Chapter #1233
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+ THE ADVENTURERS +
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+ Epic VI +
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+ Many of the locations, non-player characters, spells, and other +
+ terms used in these stories are the property of Wizards of the Coast +
+ which has in no way endorsed or authorized their use. Any such +
+ property contained within these stories are not representative of +
+ Wizards of the Coast in any fashion. +
+ The player characters depicted in these stories are copyright +
+ 1991-2026 by Thomas A. Miller. Any resemblance to any persons +
+ or characters either real or fictional is utterly coincidental. +
+ Copying and/or distribution of these stories is permissible under +
+ the sole condition that no money is made in the process. In that +
+ case, I hope you enjoy them! +
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+ Wu 18th level human wizard, alterer +
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+ Date: 6/1/587 C.Y. (Common Year) +
+ Time: early morning +
+ Place: the Brass Hills, within the Bright Lands +
+ Climate: hot and dry +
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+ "You are one crazy old man." +
+ "You'll get there." +
+ - from _Rocky Balboa_ +
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MCCXXXIII. Wu
Of all eight towers belonging to the members of the Bright Alliance,
it was Wu's that most clearly evoked a completely different design and
culture. The structure was forty feet square at its base, gradually
narrowing as it extended skyward...but then flaring out slightly at the
top, the corners curling back in on themselves in the elaborate, ornate
architectural style that was common in the far western lands of Tusmit,
Zeif, Ekbir, and others. The tower's five floors had high, pointed
ceilings of bright and colorful design, archways instead of doors, huge
decorative tapestries over all its walls, and so on. There were numerous
windows, all identical (rectangular with peaks at the top) and all opened
by default; Wu liked warm weather and he liked a breeze. Of course, the
entire structure - from its broad stone base to its unusual roof, from
the arched double doors at ground level to the many large windows - was
shielded by powerful magic protections. The wind might get in, but never
would it carry any harmful vapor or gas, and any visitors (airborne or
on foot, living or otherwise) would be turned away or at least delayed
while the old wizard was alerted to their presence and could deal with
them as appropriate.
The tower's layout was quite unusual, for every floor had one or more
stairways up or down to adjacent ones, and the vast majority of chambers
were not meant or used for a specific purpose. Sometimes Wu slept in
the huge, soft bed on the fourth floor; other times he napped on one of
his many plush couches (and occasionally he fell asleep in his favorite
chair, a worn piece of furniture that was older than he was.) The tower
contained thousands of odds and ends from a life well-lived: furniture,
clothes, mementos, and a variety of other items. Some were more or less
normal, others were unusual, and many were magical to some degree. The
truth was that the old wizard hadn't had a permanent home for quite some
time, and all of these items had been stored in some place only he knew
about and could access. Now - finally, and in the hot climate of the
Bright Lands - he had decided to make a proper home in which to put all
of his many possessions.
Wu was physically the least impressive of the group, being shorter and
more frail-looking than even Dexitheseus. His wrinkled yellow skin was
creased and tanned from over seven decades filled of life and travel, and
thin wisps of white hair clung to the back of his mostly-bald head. His
stringy white goatee tapered to an ambiguous point just beneath his chin.
None knew which exact far western land he hailed from; he amused himself
by naming different homelands when talking to different people. In recent
years, he had affiliated himself with the Host of Greyspire, participating
in dozens of their military campaigns spanning a decade. All of that had
come to an end with the fall of Greyspire, and shortly after those events
he had been located by Parekh and invited into her Cabal - the predecessor
organization to the Bright Alliance. Wu tended to say very little, and
when he did talk, he often spoke in clipped sentences or babbled somewhat
incoherently. A casual observer might think him senile...but nothing was
further from the truth. The thin, wizened archmage was a master of living
transmutation magic such as polymorphing and shapechanging; in fact, some
of his most impressive combat tactics had involved him changing himself
into one dragon or another and then wreaking havoc on foes. For battles
of great significance, he tended to assume the forms of exotic western
dragons - a bluish-gray cloud dragon, a bright yellow fire dragon, a dark
blue water dragon, a brown-hued earth dragon. These rare, lesser-known
species generally had long, serpentine bodies, more pronounced talons
and fangs, and unusual features such as feathers, beards, and gills. If
he wished, Wu could assume other forms large or small, and of course was
easily capable of changing the shapes of other creatures. The fact was,
he was typically more interested in changing himself into something more
powerful than he was in changing another individual into something less
powerful.
He was usually garbed in a simple brown robe, its sleeves ending at the
middle of the forearms in the style of his homeland. This magical garment
offered a high degree of protection from both physical attacks and spells,
and was also soft and quite comfortable. On one finger he wore a ring of
regeneration, while a second ring on his other hand conferred protection
from diseases, blindness, deafness, and the like. He typically carried a
wand of magic missiles, a wand of polymorphing, a small brass lamp that
could summon a djinn, a tiny jade box that could summon a mighty wind, and
of course his six-demon bag. He also owned a huge, unique flying carpet,
the Ample Tapestry of the Wind Dukes; this small bundle of cloth magically
unfolded into a huge rug, nearly a hundred feet square, that could carry
dozens of people and sizable loads of equipment. Another powerful and
useful item of Wu's was the artifact known as the Fire Orb. This small
sphere of orange glass was linked to the elemental plane of Fire, and it
had impressive defensive and offensive powers and properties.
Just as Wu's homeland and culture were different, so were some of the
spells be knew and commanded. Among those were Elemental Burst (which
caused an item or concentration of wood, fire, water, stone, or air to
suddenly explode), Fire Star (which created and launched multiple small
pinwheels of blazing fire), Fire Rain (fairly self-explanatory), Melt
Metal (likewise), Creeping Darkness (a moving, fluid cloud of darkness),
Warp Stone (similar to Warp Wood, except affecting stone), Tool (which
created large quantities of common items such as weapons, armor, food,
mining or farming implements, boats, wagons, and horses), Whirlwind (a
temporary but powerful localized tornado), and Tsunami (self-explanatory
and quite destructive.) He had access to others as well, found within
his massive library of scrolls - a library which had as much lore as it
did magic.
While Wu was seldom without his personal guard - a half-dozen ogre magi
who all wore magical armor, were armed with magical weapons, also carried
potent wands, and were highly experienced in the use of their spells and
other abilities - Wu also had a familiar. It had never accompanied him
on adventures (or even been seen for that matter) because it was a fish,
which lived in a large tank of water. Although it had no place on the
road or in dungeons, this unique creature served to advise and assist Wu,
for it was both intelligent and wise, and also communicated by telepathy.
Aside from these associates, Wu kept no servants - preferring, at this
stage of his life, the silence and efficiency of unseen servants. In his
spare time, he enjoyed researching various monsters and animals (he liked
to be familiar with as many options as possible for those occasions when
he changed his form) and spent many a night sitting in a chair reading,
often dozing on and off during such times.
Much like his contemporary Dexitheseus, Wu cared little for arguments
and frantic activity at his age. He considered the work of the Bright
Alliance to be his life's crowning achievement (which was really saying
something, given his fifty-plus years of adventuring and accomplishments)
and had no strong feelings about the other members. He was pleased that
Lord Marcus, his old friend and frequent collaborator, was now involved;
even an old archmage like him knew that steel as well as magic was needed
to hold power in a land. While he'd had a lifelong disdain - one that he
had never really been able to explain - for all magic, potions, and other
methods that reversed the effects of old age...Wu was now feeling those
effects in his joints and muscles, more and more every day. He had only
recently begun to consider alternatives to a natural death, and the one
that interested him right now was the possibility of permanently changing
his shape into something exotic and much longer-lived (such as a ki-rin,
a phoenix, or perhaps even a dragon.) The end result of these ideas had
yet to be seen, as the current agenda and goals of the Bright Alliance
were keeping him fairly busy. Life was good - even at this late stage of
Wu's life - and he was enjoying himself more than he had in a long while.
next: economy, laws...and finally, a name for the city!
map: http://www.peldor.com/world/atlas/Bright-Desert_1226.png
www: http://www.peldor.com/download.html
homepage: http://www.peldor.com/
email: tmiller@peldor.com
released: 10/30/2026
notes: And that's it...the eighth of eight background stories for
the Bright Alliance wizards. They were, in some cases, more than just
filling in the blanks, they were an effort to review all that I've ever
written about the people and gather/consolidate the key material into
one place. I am sure that this batch of episodes will come in handy
whenever I write the Bright Alliance accessory in the future.
The new spells listed for Wu can all be found in the 1st Edition
rulebook "Oriental Adventures." So far, I've just mined official TSR
and Wizards of the Coast products, or else made up my own spells...I
also have a few non-canon books that I can mine for new spells in the
future, if needed.
I had a random idea near the end of this group of stories...maybe it
would help if I chose real-life actors and actresses who I thought of
when writing about these people. Long ago, this was half-seriously
tackled in episode 404, way back when I didn't think much about canon
and long-term consistency but instead just threw every idea I could
think of at the wall to see what stuck. Anyway, let's take another
stab at this, thirty years later; bear in mind that I'm not thinking
of these actors in 2026 but rather in their heyday, which is how I
tend to remember movie stars anyway.
Alindyar - Way back when, I matched him with Samuel L. Jackson (which
was interesting because this was long before all the Marvel movies,
and Jackson was best known for _Pulp Fiction_.) However, Jackson's
acting has gone in a different though entertaining direction and he
isn't the guy for this role. I'm thinking of someone - and this is
kind of cheating - who has done a great job with a major role as a
magician: Benedict Cumberbatch, who is Doctor Strange in numerous
Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. He's thin and unassuming enough
to be believable as a dark elf.
Belphanior - Also way back when, I picked Marc Singer for this, based
largely on his lean, athletic look in things like _Beastmaster_, _V_,
and one of my favorite episodes of _Highlander_. I stand by this
choice, as any actor modeling Belphanior has to have some degree of
physicality, and Singer sure did in his prime.
Dexitheseus - Assuming Christoper Lee and Ian McKellen are off-limits
since they've already portrayed famous wizards on-screen, my vote on
this one goes to the same guy that my brothers and I sort of based
Dexitheseus on when we created him way back in the mid-1980s: Nicol
Williamson, specifically his role as Merlin in _Excalibur_. He was
young then, so we'd need the aged version, but otherwise it's a fit.
Kronos - This needs to be someone who just naturally looks competent,
even menacing...and who command respect whenever he speaks. So I'm
thinking Scott Glenn. He had that down in everything from _The Right
Stuff_ to _The Hunt For Red October_ to _Silence of the Lambs_ to
the TV series _Daredevil_.
Lyra - Before, I suggested Susanna Hoffs, lead singer of the Bangles,
mostly because of that quiet cute look. I'm going to stick with her
for Lyra unless I can ever find an actress with a similar look who
can also be threatening and dangerous in a low-key way.
Pallin - He may be too tall, and too closely associated with action,
but I think Liam Neeson might be the guy for this. He can project
competence and seriousness without saying a word, and Pallin doesn't
talk much anyway.
Parekh - Not many Indian actresses are well-known in the U.S. (at least
not to me) but a strong possibility, based on her role in the less-
than-epic _Immortals_, is Freida Pinto. Her character was even an
oracle. Plus she's acted in many other movies, and has some range.
Shemeya - I pretty much base this on a single role, but when I think
of Sulm's last wizard and living citizen, I think of Maria Conchita
Alonso in _Extreme Prejudice_. She was a fairly strong supporting
character who had to deal with the likes of Nick Nolte and Powers
Boothe. She also did a good job in _Predator 2_.
Wu - James Hong. There's no doubt in my mind. Two of his better-
known performances are the evil sorcerer Lo Pan in _Big Trouble in
Little China_ and the feisty grandfather in _Everything Everywhere
All at Once_. Done.
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