City of IF

[ethereal_fauna]

Chapter 9

The serpent moved quickly, a low rumbling rolling along the length of its thick body like thunder. Jakeen thought hastily, his first inclination to get away from the fearsome beast as fast as possible. He played, focusing the music on himself, G E Eb. Powered by the magic, Jakeen moved with unbelievable speed, avoiding the snapping jaws of the dragon.

The monster proved swift as well, and Jakeen ran pell-mell about the battlefield in an effort to avoid sharp teeth and jets of molten saliva. He darted past snapping jaws and ran along the length of the serpent’s body. The creature coiled, its head remaining in hot pursuit of the fleeing bard. Jakeen leapt upon the serpent’s back and hopped over to the other side, evading another spout of lava. The nimble head pursued.

Jakeen continued his flight for life, tiring as he ran. A stitch developed in his side, but he couldn’t afford to stop. The huge body of the beast twisted and coiled in the space of the arena as Jakeen ran over and under it, evading the teeth and flames of the closely following head. He looked like a swift gnat buzzing about the bulk of the beast.

His haste spell began to fade, the effects wearing off. Jakeen still ran. His mind pitched about for ideas on how he could slay the monster, fear clutching at his stomach and forcing bile up into his throat. His red face glistened with sweat, and the effort of running at such high speed, along with the grip of terror, exacted harsh penalties. His mouth agape, he vomited down the front of his shirt but continued running. His foot landed in a stream of steaming spit from the serpent’s gut, and the heat whisked through the leather of his boot as if the footwear did not exist.

Retching, hopping about on one foot, his Haste spell worn off, Jakeen took a wipeout face-first into the dirt and waited for death. It didn’t come. Incredulous, he stood and looked through the fading haze and settling dust of the arena.

Despite abject terror, Jakeen could not resist the flash of mirth at the sight of the serpent twisted into knots. Its blind pursuit of the unnaturally fast bard had so twisted and entangled the beast that it struggled to free itself of its own coils. Here was Jakeen’s advantage. How best to use it?

He still did not know where Bevorum hid, although the dissipating haze would soon reveal her. However, the wily serpent would not remain incapacitated for long. Jakeen thought that if he could somehow calm his nerves and assuage his fear, perhaps the form of the beast would alter, or at least his perception of the manifestation the magic took. G# F Eb, the pleasure notes came to mind. Intoxicating and soothing, dangerous and mind altering, but maybe that was what he needed right now.

He touched his fingers to the strings, visualizing the pattern of the magic, when a subtle nuance in the pattern floated before his inner vision. The hilarity of the struggling beast trying to uncoil its length, the throbbing ache of his foot and the stench of vomit on his front struck Jakeen as unbelievably funny, and that amusement overrode even his fear. He played the base chord, adding a light trill between the upper notes to capture the echoes of his laughter in the music. He played for the dragon, for the shadow mage, for the arena, and he played for himself.

Unquenchable and overriding cachinnation gripped Jakeen. The music rippled like laughter, the sounds settling into the dust of the arena as he stopped playing. The angst of his struggling foe gave way as the effects of the music reached Bevorum, and the mage lost control of the magic she’d unleashed.

The air cleared across the battleground and through bouts of laughter and tears of mirth, Jakeen could see the dragon still struggling to free itself, although not as violently as before. Bevorum stood facing her creation, trying to will her guffawing to cease so that she could direct her anger into her incarnation. Jakeen stifled his snickers and stealthily approached his opponent.

He heard her amused cursing as she tried to muffle her chortling, and with a huge grin he tapped her on the shoulder. She faced him, and with a hearty cackle Jakeen punched her in the mug. Bevorum dropped like a stone, and Jakeen slumped on top of her giving way to painful amusement as the beast that had tried to consume him winked out of existence with a whining, high-pitched flatulent sound.

He failed to hear the announcement that he had won.
**

The large mallet pounding his head would not cease, and his stomach lurched. Jakeen groaned as he sat up from his position on the floor. He wasn’t in the clinic, but rather in the wings of the stadium. Had he won?

“So ya woke now, eh?” a weedy little woman asked. “Won the fight ya did, and then theys had you dragged in here to recover. Bet you have a site o’headache now though.”

She squatted beside Jakeen, smelling of old sweat and raw magic. Her empty eyes contemplated him from behind her wild hair. “You’ll need a little of the hair o’the dog what bit ya. I know,” the woman whispered conspiratorially, her head bobbing in sympathy. Her voiced cracked with some addictive hunger. “I can take you to a man who can help, since I reckon you’re low on mana.”

Jakeen needed to show up for work tonight, but he felt like he’d just woke from a three-day drunk. “What could possibly make this better?” he muttered.

“Alfonse would know,” the woman offered with a wink. “And I’ll take ya to him if’n ya’ll spring for my fix.” She grasped his arm in desperation.

*Image retireved online and altered from original.
Musical consultation provided the author by team member Stoat, with many thanks.

**There you have it…his second battle concluded, and won by laughter. Now he’s in a bit of a pickle. Pleasure magics make you drunk, and can be addictive. But he can’t show up late for work, nor can he show up with a huge hangover from his battle tactic. This woman has offered to take him to someone that she says can help him out. Decision time.

Poll: What to do about the 'hangover'

Go with the woman to see Alfonse 1
Put up with the discomfort and head on to work 0
Trust the woman warily; try to find out more about what she wants you to do 3
Seek out a proper healer at the clinic 4
Try playing a little pleasure spell to ease your discomfort 0

[Eragon\'s Ego]

well, it was a great chapter, but the end was confusing. I think that he shouldnt try the healing spell because he's low on mana as the woman said, so we should try to find out what Alfonse will do to help him. I also want to know why you picked third person omnicient as the style for the spellsinger stoygame.

[Sorrow_A]

Addictive? Not good! I don't think we should trust Jakeen to be alone with his lyre right now, he might cast another pleasure spell or two. Taking him to some special help seems like a good idea.

Just so long as we don't switch eyes with someone and have to hide in radioactive water for half an hour.

[Shady Stoat]

Good chapter Fauna.

I don't know. Getting involved with an obvious addict all seems a bit dangerous and unnecessary to me. Jakeen's just woken up, I'm sure he feels dreadful, but I'd be inclined to wait at least half an hour, see if it gets better first.

If it's showing any signs of improving, I think he should just put up with it and go to work. People work through hangovers all the time. As a musician, I can see it being not the most pleasant night he's had in his life, but he's probably tough enough to get through it.

If, however, he's out of power and not capable of casting any magic tonight, I'm not sure what choice there is. In which case, I guess we just follow the plot and go to Alfonse ;)

[ethereal_fauna]

Eragon's Ego wrote: well, it was a great chapter, but the end was confusing. I think that he shouldnt try the healing spell because he's low on mana as the woman said, so we should try to find out what Alfonse will do to help him. I also want to know why you picked third person omnicient as the style for the spellsinger stoygame.
If you have the chance to read the other two interwoven stories- the ones for Gorin and Yahoo- you will understand more about who this Alfonse person might be.

I took over writing this SG from another author, and tried to remain consistent with his style (don't know how well I did that).

[jnmrcs]

Nice chapter, even when Jakeen ended not so good. But won.

I will sugest (as the ones before me) go to Alfonse. But we have to do it quickly, we don't want to lost another work day on the bar...

[luvd]

Nice chapter :biggrin: I vote for the Alfonse :cool:

[Cowofdoom666]

Trust the old woman up to a point, if she tries anything, don't do it. people usually do things to benefit themselves.

[Shady Stoat]

OK. I think it's a bit rash to go off with an obvious addict, to what's most likely to be a dealer of some kind. We're in with a rough crowd at Mace's bar, but they at least seem clean. There's no telling where this will end up, if we walk in blind.

At the very least, we need to consult a proper healer of some kind. There should be one about not so far away, if you were dragged in here to recover.

We need to know:

Is working with magic tonight going to do any long-term harm to us?

Will we be able to work tonight, with our mana depleted as it is?

How long will it take us to recover naturally?

Is there anything that can be done to give a quick pick-me-up, without resorting to drugs or black market dealings?


For the sake of an extra ten minutes talking to someone, we could find out an awful lot. Perhaps enough to save us some real trouble in the future! :shock:

[jnmrcs]

You are right. There are some good questions....

[Mordok]

Whoo Hoo! Don't pay the ransom, I have finally escaped.

Great job on the story Fauna. I just finished all your new chapters and I am in awe of your work.

I have not had had a chance to read Smee or D's games yet, so I will go with the flow until I have a basis for my decisions, but expect my votes to come as soon as I catch up completely.


P.S. what the heck is this 41 fables stuff all about?

[ethereal_fauna]

Yayy! Mordok has resurrected. :D

Thanks for the compliments...glad I've done your character some justice. As for the fables, and all the other nifty new changes in the city, you can answer most questions from this handy little index I made. Glad you're back.

[ethereal_fauna]

Polling open for this chapter. Just as the battle polls will be, this poll has also been assigned 'weights' to each option. Some options will have better outcomes than others, for the future of our young bard. What you decide will affect Jakeen's future performance in the arena and his everyday goings-on, either more positively or negatively.

Choose wisely. :)

[Rachel]

I have voted.

[Mother Goose]

Sorry I haven't been around here much lately. I've only had brief times on the site and this game seems to require a lot of research just now, picking opponents from a rather long list.

For this question it seems the poll is closed, but I would go with what seems to be winning anyway, seeking a proper healer.

[ethereal_fauna]

Glad you're still around MG, even if time is limited. It'll be great when you have more time and can get deeper involved and enjoy the games again.