World Lore, Dice Rolls, Tables and Cypher System mechanics (Dropbox Folder)
Dazzle offered me a drink which I greedily took. “Whiskey.” I said.
She seemed impressed and waited with her fingers steepled in front of her while my drink was poured and I was sipping at the amber liquid enjoying the burn as it went down.
“We need a particular skill set of you and your companion.” She leaned forward. “You see, the two of you are non-magical by nature. And magic is everywhere here. Magic and science, but magic none-the-less and very few here have no-magic. Your world is unique. We need that uniqueness to retrieve an item. We will pay handsomely for this service.”
“This is going to be dangerous isn’t it.” I said. It wasn’t a question. “I’m going to have to say no.”
Dazzle laughed. “My dear, this was not a question. You either do this of your own free will, or we’ll just keep you indefinitely and you and your friend can remain separated. And then whatever will you do about those feelings you have? Perhaps a night alone in a cell might let you see things my way.”
“Fine.” I said. “I’ll do it. But I can’t speak for Nox. I need to find him.”
“You have all the tools you need to find your boy. In the bag you’ll find an Etheric Compass. It will point you in the direction of whatever you think about. It’s a handy little tool. Though make sure it’s attuned to you, otherwise it just won’t work.” She said with a laugh. “I’ll have a room set up for you here until you find your friend. And then the two of you will retrieve my artifact.”
“I’m free to go?”
“No. We’ll have Shade stick with you to make sure you come back.”
I growled as the tiny dragon person hopped from her chair and walked away like she owned the place. I suppose she did.
It was only then that I noticed a tall thin man standing in the corner of the room. He looked like he was there and then wasn’t. What the…
He stepped closer and I knew I’d seen him this time. He looked rail thin, almost translucent draped in a dark cloak that all but hid him from the world. He couldn’t be real.
“I’m real.” The voice slithered across his skin.
“What are you?”
The smirk that played across his lips made my skin crawl. “Nothing you know of. But I won’t hurt you. I’m just here to watch you. You’ll not even know I’m there.” He said as he moved slightly and he vanished from my eyes.
“The brain is easy to trick.” His voice sounded from the location he’d been in prior, he hadn’t moved.
“So you are just going to follow me?”
Shade shifted back into view with a wider smirk. “That is the plan. Shall we?” He waved a slender hand in front of him and it shimmered and shifted as he moved, like my brain was trying to interpret some dance it only saw snippets of.
“Yeah I guess.” I said picking up the bag and glancing in one. There were several things in side. “I don’t see a compass.” I looked up at the man who towered above me, I still sat, but his dark hair was brushing the ceiling. He’d tower above me even if I were standing up.
He rolled his eyes and looked in the bag and pulled out a rectangular looking box. A voice started to speak, “Oh do shut up.” He croaked and touched the device and it sprang to life and he flicked his long fingers across the screen and handed it to me. “You call them smartphones. This is a Gnome G2. A helpful device. Your welcome center should have instructed you.”
I chuckled. “I wasn’t paying attention.”
He rolled his eyes again.
“Keep doing that and you’ll get stuck that way.”
Shade rolled his eyes again but this time with purpose. “Think about what you want to find and it will guide you.”
I took the device in my hand and thought it looked like a smart phone but it didn’t have any visible screen or cameras or anything that was familiar to me so I just shrugged and trusted that it did what Shade said it did.
I thought about the pretty boy whom I wanted to kiss — no I wanted more than that, but those thoughts made the compass needle spin wildly out of control.
“Concentrate.” Shade said from the shadows.
I sighed and took a deep breath. I thought of Nox. His big brown eyes his long lashes. The compass continued to spin out of control.
“I don’t think it works.”
“You have to concentrate.” Shade popped out in front of me and I took a step back with a startled guffaw. He took my hands in his and held the device in between the two of us. “Stop thinking with your flibber.”
“What?” I laughed. “A flibber. What the fuck is a flibber?”
Shade lifted a knee right into my groin and I doubled over in pain but knew fully well what he meant. “Flibber — got it.” I still couldn’t help chuckling even though I was in pain.
The Mind of Nox 