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Alchemist Baozhai of the Plains (#3919)

Owner: 0x24D7…e52b

Chapter 1: In the service of the Voidlord

Baozhai watched as the wizard fished the shimmering white and blue egg out of the sluggish flow. She had chanced upon the egg mere moments ago, yet already it captivated her, throwing up a thousand images in her mind… a magical creature from another realm to raise as her own – the possibilities were limitless!

The Great Lord will find out, you know He will!

Yes! He’ll roast strips of your flesh and feed them to you while you beg for mercy!

She focused her mind, pushing the voices backwards. Luckily, she had heard the man coming just before she had exposed herself. From the colour of the hip scarf he wore and the band tying back his straight dark hair from his face, she guessed that he was of the Green guild, though that was never a certainty.

Now, hiding in the dense undergrowth, she plotted a way to get the egg away from him. She had sensed the power of the Rune embedded in the egg’s shell, even though she was unable to divine its identity. As much as she thirsted for that power, though, she wasn’t sure if she was a match for this Battle Mage, and she was not one to take unnecessary risks. This was going to take subtlety. She reached inside her hip pouch and ran her fingertips over the glass vial that held her Astral Potion.

You could trick Him, He’ll never find out, you’re skilled enough to keep this secret from Him!

Hera pricked up his ears as another onyx wolf emerged from the forest and trotted over to the wizard. Baozhai could feel her familiar trembling with excitement. She eyed the man on the far riverbank again.

You are worthless… you are nothing… the Great Lord will bond you in eternal suffering…

No! You’ve proved yourself useful, He needs you!

A smile crept across her face as a plan began to form in her mind, pushing the cacophony of voices into the background for a short time.

One voice remained as always, though, constantly grating metallically inside her skull and reminding her of what was expected:

You will bring me any magical artefacts you can make, find, or steal, minion! You belong to me now. If you fail me, you will suffer the agonies of the depths of the Quantum Shadow… be sure to please me often, for you do not want me to feel unappreciated.

She shuddered. The Great Lord of the Void was not one to be trifled with, yet the pull of that egg was overpowering. Perhaps she would be able to hide just this one prize from Him? The Voidlord had been most pleased with the three keys she had brought to Him in the Dream Realm so far. If she could find another treasure to bring Him before she was summoned again, maybe she would be able to keep the egg for herself.

Baozhai steeled herself, fighting to suppress the voices in her head again. If she could just get the egg back to the Alchemists’ Archipelago, she would have access to the vast alchemical treasury to help her conceal her thoughts from her Lord’s prying mind for a while – perhaps long enough to stash her prize safely and secure a warding to obscure her memories of the egg from His influence.

Chapter 2: The temptress

Baird clutched the egg close to him, allowing the energy of the rune to flow into him. The relief he felt at having recovered it was tempered somewhat by his concern for Pan. The Shaman’s failure to appear at the appointed time was a worry. Who knew what misfortune could have befallen him, and his friends had not been there to help. Bird’s thoughts were tinged with guilt, but equally, he could not imagine surviving without the egg.

It was a long trek back to The Fey, but with the egg in hand, Baird was determined to return and find out what had happened to his friend. As he sat and pondered, Shimmer burst out of a tangled thicket with a yelp of excitement and bounded over to Skadi. The jet black wolf leapt up to meet the shaggy dog and the pair spun in circles around each other.

A moment later Eric rushed into the clearing, and beamed as he caught sight of Baird. “Finally!” he boomed. “By Mercury, you’re a tough man to catch. I see you got your egg back. Don’t worry about Pan, he’s fine, he sent Fester to find us.” He sat down and puffed out his beard, then pulled back the flap of his travel pack so that the plague rat could jump out onto the bare earth, where Eric scattered some nuts and seeds for him to nibble on.

Baird breathed a sigh of relief, and listened as Eric related the story of Pan’s disappearance. “I say we get a good night’s sleep then go after him in the morning. Fester says they were moving through The Fey towards Dream Master Lake. If we cut across Frog Master Marsh and head along the Carnival Pass, we can probably make up some time,” he finished.

Baird agreed, then Eric called Shimmer over. “I passed some boar tracks not far back, we’ll go see if we can rustle up some dinner.”

“I’ll get a fire going and see if I can find some berries along the river,” Baird replied. The two men clasped hands, and Eric and Shimmer walked back the way they had come.

Baird’s stomach growled as he dumped an armful of dry sticks on the ground and began to build the cookfire. As he worked, Skadi suddenly sprang up and bounded out of the camp towards the river. Baird called after her, but the wolf was already gone. Baird stared after her thoughtfully – Skadi was independent, but usually he could sense her intentions; this time, no signal had passed through the bond, and he had not even been able to read her body language.

Strapping the egg in its pouch on his back, Baird followed his familiar down the trail, wondering what had made her behave so strangely. The dense tangle of briars on either side of the path clawed at his sleeves as he hurried towards the river, the jagged outline of skeletal trees framing a small sliver of grey sky. Baird came out onto the open riverbank, scanning upriver and down for Skadi, but she was nowhere to be seen; once more, she did not come when he called.

Upstream, the river’s path twisted and the water was swallowed by the surrounding forest. Delicate wisps of blue smoke drifted around the bend in the river, filling his nostrils with an enticing scent that coaxed him onwards. As he came around the bend, the river widened into a dark, shallow pool overhung by a riot of different plants. Their vibrant colours and diverse forms were in stark contrast to the thorny interior of the forest; beneath the overhanging plants, amidst the pale blue smoke rising off the surface of the water, bathed the most beautiful woman Baird had ever seen.

In the back of his mind, an alarm went off, but as the smoke wafted around him, all cautiousness dissipated and he found himself drawn forward as if in a dream. The woman turned, eyeing him over her shoulder alluringly, and beckoned him to join her. He took a deep breath, sucking smoke deep into his lungs. It felt as though he floated on a cloud high above the forest; stars spiralled across his vision and he laid the egg pouch on the ground, then shed his clothes and slipped into the river.

Chapter 3: A poached egg

The Mage’s cries of despair shook the darkened forest. Wizard #2875 tucked his blue cape behind him and parted the brambles covering the thicket where he hid. His elfin eyesight allowed him to see the scene in clear detail, though it was dimly lit by the silver moonlight: Baird knelt on the floor, half-naked, his head in his hands, as Eric tried in vain to console him.

She was long gone by now, but Akron had witnessed the Alchemist tipping her potion into the pool; her onyx wolf coaxing the Mage’s wolf upstream, away from her master; how the Wizard, infatuated by the vapours of the potion, had allowed himself to be seduced, and had then fallen asleep on the riverbank; the alchemist dressing hurriedly and disappearing into the forest with the egg slung over her shoulder in its pouch.

The Thaumaturge shook his head ruefully. It did not please him to see Baird in such pain. Yet it was necessary… For the solar visions to come to pass, he must suffer now; Akron’s latest visions had been very clear, it was not enough that the Battle Mages had been separated from the newly-formed Emerald Rangers. Wizard #4298’s anger when he discovered that the Alchemist was hiding the egg’s existence from him would divert his attention for a time, allowing events to unfold without his interference.

Whether Baird ever regained the egg or not – well, that remained to be seen. Akron was satisfied regardless; it mattered not in the greater scheme of things. With the egg in the Alchemist’s keeping, for now the Runiverse would struggle on.

Story Arc Index:

Prologue: Wizard #2875

Part 1: Wizard #3032

Part 2: Wizard #1182

Part 3: Wizard #3282

Part 4: Wizard #3916

Part 5: Wizard #2550

Part 6: Wizard #3919

Part 7: Pony #433

Entered by: 0x24D7…e52b and preserved on chain (see transaction)