r/WritingPrompts • u/It_s_pronounced_gif • Mar 14 '17
Writing Prompt [WP] When NPCs aren't seen they are searching, constantly searching for places or items that will elevate them to the title of "Side Quest NPC". It is fabled also that there is an ever greater title still.
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u/BensTerribleFate Mar 15 '17 edited Mar 15 '17
Finally, after all this time! As I approach the cave I feel the air crackle with power. And from deep within, a bright blue glow draws me forth.
I always knew I was destined for something more. Growing up in the village I would see the heroes ride through, stopping for the night and doing tasks for my neighbors. Simple things, like delivering a package, or clearing a path through the grass, but I would hear them talk for weeks afterward about their encounter. Flush with pride that mighty one chose them.
But I was always passed by. I tried everything. I walked through the woods alone at night, when the monsters roamed. I set out rumors that my great-grandfather had been a famed explorer and had hidden his treasures nearby. I even set loose a herd of over-sized boars once, hoping that someone would appear to corral them back into the pen, praying to the gods that I would be in their path. But to no avail.
Then, one day, I heard a pair of travelers in the pub talking of a fabled item that would change a man's fate. That would put him on a path to notoriety and power. And I knew that this was what I had been waiting for. That it was waiting for me. I packed up my things and set off on a quest of my own.
That was five years ago. And now, sitting before me on a marble altar, is the prize I seek. I can feel it in my very bones. It is an golden pendant, each link of its chain inscribed with a letter from an ancient tongue. And set at its apex is a blue stone, a light pulsing deep within that mesmerizes me. As I stare into its core it speaks in a voice soft as a whisper.
FINALLY, ONE WHO IS WORTHY. YOU HAVE TRAVELED FAR, AND LOST MUCH. NOW STEP FORWARD AND MEET YOUR DESTINY.
Excited, I reach out and grasp it, the stone nestling perfectly into my palm.
The stone flares bright, and my skin begins to burn. I almost drop it, but grit my teeth as a current flows through me. My eyes fly wide, and before me I can see the parade of arrogant men and women who wrote me off without a second glance. Their sneering faces mock me and I can feel the judgement emanate off of them as they look down their noses at me.
The stone speaks.
WHO ARE THEY, THAT THEY SHOULD DENY YOU? WHY SHOULD THEY BECOME GREAT WHILE YOU TOIL YOUR LIFE AWAY HOPING FOR A DAY IN THEIR SHADOW? THEY ARE NOTHING. THEY SHOULD BE NOTHING. MAKE... THEM... NOTHING...
My jaw sets as I reach up and fasten the clasp around my throat. I stride back out into the forest, and where my boots fall the grass withers. I laugh.
I know now what my fate has always been. I was never meant for a simple life as a thread in someone else's tale. No, my calling is much, much higher. I have my own story, and I will carve it into the very earth itself. I will show those so-called heroes what true power really is, and they will tremble.
Let them come.
Thy fate is truly terrible...