1 Confusion

Our story begins in a jail cell.

In a large, damp, cold, and dark room lay skeletons bound in chains. Rags yellowed from age and ripped to near uselessness hung from their hallowed bodies. Their ancient and rusted cells cramped close together with no regard for the now dead prisoners.

The cages these men once inhabited are close together and organized into rows. Each row lays parallel to the one and only entrance to this prison. A path in the very center of these rows allows relatively easy access for whomever uses this prison.

The room is putrid with the smell of death and age, the ground layered in a coat of dust that sticks to anything in sight. The rocks that make up this rooms walls are blackened by dirt, covered in frost, and cracked in places. No rat, nor bug, nor plant seems to live in this place. The skeletons lay mummified, as it seems even bacteria cannot consume what's left of their flesh.

Because of the cold,life, no matter how sturdy, cannot grow if water cannot move. The stillness of death surrounds this room, many adventures and soldiers would refuse to enter places like this, as the power of darkness is strong here.

That is until, suddenly, without a noise or any noticable reason, in the darkest, coldest part of this room, in the oldest and degraded cage, a dim light appeared. A dull, deep blue light coming from the eyesockets of the corpse within. This corpse seems to be the oldest of them all, it's bones are cracked, and even it's flesh has turned to dust, yet the marble sized orbs of lights glowed nonetheless.

There was stillness for a long while, but whithin this stillness a councousness began to form. Until suddenly, the first thought came into existence.

'Am I alive?'

This thought remained unanswered, and it takes time for the new life to understand itself. It took weeks, perhaps months, but eventually it understood.It was alive, and it's existence just....exists. His entire existence, his very understanding of life is cold, darkness, and silence.

Yet he could percive none of these things, as he has never seen light, not heard noise,or felt warmth. The very concept of time it was oblivious to, he knew not fear, nor curiosity it was just....blank.

But then it felt something, it could not understand it, but it existed. A flow, mutch like a gently flowing river surrounded the emptyness around it, and it coxed the now living thing to reach out to whatever the force is. For another week it couldn't even comprehend something outside of his nonexistence, the very idea of... ideas was inconceivable. but something sparked within him then, for the first time curiosity sparked within him, and he followed it's pull.

For a long time he couldn't touch this...entity, but one day, it did. After what seemed like a eternity, using pure force of will and curiosity a small fragment of this energy entered his councousness,then a trickle, then a torrent. This force flooded its mind, and for the first time he percived his body, and the world around him.

The bones of its body, once cracked and falling apart began to fill with this energy causing it to heal and grow into a healthy shape. They locked back into place, returning to their original position and seemed to glue together by this mysterious force. Then it's eyes felt it's power flow into them, and he finally began to understand.

Things that would seem so obvious to even a child finally came into focus, sutch as color, smells, and touch. It now knew what light was like, what warmth could feel like, also it was a he, whatever that ment.

After a while, I-....HE began to get his bearings, first off, he was bound in chains. Second, although the bars were rusty, they are thick enough he could not break through them. Finally, he doesn't know how to move.

He began to ponder how to use his limbs when loud thudding footsteps began to echo from the entrance. And he felt the force grow thicker as the footsteps grew louder until he saw two men. One was clad in plates, covering the chest, shoulders, and legs while the rest of him was overed in chainmail. And the other wore a robe of leather and had a massive beard that jutted out of the hood he wore that obscured his face.

"Sire..." The armored one spoke "We have checked this wretched place for months now, what are you hoping to find?" He spoke in annoyance, the mad Wizard has been forcing them to allow him access to the dungeons for the past quarter year. He has never found what he was searching for but he kept coming nonetheless. He payed for each day of access so they allowed it, but he seemed especially excited today, and that piques his curiosity.

"You will see young one!" The Wizard spoke with excitement in his raspy and croaking voice. "Mana is being obsorbed by something here, they means a Sprite has been born!" He said half to himself as he began to examine the cages as he did every day.

The armored man spoke once more"Sire, forgive my ignorance, but what is a Sprite?" He spoke with interest, Wizards are...essentric, but when they are looking for something in particular, it always ends up being something interesting.

"Do they teach you nothing in your fancy Civalry Academy?" The old man spoke with scorn wacking the Knight in the side with a staff that was hidden in his robe somehow "A sprite is a mass of Mana that has gained councousness! Although most are completely corrupted, turning into either undead or wild golems, if you find one early, with the right skill,you can make a councous construct!"

The large man may not have known mutch about Magic, but councous structures he understood well. They are the most valuable thing that anyone could posses, imagine a fortress that has a mind of its own. A tower that could use magic to stave off intruders, or a man of steel who can destroy entire squads of Knights on their own.

He was about to ask more questions, like what the Wizard wanted to use it for, or how he would capture it when out of the corner of his eye he saw it. Two shining blue orbs, hidden deep withing empty sockets, in the darkness of the far right corner, staring intently, as if piercing their very souls.

The mage approached, his hands held out in front of him as if to display it to the unreadable eyes of the corpse. He carefully pulled out a steel box that was covered in runic carvings, and spoke, not with his voice, but with a intent spoken through the waves of magic, in a way this budding mind would understand.

A offer of knowledge in exchange for service.

A offer accepted.