're not going to help us?" you ask.
"There's no need! You already have what you came here for!"
You and your companions look at one another for several moments.
"Get him?" Bernard asks.
"Get him!" you, Petra, and Dalclis chorus.
===Conclusion===
"But I'm telling you," the wizard wails, "you already have-"
"Waaaa!"
The wizard doubles over as the elven monk strikes him in the abdomen with a thrusting side kick.
"I'll show you a messy lump of flesh!" Petra exclaims.
She grabs the wizard's head and drives her marble knee into his face. There's a crunch and a gush of blood.
"And here's some dwarfishness!" Bernard shouts.
He swings his axe, burying it deep in the wizard's spine.
"That was satisfying," you say, as the four of you stare down at his bloody corpse.
"But I still don't have wisdom!"
"Dalclis, when you can fight like that, you don't need wisdom. Next time one of your brothers says anything, just kick him in the face."
"Ah! A great master did say that one can destroy a foe physically with or without a reason, but one can only destroy a foe mentally with a reason. Perhaps he was illustrating the superiority of violence..."
"I'm still beardless." The dwarf grunts.
"I have an idea..."
You crouch down and put your sword to work.
"Just dye this the way you want, and stick it on your face," you say, as you hand him the wizard's beard.
"That might work." He grins.
"But what about my heart?"
"One moment..."
A little more sword work, somewhat messier this time...
"A heart, just like you wanted."
"Thank you!" She flashes a beautiful smile as she takes the organ in her white marble hands. "But what about you? How are you going to get home?"
You're silent for several seconds. Then you feel your face lighting up with the brilliance of epiphany.
"I remember reading something in an ancient text. It's worth a try..."
You crouch next to the wizard's body once more. Then you drive your fist into his dead, bloody face.
"There's no place like home!"
You draw your arm back again.
"There's no place like home!"
You smash another punch into his features.
"There's no place like home!"
And another.
"There's no place like home!"
This time you pause, realizing that you've just punched a bedroll.
You look around, but everyone else near the fire is asleep. Whoever's keeping watch is further away. Good... No one saw that.
You lie back down, trying to remember the details of your curious dreams. Some of them drift across your mind. Others elude you. But that doesn't matter. In spite of your manner of waking and the assault on your bedroll, you feel a sense of... tranquility. Of peace. You've had a good rest.
The stars glitter above, scattered like jewels across the black heavens. Something bright and sparkling flutters across the astral tapestry, weaving a spiraling pattern that brings a smile to your lips.
Category:Mushroom Magic