Sssalem of Mosmyae
Wizard apprentice
Birthday: Kythorn 21st, 469 (Shaytrix Calendar]
Age: 17
Height: 142cm
Weight: 37kg
Hometown: Andosall, Mosmyae
Backstory
Scarlet Scales; Crimson Pools
"Salem, Salem! Show me your magic trick again!" Scarlet of the red scales begged his older brother."Okay, give me a second," the slightly taller amber-scaled boy said, screwing his eyes up in concentration. A moment later, a small puff of noxious purple mist curled up from his palm, making both of their eyes water."That's so cool!" Scarlet shrieked and ran his hand through the small poison cloud with obvious delight."Yeah, maybe. But it's supposed to be bigger, and I can't tell if the composition is correct," the older Yuan-ti complained.A tall, robed figure detached itself from the shadow of a nearby doorway and glided over to the two children.
"Now, now. You know you're not supposed to practice magic in the halls. The guardians could be watching.", a deep and admonishing voice boomed from a robed individual who looked more snake than man.Salem yelped and hid his hands behind his back, "Lord Zassador, I didn't know you were watching. Do you think they saw me?""Most likely not, but you should be careful. You know magic is forbidden here because the humans might be able to track us down," the older, and much more serpentine creature chastened. "Although, that was a decent attempt."Salem pouted and whined, "But you use magic all the time. Why don't the humans sense you doing it?""I use magic only as ordered by seers and because I can shield myself from their senses. I suspect that's half the reason they keep me around. Now run along and try not to trip over your tail," the wizard cackled.Salem's pout immediately turned to embarrassment and he grumbled under his breath, "I wish I had a tail. They call us purebloods but treat us like garbage because we look and smell like humans."Scarlet who had to this point been looking on with awe and a little fear finally found his voice again, "It's okay big brother, you'll be a great magician one day! Then you can show them what we're capable of!"The older boy ruffled his brother's red-tipped hair and smiled, "Thanks, Scarlet. You're right. I just have to keep practicing."Zassador crooked his elongated head to the side and tasted the air with a forked tongue, "Perhaps we'll see what you're made of one day. But that day is not today. Now, it's almost time for dinner and I have some books to sniff, I mean read."Salem's mind had time to wander as the two made their way back through the ancient desert temple that their tribe called home. I wish Lord Zassador would take me on as an apprentice. He said he swore off teaching magic to anyone after his last apprentice left to join the evil humans living in Calimport. But humans can't be that bad, can they? The elders tell us stories about humans raiding and pillaging, but why would they do that? We just want to live in peace here. Maybe when I grow up I can be a diplomat and help keep the peace between us. I'll talk to the humans and tell them we mean them no harm; then they'll have to --Salem was broken out of his stupor by their arrival at the small cloister he and Scarlet shared with their brood parents. Scarlet, unable to contain his glee ran into the room and shrieked a greeting to their caretakers, "Aster, Sarah, guess who we saw today! Lord Zassador saw Salem doing magic and came over to see. He said it was really impressive!"Salem groaned as a Yuan-ti woman with long hair, a flat nose, and green skin wheeled around to face him, "You were practicing magic again?! How many times do we have to tell you no?! You're not going to mess around with hexes or any such nonsense. You're going to follow Lord Aster's footsteps and join the patrol!" Her tail lashed angrily from side to, whipping her thigh slit dress around her ankles.A bulky Yuan-ti abomination with muscled arms, armored chest, and an elongated serpentine torso, slithered up beside her and nodded in affirmation, "Come now Salem, you know there is no place for magic in the desert. That kook Zassador has somehow convinced the sages and seers that he's useful, but we all know it's going to bring unwanted attention upon us. We have to be ready if the humans come; it'll kill or be killed we'll all fight a glorious fight. One day, you'll get to dine on the flesh of your first kill."Salem grimaced at the thought of eating human flesh. It always disturbed him to think about consuming the flesh of a creature that could think and speak as well as any of his kin, but the practice was not uncommon among the warriors of the tribe. In an attempt to skip the rest of the lecture Salem asked, "Speaking of dining, what's to eat?"Aster harumphed and replied in his deep baritone, "The farmers brought some half-rotten rats and cactus juice by for us, but I managed to snag a rabbit while out on patrol. Here, take some. I even found some golden eagle eggs for breakfast in the morning."Salem's and Scarlet's eyes lit up at the mention as they cheered in unison for their favorite food, "EGGS!"Following dinner, the four of them curled up for the night on the sandy floor in front of the fireplace where some scrub brush burned, keeping the family warm through the cold desert night.--They were jarred awake just minutes before dawn by a cacophony of the temple bells high overhead. Aster was immediately alert and grabbed his sword which was never far from reach, "There must be an attack. Sarah, get the kids to the safety of the pits."As the family of four rushed into the temple hallway shouts and clangs of combat could be heard in the distance. Aster hugged his family and rushed in that direction as fast as his snake-like torso could take him. The other three took off, deeper into the temple. "Sarah, what are the pits?" Scarlet asked, eyes wide with terror."Back when this temple was occupied by humans, they were catacombs below the temple where humans buried their dead. When our people took over the temple, they were excavated, the bodies disposed of, and it was turned into a place to store gathered food. But in emergencies, we can also seal it off into a secure fortress," Sarah panted as they ran down a series of steps.As the three reached the bottom of the stairs, they skidded to a stop and stared in horror into a Narthex that had been converted into birthing chambers by the Yuan-Ti. Brood guards lay dead and dying around the room. Broken eggs littered the floor. And marching towards the fleeing family was a squadron of soldiers. It was difficult to see their faces under the shining steel helmets they wore, but Sarah seemed to recognize the crest emblazoned on their armor. "Humans," she spat with all of the venom and condemnation she could muster.The Yuan-Ti woman yanked a lever on the wall causing a sandstone door to slam into place between her family and the guards. She pulled the two children down another hallway that lead away from the stairs and the carnage they had just witnessed. "That won't hold them long," Sarah hissed.A frightened Salem looked up at her as he ran, dragging Scarlet behind him, "But Sarah, what are humans doing here? How did they get in? Why did they kill all of those brood guards?""I don't know how they got in, but humans hate us. That's all there is to it. They're evil and want to wipe every last one of our people from the continent."An explosion detonated behind them and filled the hallway with rubble as the troop of guards blasted the door out of their way. Sarah swore and shoved the two boys ahead of her as they reached a split in the corridor. "Salem, no time to argue. Take your brother and get to the pits. It's just down this hallway and then take a right. I'll meet them here and then lead them off in a different direction.""B-but""No, buts! Go!" Sarah snarled and shoved Salem and Scarlet in the direction she pointed.Salem fled down the corridor holding Scarlet by the hand. As they reached another fork in the corridor, Salem took the right as instructed, and emerged into an old chapel with a doorway at the end. But to Salem's horror, the door was lowering. He shrieked for them to wait and redoubled his speed, but it was too late. Just as he reached the other end of the room, the door thudded into place.As the two boys whirled around looking for a place to hide, the tramp boots echoed into the room. Sarah's diversion had failed, and now they had just led the soldiers to where the rest of their clan was hiding. "Well, well, well. What have we here?" a voice, unfamiliar in cadence to Salem, but dripping with venom, spoke. "A couple of snakes lost in a temple? Or were you trying to flee behind that door? Tell me little ones, what lies beyond that door?"Salem rose to his full, if diminutive, height defiantly, "We'll never tell you!""Oh no, whatever shall we do? The worm won't talk," the guard drawled sarcastically, advancing on the brothers. "SEIZE THEM!" he roared to his troop.The soldiers rushed forward at them and Salem did the only thing he could think of. He held his palm out, took a deep breath, and focused. A jet of purple mist shot from Salem's palm, fueled by adrenaline and terror, blinding the first soldier and causing him to collapse in agony, clutching at his throat. It was an admirable attempt, but there were just too many soldiers and soon Salem and Scarlet had their arms pinned behind their back. A vice-like grip pulled Salem to his feet and yanked his head back by his hair. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Scarlet being similarly lifted off his feet."Oho, so this one has some spunk," the soldier, who Salem guessed was an officer by the plume on his helmet, spoke again. "We'll see how much fighting spirit you have when we're finished with you."
A fist slammed into Salem's gut, and the breath whooshed out of him. It felt like his scalp was being torn off as he tried to double over in pain but was held fast by the soldier. "Not so tough now, eh? How about you tell us where the rest of your clan ran off to and we'll let you live.""L-let Scarlet go and I'll tell you whatever you want," Salem wheezed as his eyes filled with tears."Who's Scarlet?" the voice sneered. "This little worm-ling? I never said anything about letting it live."Before he could say anything, Salem watched in horror as the captain of the guard took a knife and drew it across his brother's throat, slashing the boy nearly from ear to ear. The boy's cries of pain quickly turned into disjointed gurgling and then fell silent."SCARLET, NOOOOOO!"As Salem's wails of despair filled the room, the captain wiped tears of amusement from his eyes and said, "Who knew the creatures could feel empathy or sadness in their cold little hearts."The rest of the troop doubled over laughing at Salem's despair, but it didn't last long because their mirth was cut short when they started coughing. A green mist had begun flowing down the walls filling the room with poison. The man holding Salem collapsed to the ground, grasping at his throat.As the toxic tide rose and the men gasped for breath, Salem crawled over to Scarlet's limp form and cradled his brother, trying to staunch the bleeding. Some wounds are just too deep to treat though, and as crimson pools formed around Salem, sobs wracked his body. When Scarlet died in his arms, Salem's heart was not filled with malice, nor even a single thought of revenge -- only a deep misery that knew no bounds.Salem held his brother's body for hours -- crying until he could cry no more. The soldiers who had pursued them were long dead, along with Salem's entire world. After what seemed like an eternity, a robed form entered the poison-filled room and approached. Salem turned his tear-streaked face upward, recognizing Lord Zassador who gazed upon him with sorrow and pity."Lord Zassador, what happened? These men killed Scarlet then just collapsed," Salem croaked."I filled the entire temple with poison to flush out or kill the humans. Unfortunately, it's a very slow process and I started it in my quarters at the very top to fill the entire temple. I'm so very sorry I was not in time to save Scarlet," Zassador replied softly.Salem broke down in fresh sobs, clutching Scarlet's now-cold body, "I-is there anything you can do?""I'm sorry Salem, but the ways of the dead are beyond even me," the tall wizard bent down and picked up Salem and the body. "But come now, we must bury the dead. And I think, it's time for you to learn to harness your gifts."
Beauty Beyond the abyss
The boy who touched the stars
Coming soon