The Inept Mage (Burton Ward)

[Sir_Carnifex]

Name: Burton Ward
Class: Wizard
Age: 45
Alignment: You think I would tell you this immediately?



The short portly man sat down on an inviting bench, heaving a gasp of relief. The walk through the city and across the farmlands plus his lack of fitness and the extreme heat were taking a toll on him. As he rested at the glowing fire, his thoughts went back in time to his old teacher.

"Your intentions are admirable, Burton, but I just do not believe you to be suitable material for a mage," The older man had told him. " I know you have studied hard, but you just do not seem to show the aptitude necessary to be accomplished in this field. I'm sorry, son, but I think it is best if you pursue another field. You know I will always wish you well."

And so he had put away his spellbook, left his studies behind, and focused on another career. Time passed and he found himself digging out his spellbook again.

Burton came back to the present and sighed. Beginning anew was not going to be easy at his age, but he was going to give it his best try anyway. He was determined of that, at the very least. Where he would start, he wasn't sure. The farmer had mentioned paying for depopulating the wolf packs along the south road. That was an option, but wolves? Wolves were dangerous! Couldn't it have been rats or something minor on which he could practice his spells? A man of his type surely could not outrun wolves.

Burton sighed again and then stood up, grabbing his staff at the same time. Dangerous or not, he began walking down the road, forcing his nervous feelings to the back of his mind. Nothing would deter him this time; nothing would scare or intimidate him. He would be the accomplished mage that he always wished to be. His grip tightened on the staff determinedly.

Soon, he neared the ruins to the south. His nerves had somewhat relaxed after he had walked some distance without any encounter. Maybe the stories of wolves were just rumors, or they were exaggerated. It was really quite peaceful out there. He could learn to enjoy this traveling in the wilderness. His thought process stopped suddenly as he caught sight of a wolf loping alongside him on the crest of a hill. The inept mage tried to focus his mind to cast a spell but he couldn't get anything right and nothing came - nothing but the wolf, that is. In terror, Burton fled as fast as he could back to the safety of the farmlands with the wolf nipping at his heels. The wizard's legs carried him like the wind back up the road and across the span of the bridge to safety.

Panting and gasping for breath, Burton mopped the sweat from his brow. That was a close call, but he had survived the encounter. Perhaps he would make another effort, but that wasn't on his priority list at the moment. He pulled a line from inside his pocket and tightened it around his staff, then strolled down to the little dock on the river. Fishing - he could handle fishing well enough.

He dropped the line in the water and waited for the fish to start biting.

[Sir_Carnifex]

Burton sat within the caravan circle just past the bridge to Baldur's Gate. He was roasting a chicken leg over the bright blazing fire even as the sun dipped below the horizon. Burton's stomach growled with hunger as he eyed the tender meat slowly cooking. He was imagining the fine meal he would have before attempting another venture into the wild. His face beamed in satisfaction as he pulled his food back from the fire and prepared to take a bite.

Footsteps behind him - light footsteps - as if someone were trying to catch him by surprise.

The portly wizard jumped from his seat and whirled about in one surprisingly quick motion for a man his size. He was just in time to prevent himself from being grabbed by an odd looking man - one of the rare genasi that Burton had heard about but never before seen.

While Burton was attempting to get an explanation for the genasi's actions, the man reached forward and snatched the chicken leg from his hand and proceeded to feed himself. Burton was none too happy seeing his well-prepared meal go to a stranger and promptly gave the man a well-struck blow across the head with his staff. The stranger countered this with a flat-sided swing of his sword. Both of them blacked out and fell to the ground.

Burton groaned as he sat up and gingerly rubbed the side of his aching head. A voice above him said "It looks like he's finally coming to". He looked up to see a third man standing above him. His adversary was also standing a few feet away nursing a growing lump on his temple. Rising to his feet, Burton ignored the third man and instead fixed his stare upon the genasi who was looking at something on the ground - the chicken leg.

"Get your own food." Burton yelled at him as he furiously stomped on the chicken leg. The genasi made a dive to save the food, but his reactions were to slow and he bumped into Burton's leg, then sprawled on the ground. The bystander looked on in amusement, then departed from the camp.

Still keeping an eye on the hungry stranger, Burton dug into his pack for another serving and began to cook it. As he did this, the genasi scarfed down the flattened piece of meat on the ground as if he hadn't eaten in days. Burton went on with his cooking.

The inept mage did not remember how it happened, but later that evening he found himself walking beside the genasi on the Coast Way. The man was not too intolerable once he had eaten and he proved to be good enough at fending off all the wolves in the area. Burton could live with a partnership of those sorts - especially since this night he seemed to be casting all the wrong spells. He had tried to send a flurry of magic missiles at a wolf and instead a light appeared above his head. He gripped his staff until his knuckles whitened. He would have use a staff since he couldn't remember his spells if his life depended on it - and it did.

"I hear there are bandits in here," his companion told him pointing into the dark cave entrance. "There must be lots of loot."

Burton looked pensive about entering the blackness, but the way back through the packs of wolves alone sounded just as dangerous. With a nod of his head, he followed the genasi into the cave.

Bandits! There were hordes of them! Burton watched as his ally sliced open the first with a powerful stroke of his sword. As the second bandit rushed upon them, Burton instinctively struck down with his heavy staff, landing a skull-crushing blow upon his foe. More came to replace the two bandits who had fallen and the wizard and the fighter struggled to defend themselves. One, two, three, four more bandits fell but the line of them was endless. Burton saw his companion drop to the floor after a blow. A second later, he followed...

[this was one of the most hilarious RP episodes I have been in. Carrian/Atlas had the other character but I can't remember the name.]

[Sir_Carnifex]

Burton was once again taking a stroll south of the city. Lately he had become quite fond of these walks - provided he could avoid the abundance of wolves that lurked in the hills. He thought about the last time he had come out, how he had been with another and they explored the nearby caves. That hadn't worked out so well, and both of them were fortunate to be alive this day. Well, at least Burton was. He had no idea what became of the genasi.

He glanced up to his left at the ruins that sat atop the hill. Giving a little shudder at the thought of what might lie within, he continued along the road, hurrying his pace a little. His attention still fixed on the hilltop, he nearly bumped into a blue-clad man coming the opposite direction. The man greeted him and asked if he was hunting wolves.

"No, no, nothing of the sort. I am just out for a stroll." Burton replied.

Introductions followed, during which he found out the man's name was John. Burton thought perhaps he could travel with the the other, gain some knowledge of the roads, and also practice his spells a little - and he really needed the latter. Before he could suggest the idea, John had already offered to travel with him after he stopped off in town to sell his supply of wolf pelts. Burton kept pace (with difficulty) alongside.

With a dismayed look on his face, the inept mage watched John aim some bolts at a nearby wolf. He agonized about being beset by a pack of wolves because they had attacked one.

"Why do you provoke them to attack?" He blurted, showing his displeasure to the other.

"Practice."

Practice! Burton fumed at that. One gets enough of that just by being on the roads, and he knew he couldn't handle himself too well if he had to run. Complaining inwardly, he followed John back to the camp near the bridge.

John sat at the fire, and Burton carefully eased his way down to the river bank and cast a line into the water. The hour was late and all he cared about now was a battle with the fish.

Burton sat there as the hours passed...

[Sir_Carnifex]

Burton lounged on a bench near the circle of wagons, studiously poring over his spell book. He had been doing so for hours, yet he felt he was nowhere near relearning what he had once known. He sighed in exasperation and closed the book, regretting that he failed to keep in practice what little he had been able to do before. Perhaps, just perhaps, he could do a little adventuring out in among the wolves this day. He realized that he only remembered his spells somewhat when he was actually putting them to use. How unfortunate, that danger must accompany learning.

His thoughts were interrupted by approaching footsteps, so he redirected his attention. A man was walking across the bridge and steadily drawing closer to Burton. He didn't appear to be a warrior of any sort - maybe just another traveler, or a spell caster like Burton.

The man altered his course upon seeing Burton and walked up to him and made an inquiry.

"What is this place?"

"I assume it is some merchant's caravan camp." Burton replied, wondering why anyone would ask such an obvious question.

"I assumed that you work here."

Burton inwardly rolled his eyes at the comment. "No, no, nothing of the sort. I just stop to rest here on occasion. I'm Burton, by the way."

"Shorn. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

Introductions done, Shorn explained that he was about to take a look inside the bandits caves. Burton, not liking that idea at all, agreed to accompany him along the road, but was hesitant to go further.

The two set out and proceeded south where they came across a dwarf, apparently Shorn's friend Belz, and an old man with a white beard. Burton smiled inwardly when the man introduced himself as "Whitebeard".

As the talk once again centered around exploring the caves, Burton reminded himself of his last misadventure inside and determined he did not want to repeat that. Then again, he had more with him, and he did need to try remembering his spells. Much against his own will, he followed the other three inside.

The dark caverns were filled with many of the rough-looking bandits and the battles were quite intense. Burton found himself swinging his staff half the time, often forgetting to even try casting anything. He wondered why nothing could ever come naturally to him, even has he rammed his staff into the stomach of a nearby bandit. The blows that he dealt with his weapon seemed to far outweigh the damage he could do with his limited arcane prowess.

A lull in the fighting allowed the party to take a glance around their surroundings. They were in a small cavern that was filled with boxes and barrels and whatever other odds and ends the bandits chose to store there. Shorn pried the lid loose on a nearby barrel to see what was inside. His disappointed voice informed the others of his findings.

"Salted pork."

The sound of that told Burton that maybe the trip inside hadn't been a waste after all. As the three others made their way outside the cavern, Burton stopped long enough to fill a pouch with the goods. At least he could get a good meal out of his time spent inside - if he lived to see daylight. Much to his relief, they spotted light at the end of the tunnel. They had made a circle around already and he was going to step outside even if the rest stayed.

They didn't.

The group had to go their separate ways once they were outside. Burton chose to return to town. He felt a little satisfied with himself for getting as far as he had. He felt that the experiences he had had recently were, indeed, helping him improve his skills. He wondered a bit, though, if it weren't just his proficiency with his favorite staff which was improving, and not what he had wanted all along. He would have to work on his spells some more.

He stopped back at the camp and plopped down on a bench with a gasp of relief. The whole day had been exhausting and he was more than happy to be back in a safe place where he could enjoy himself for a time.

With a contented look, he retrieved the hunk of salted pork from his pack.