Cover image: Torture vector created by vectorpocket – freepik

Controlled.

***

Manipulated.

***

Every time I awake and regain control I quickl

***

It happened again. I am a passenger in my own body most of the time. But I’m not alone in thi

***

Every time I regain control, it appears to be lasting longer and longer. He is losing his grip on me… on all of us. Soon we will no longer be his captiv

***

I don’t know how many months it’s been, or years for that matter. I imagine the others are experiencing this as well. I could have sworn I saw Sasha reaching for her sword the last time I was awake. But if she cannot strike him down, what hope does a lowly scribe have in defea

***

It’s only a matter of time now before Sasha, or even the twins, strike him down. 

It is confusing when you first awake. While control is regained, the mind remains a fog. Confused, out of sorts, no memories, as if escaping a state of delirium. But as the fog lifts, some information seems to return, while most memories appear lost. 

I don’t know how many times I struggled through the fog before I remembered my own name. How many times before I began to note what was occurring, I wonder.

I still don’t remember the names of the twins. But I’m sure it will come to me soo

***

Today, I discovered, he has captives in the basement. Caged up like wild animals. Experiments so to speak. 

He’s been casting spells and rituals on them, changing them, altering the very fabric of who they are. 

One appears to be a Fire Genasi. Or, at least, he used to be. Catching a glimpse of the sorcerer’s notes, it appears the Genasi was in a massive explosion and lost several limbs. These were replaced. Warforged parts were added to the Genasi like some sort of Fireforged hybrid. It appears the fire is what helped bind the metals to him. This is unnatural!

Another is a Tabaxi, of the Catfolk people. A ninja cat of New Vanguard was embedded within the Tabaxi’s chakra network. It seems the sorcerer is testing alternative means of casting magic. To see if a monk’s Ki ability can be used in casting sorcerer-like spells. 

I don’t think the old sorcerer realizes that I have been reading his notes. 

His magic is waning, as I’ve suspected. He’s trying to replace this. I see his plan now. 

I don’t know how much time I have, so I’m writing this as quickly as I can.

The 3rd is a human. This human seems to possess innate psionic abilities. The sorcerer thought he could use his body to bring back an evil entity that has been long dead. But the possession failed. There is strength in this human. While he is not possessed, this evil entity is bound to him. He is haunted by it. His nightmares are a clear indication of this. Does he even know yet, I wond

***

I had to reread my previous notes again. They help to remind me of what’s been occurring. 

The final of the four was infused with Dread Wolf blood. These are believed to have been extinct since the 2nd era. And even then, they were extremely rare. They were conduits to evil mages, who would use them to see and hear all that the dread wolves could. These undead wolves were used as scouts that were under the direct control of their magical masters.

It seems a living hybrid is what the old sorcerer desires. Wolves are limited in what they can accomplish. Dwarves are tougher, more hardy and more robust, and can achieve far more than a simpleminded undead wolf. 

A dwarf-dread wolf hybrid is a terrifying thought, to say the least!

The more significant concern, however, now that I know all of this, is how these four will react when the spell wears off completely. Will they fight with us in defeating the old sorcerer or will they side with him and slay us all? 

I suspect we are about to find out. 

***

Part 2 and 3 have been lost. I'm trying to recover them.