The Daggerfall Gang

“Do you have the wand?” asks a blue-grey skinned tiefling, beckoning another tiefling, this one with swamp green skin, into a shady looking back alley.

“Obviously, I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.” replies the green tiefling, gripping a satchel tight to his chest. The blue tiefling’s tail flicks nervously as they enter the back of a merchant’s shop, having smashed a window. They quietly weave their way past trinkets, plants, and  useless porcelain decorations. The blue half-demon is tall, very thin, and has thick, flowing black hair. His horns are short and stocky, and one is chipped off at the top. His tail is long and winding, ending in a thin stinger. He wears muted colors, tight fitting thieves gear, topped by a navy blue scarf that covers his neck and mouth. The green tiefling is muscular, shorter, and bald. His horns are enormous, curling around the sides of his head like a ram’s. He wears dark clothing as well. Unlike the blue tiefling, his lower half is hairy and hooved, and he lacks a tail.

“Where the hell are Kelgi and Phelga?” asks the green tiefling nervously.

“They’ll be here. They promised me they would.” states the blue tiefling, although he looks quite worried. The two half-demons reach the back of the shop, where a large wooden door stands, padlocked, in front of them.

“They better be, you know we can’t perform the ritual without those components.” the green tiefling says, removing a revolver from a holster on his hip. He squints one eye shut, aims the gun at the padlock, and fires. The padlock shatters and the door swings open slightly.

“Ringrot! What the actual hell is wrong with you?!” the blue tiefling hisses, glancing over his shoulder, worried that the noise would give away their position.

“Well, since your ass couldn’t pick the lock last time Damien, I’m making us a way in!” shoots back Ringrot, holstering the revolver. Damien opens his mouth to respond, but before he can do so, a light shines into the shop through the front windows. The two half-demons duck behind a nearby chest of drawers, looking worried.

“Who’s there?” calls a female voice from behind the light. “I have a gun and I’m not afraid to blow your face off with it!” As the voice continues, it morphs from female to a deeper, raspy male voice. Ringrot suddenly smiles, and stands. Damien lets out a sigh of relief, slumping to the floor.

“Kelgi! Phelga! What the fuck took you so long?” says Ringrot, walking forward with his arms outstretched.

The light in the front of the shop flicks off, and standing there are two purple tieflings. Kelgi is tall, hooved, and has three tails, similar to the tail of a rat. Phelga, his sister, is shorter and more plump. She sports only two rat tails, but her hooves and lilac skin match her brother’s. They both have bright pink eyes which shine in the dark like a cat’s, and both have snow white hair. They are wearing dark leather clothing, but the effect is somewhat ruined by the many paint splatters that cover the leather. They each carry a goblin made gun, Kelgi sporting a shotgun, and Phelga a scoped rifle.

“Who cares how long it took, we made it bitches!” says Kelgi, slinging the shotgun over his back and bear hugging Ringrot, then kissing him. Phelga turns off the heavy duty flashlight she was pointing into the shop as Damien stands, looking relieved.

“Hey sugar.” says Phelga softly, as Damien walks over to her, embarrassed at his fear. “It’s been a while.” she continues, one of her tails slithering up Damiens leg and pulling him closer.

“Hey Phelga, lay off him. You know he’s ‘committed’ to this human bitch he never shuts up about.” says Kelgi, yanking his sister back towards the group. “Isn’t that right D?” he continues, giving Ringrot another kiss.

“Easy tiger!” says Ringrot, playfully pushing Kelgi away.

“Hey guys, can we *please* stay focused?” Damien asks, looking serious. Everyone  looks at him, slightly concerned.

“Listen. This is the closest I’ve been in 6 lifetimes to being able to see my Destiny again. Do you have the components I asked for Kelgi?” Damien asks, looking expectantly at the purple psudo-demon.

“Right here.” he replies, pulling a leather bag from over his shoulder and handing it to Damien.

“The wand?” Damien asks, looking at Ringrot.

“Here.” he replies, handing Damien an ornately carved cedar wood wand. The wand is curved, and comes to a wicked point at the tip.

“And the scroll?” Damien asks, looking to Phelga.

“Here it is, sugar.” she says, grasping his arm after handing him the crumbling, ancient piece of rolled paper.

“Good.” Damien states. He turns, and begins to walk to the door with the blown off lock.

“Would you like to tell us why you had us meet in a fuckin’ antique shop to cast this fancy-ass time travel spell?” Kelgi calls after him, his hand on Ringrot’s shoulder. Without looking back, Damien replies.

“Because nobody will care if this old hag’s shop gets blown sky high.”

The four half demons sit in a circle on the floor in the basement of the antique shop, surrounding a pentagram painted in purple spray paint on the floor. Supply boxes and broken antiques are stacked and scattered about the small room, and all of them are covered in cobwebs. Nine candles sit around the outer ring of the pentagram, lighting the gravely serious faces of the four friends. Laid out inside the pentagram are nine skinned dragon wyrmlings, fresh blood still glistening on their bare skin. Alongside the wyrmlings are nine roses, nine shards of glass, and eight  raven feathers. Damien removes the last feather from the bag and arranges it alongside the others, taking a step back to admire his work.

“This is it.” he says breathlessly, looking at the circle with desire in his eyes.

“Listen man, are you sure you want to do this?” Asks Ringrot, looking at him sadly. “We are your best friends in the world, do you really want to leave us for some human girl who died 80 years ago?”

“Yeah, don’t you remember the time with the owlbear? Or the time we traveled to Two Flags and stole that scroll you’re holding? Or the countless times we’ve saved your scrawny ass from getting sent to your next life faster?” blurts out Kelgi, looking extremely unhappy.

“If you stay, we could try to get back together, we could have a family Damien.” Says Phelga, tears staining her cheeks. “That wasn’t fake, we had a real connection!”

“Will you all just SHUT UP?!” yells Damien suddenly, making all three of his comrades jump. “You have no idea what I’ve been through! I’m born, I live for a while, then I die. That’s all I am! I’m just a fucking loop! And for the first time in more than 2,000 years, I have a chance to break the cycle and go back to the woman I love! And you want to take that away from me?! I’ve had to die, sometimes painfully, HUNDREDS of times!” He shouts, sounding slightly deranged. Phelga begins to sob, Kelgi putting his arm around her to comfort her.

“Oh yeah?” Shouts Ringrot, on his feet now, walking toward Damien with rage written all over his face. “ Well how do you think WE feel?!” He shouts, pinning Damien to a wall by his neck. “We only have one life! We only get to die once, and since we’re basically demons already, it’s straight off to hell after that!” He shouts, spittle flying into Damien’s face. “We only get one fucking shot at this, and that’s it! And even though we’ve been friends since we were KIDS, you just want to throw that all away for some wrinkled old human whore?!” He shouts, letting Damien go. He falls to the ground, gasping for breath, as Ringrot takes a step back, regretting his outburst.

“Listen. I’m sorry.” Chokes out Damien, rubbing his throat gingerly, and getting to his feet. “Just hear me out. Look at how happy you and Kelgi are. You would give your life for his, you would do anything to make sure that he is safe and happy. That’s how I feel about Destiny. She is the love of my life, well actually lives, and I need to get back to her. Does that make sense?” Says Damien, a single tear running down his face. Kelgi glares at him.

“So you’re just going to throw away the entire relationship you and my sister had then? Weren’t you happy then?” Kelgi spits, looking furious.

“That’s not what I-” Damien begins, but he is quickly interrupted by Phelga.

“That’s exactly what you meant!” She yells, her swollen eyes staring straight into Damien’s soul. “I get it! Just leave! Go fuck this human as much as you want, if that’s what will make you happy!” She says, throwing the ancient scroll at Damien’s feet, and running to the stairs and out of the basement. He stoops, picking up and opening the scroll, taking the wand from his pocket and holding it in his other hand. He steps into the center of the pentagram, determination in his face. He looks down at the scroll and begins to chant.

“EYE OF MIDNIGHT, GIVE ME SIGHT. TAKE MY OFFER, QUENCH THE LIGHT. NINE SOUL'S PRICE TO PAY FOR MIGHT, TO WIELD THE BLADE OF DARKEST-”

But his chanting is interrupted by a scream from the floor above.

“Phelga!” Kelgi yells, charging up the stairs, Ringrot hot on his heels as an explosion is heard, shaking the room and causing dust to fall from the ceiling. Damien’s eyes widen in fear for his friends, as he drops the scroll aside and makes a break for the stairs. Before he can reach them however, he feels a sickly cold and clammy hand grab his ankle. It yanks his foot out from under him, and he hits his head hard on the concrete stairs. He can feel himself falling unconscious, but before his vision fades entirely to black, he sees a ghastly, black, slimy hand reaching from what looks like a tear in the floor at the center of the pentagram. Black liquid swirls in the hole, looking like a whirlpool made of the darkest tar. As his feet are pulled into the rip, he sees his friends running down the stairs. They see him struggling against the hand, blood running from the wound in his head. Another explosion shakes the basement, and just as his head is pulled under, he sees a man wearing a white kimono with silver hair walk down the stairs, pulling a sword from his belt.

“Damien!” Phelga’s shout of fear echoes in his head as he lays on a cold, damp, metal floor. His head throbs in pain from the spot where it struck concrete.

“Fuck… Where am I?” He moans, seeing stars as he struggles into a sitting position, looking around curiously. Rusted iron walls form a long iron hallway around him, dim, grey lightbulbs above him barely illuminate the hallway. There is the constant, irritating sound of water dripping coming from somewhere near him, and the back of his torso and arms are soaked in cold, clammy water. A ways down the hallway to his left is a bulkhead, similar to the one Damien saw on his trip on a Dwarven submarine, lifetimes ago. To his right, a short stretch of metal that ends in a glass cap, a small transparent observatory looking out into absolute blackness. He struggles to his feet, walking toward the bulkhead. Suddenly, a portal exactly like the one he saw in the floor of the basement opens directly in front of him. Out from it walks an elf, shirtless, with nothing but a small knife in his hands. Damien falls backward in surprise, yelping in pain as his head hits the wall behind him.

“Who are you and where is this place?” Asks Kelt.