Quote Originally Posted by Madhatter88 View Post
Hey there! I really admire your work and would like to queue up a story about Jafar, a knowledge hungry rock gnome wizard. His parents were clerics, but he wants to heal with his own magic, not some god's. School of Transmutation, a Desert setting, a smoke mephit and someting else?
Hey! So this was kind of a fun one to write!
You had mentioned wanting a Smoke Mephit involved...
And I did just that - but perhaps not how you probably had envisioned...?
But I felt like it was a fun chance to do something different with a Smoke Mephit... and how it would directly impact why Jafar is off questing!
Please let me know your thoughts!
I thrive on feedback - whether you like it or not!
(If you don't like it, I'd love to hear why - not just "I hate it!" LOL)
If you don't like it, please let me know and I can always try to write something closer to what you want!
In the meantime, enjoy!
================================================== ===
Jafar Fizzlepoptart heaved a deep sigh as he sat on the jagged rock.

The warm desert sun was bearing down on his forehead. His cool, ice blue eyes looked out at the jagged terrain in front of him known as The Plain of Standing Stones.

A charcoal, black, misty figure sat next to him, mimicking his gesture, as he placed his elbows on his knees and his face in his palm. The musky dark figure that seemed to be composed of smoke, with large wings, and an even larger nose continuously cast side glances at Jafar to ensure he was properly imitating him.

“They still haven’t forgiven me,” Jafar said, emphasizing the word ‘still.’

Two weeks ago, Jafar’s mentor, Baboum Ticklespider had captured a Smoke Mephit, which were fairly common around the sundered ground of The Plain of Standing Stones. Baboum was going to show his students the art of Transmutation by converting the Smoke Mephit into pure gold, something that would have naturally killed the Smoke Mephit.

Jafar had not intended to do what happened next. There was going to be a test about Transmutation and Jafar, though he had studied quite a bit, was feeling a bit uncertain. He had snuck back into the classroom at night with the intention of glancing at the test questions. However, what had happened, he had managed to knock over the glass sphere that held the Smoke Mephit which shattered on the ground and had let it escape.

Baboum would have never found out what happened had it not been for Jafar’s own parents.

Jafar had quickly run away after the glass shattered and returned home. He went to his room and collapsed on his bed, now terribly concerned about the upcoming test, as well as getting in trouble for accidentally letting the Smoke Mephit escape.

When he awoke, he was surprised to see a pair of soulless black eyes staring directly at him, only inches away from his face. It was the Smoke Mephit! Jafar had unintentionally let out a scream, which brought his parents running into his room – and that’s when they saw the Smoke Mephit too and began yelling! The Smoke Mephit quickly made its escape.

Jafar’s parents, who had spent six years trying to convince him to drop the notion of becoming a wizard, and follow the same religious path that they had, now believed that their son was communicating with dark spirits, since Smoke Mephits were known to be evil. His parents immediately marched over to Baboum’s home and began accusing him of turning their children “to make deals with shadows.” When Baboum had asked for clarification, they explained that they saw a Smoke Mephit in their son’s room. Jafar had come running up next, confessed to trying to peak at the test answers and accidentally freeing the Smoke Mephit that had been captured in the Wizardry Class and believed the Smoke Mephit in his room had been the same one.

Jafar was expelled from the class.

That was two weeks ago and Jafar began to realize that the Smoke Mephit from the classroom was now randomly following him, appearing at times when he was alone, often when he was depressed about having been expelled from the class. The Smoke Mephit seemed to mimic his every gesture; copy the way he sat, moved, gestured. Jafar often took the time to confess his feelings of frustration to the Smoke Mephit even though he knew that the creature could not understand or reply; but it had been very therapeutic for him.

With him expelled from the Wizardry class, his parents had returned – more so than ever “to save his soul” – to convince him to follow in their footsteps and embrace the light of Garl Glittergold.

Still sitting on the jagged rock, Jafar’s eyes peered out into the plains and the desert of Anauroch. He suddenly stood up and began walking with the Smoke Mephit behind him following; its black smoky wings fluttering.

There was an entire world out there to discover; an entire world full of magic.

The Smoke Mephit followed Jafar all the way to the edge of the Plains of Standing Stones and stopped and watched as Jafar continued on, pressing his way through Anauroch. It had taken three days and there were times where Jafar had considered this was the worse idea ever when he grew hungry and thirsty, but once he reached the Greycloak Hills there was grass and fields of water to help. A passing wagon had picked him up and offered him a ride to Trielta Hills, which had been a small settlement of scattered gnomes and halflings.

Jafar would start his life anew and become the greatest wizard this world had known.