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Exotic Descriptions (quickie)

 
Exotic Descriptions (quickie)

Here is a quickie writing exercise I thought of, it's not new but neither is anything else.

Take something mundane and redress the 'fluff' as a fantasy item. It's been done since Gygax was writing modules and likely before.

The KeyYou hold the Key of Balador. It is a smooth polished steel and rounded at the end and adorned with a multitude of pearls that glow a soft blue light when it is dark. The key is said to open a Well of Infinite Worlds but for now it's light weight and polished silvery face rests for the day that it's power can be unleashed.




Can you do better? Go cheezier?

Just as long as we don't have to spend like.... 12 pages on a soup can...
Curse you Doskiefski.

All I could see were remotes, little figurines, and this:

The InvitationThis torn parchment is clearly half of a larger page. You read the flowing script at the top, which is difficult to decipher save for a single phrase, "...invites you and a guest to a special..." the next word is indecipherable. Below is an image, magically inscribed judging by the detail, of a man, fists raised. Behind him, in the shadows, is a metal creature more than half his height again, its fists raised in an identical manner. Clearly, this is no idle scrap of paper.




Looking back, I don't like it. The text makes it harder than it has to be. Maybe I'll try again later, though, I like this concept.

The InvitationReturning from a long day of grueling labor and the pains of reality, you relax into your throne with a breath of relief. Slouching slightly into the soft woven fabrics of your seat you let your mind wonder. You ponder the many different ways in which to release the stress of the day from your body, and as your eyes travel about the chamber, they become fixated on a single point. Within hands reach rests your most trusted weapon. You grip the hilt with your worn hands and let the weight sink into your primal instincts. Your hands easily wrap around the fine crafted handle and the memories suddenly flood back into your mind. Ah yes, this tool has served you well over the years. You have conquered kingdoms, destroyed armies, saved princess and dueled gods all with this multifunctional creation of man. A small grin slowly paints itself on your face and you quickly put your mind to work for the plans of your next mighty conquest.


I must say that was pretty fun!


The demonic wizard held loosely to the maddening stick. Screams of tortured souls blasted forth as if from Hell itself. He directed the screams with a wave of his hand, and naught escaped their wrath. They ploughed their hellacious way across the land, overturning the dead from their places of rest and mounding the quivering bodies in a mass, awaiting the damnation of conflagration. With a flick of his wrist, he ceased their pain and stopped the screams, only to direct their wrath in yet another direction. More of the dead appeared, and they too were interred.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Agricolus View Post
The demonic wizard held loosely to the maddening stick. Screams of tortured souls blasted forth as if from Hell itself. He directed the screams with a wave of his hand, and naught escaped their wrath. They ploughed their hellacious way across the land, overturning the dead from their places of rest and mounding the quivering bodies in a mass, awaiting the damnation of conflagration. With a flick of his wrist, he ceased their pain and stopped the screams, only to direct their wrath in yet another direction. More of the dead appeared, and they too were interred.

Very nice. IMO, this wins so far.

The ContainerYou stare at the cylinder in amazement. It is made of some lightweight metal that bends if you apply a small amount of pressure to it, then springs back when you stop pressing. The metal is very shiny, reflecting the bright sunlight very well - you have to be careful not to shine it in your eyes by mistake. Strange signs and symbols cover the cylinder, ones that you do not recognize and cannot read - spells of great power, perhaps. One end of it has an oddly-shaped carving in relief, and a small ovular hole. What could have required such a container to hold it? Whatever it was, it is there no more.


This exercise is amusing.

It was dimly lit chamber and an eerie yet somber tone emanated from the walls themselves. The alchemist peered from behind slits of eyes at the disheartened adventurers as they approached; his tongue flickering behind clenched, yellowed teeth, his tri-corner hat just a bit askew.

The aberrant display behind him popped and burst with a strange cacophony unlike that which they had heard since they had met the cauldron witch all those years ago.

They knew he was a surly fellow, unkempt and angry with wild hair... he had gone mad from the years he had toiled with so little gained and so much given; and he... he knew what they wanted, what they had come for. They always came for the same thing. Without words he knew, he could see it on their pallid faces, bereft of the joys of youth.

The adventurers dared not speak to him, but instead tossed their coin from a distance into the empty receptical causing a jangling rattle. He went to work then without a word, pulling on massive levers and steaming devices that hissed with the anger of the fiends in the depths of the abyss, but in the end, against what experience might teach us, it was his enchanted potion that would return to them, against the wishes of the reaper, the gift of life.






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