Hey, Everyone!
So, by now you know the main thing about my dearest Mary Windfiddle: she's a bookworm who likes learning new things. You also know that she's supposed to be a warlock. But how did that happen?
Well, you see, once she decided on adventuring, she realized that being a caster might be the best way for her weak and not-very-capable self to survive in the big scary world (the big exciting world, she corrected, the big wonderful world!). She was obviously never going to be a sorceress (at the age of 18 she should have already shown signs of that sort of magic), and wizard sounded very nice (learning your magic from books, are you kidding me?) but it took too long. She needed to get to adventuring NOW.
So, Mary Windfiddle decided to become a Warlock.
She did her research. She read books about Undead Patrons who tortured their warlocks, and Fiend Patrons who made them do atrocious things for their amusement. She found out of Celestial Patrons who drove their warlocks mad with righteous anger towards the "unfaithful", and the Great Old One who never even cared about their subordinates. None of those fit what she had in mind.
Finally, after many sleepless nights in the library, she found what was, as she thought, the least evil.
She drew the circle and lit up the candles. She put on the flower crown and started reading the script from the old book she'd found in the deepest corner of the library. When she finished the encantation a gust of wind rose up, filling the air with the smell of fresh cut grass and flower petals. All the candles went out. In the darkness her Patron appeared – a tall figure, too obscured to be seen clearly.
“So young and full of hope”, he said with a playful velvet voice. “So charming! I suppose you want my powers to make your dreams come true? Show them that you’re the best?”
Mary nodded eagerly.
“Very well. Of course, when time comes, I’ll want something tiny in return. Nothing serious, just a little favour. I won’t bore you with the details right now.”
He smelled of citrus when he breathed in her ear.
“Do you accept my terms, Mary Windfiddle?”
She swallowed. No turning back now. Her adventure was waiting, her book had to be written. In the darkness of the room, she nodded.
“Then I’ll be seeing you again.”
Her Patron leaned over and pressed his lips on her forehead. Then the candles flickered and lit up, and he was gone.
Mary was alone in the room, with the empty summoning circle and the old book in hand. She exhaled the breath she wasn’t realizing she was holding. “The Archfey is the least of all evils”, she repeated to herself. “The least of all evils.”
The morning after the ritual Mary wasn’t sure that she hadn’t dreamt it all. But in the next few days, one by one, her new abilities manifested. And soon, she was already on the road, living the life of an adventurer.
But that’s a story for another time :)
I hope you like this part of Mary’s adventures. I have to credit our wonderful DM for the mysterious dark figure in the summoning circle. He wrote that whole scene for me, I just translated it in my words for this Hive post.
When I came to him with the idea of my young bookworm who became a Warlock for the Archfey, I gave him full control over her Patron. He knows who he is, what he loos like, what he wants and what he’s going to do to Mary if he doesn’t get it. That makes the game a 1 000 times more interesting for me and I love every second of it!
I hope you like every second of reading about Mary :)
Or at least some of the seconds :D
Take care and be well!