CRIMSON SCOURGE
The adventures of Whipitq
I have no idea how this is going to be received, but I have spent a little time lately writing a book about a rogue called Whipitq. Maybe you know her? The title of the book is 'Childs Ploy' - because of the importance of a 'toy' that Whipitq makes to the plot.
Some of this is taken from in-game events, but most of it comes from my over-active imagination. Whichever, I had the idea for a book, which I've started work on. 'Started'... Three quarters of it is done now, although I'm sure there will be a lot of polishing, and changing, before I'm done!
Below are a couple of extracts - read them, and tell me what you think. When the book is considered to be finished, I may seek a publisher, or I may just make it available for download, or both.
If you don't like to read a lot from the monitor, you can in text format. (Right-click and 'Save As...' - it looks awful in IE.)
This is at the start of the book, where Whipitq is introduced:
The Cosmopolitan club in Freeport had a reputation known across Norrath, and frequently had clients who had travelled for months to enjoy just one night there.
Tonight was a typical night:
An Erudim on the third floor sat in the lotus position, eyes closed and inhaling the smoke from the censer on the floor in front of him. The mind expanding drugs allowed him to ‘leave’ his body, and explore the other rooms. His heightened awareness allowed him to sense a shadow moving up the outside wall.
A group of Vah Shir had bought a female barbarian beastlord. These cat-people from Shar Vahl would make their victim last as long as possible, while abusing her in every way imaginable. Their claws would shred her flesh as they ravished her, and she would, eventually, bleed to death from the wounds inflicted on her. None of them saw me pass the window.
The Trolls on the fourth floor were drunk, and betting heavily on the outcome of a fight between mechanical devices. Teams of gnomes had built the machines, and the fights were held nightly, with each days overall winner taking away a months salary. Each days winner was entitled to take part in a grand battle at months end, with the eleven winners of each months battles facing last years winners in the annual war. The cheers as an unwary troll lost a hand to an erratic machine would have covered any noise I made as I opened the window – not that cover was needed.
On the fifth floor, a ten year old girl was backing away from a fat, naked merchant. He had spent the whole year giving short measure, and selling poor quality goods – stretching every copper, just to buy this girl for one hour. He advanced slowly, drawing out the pleasure – but aware of his time ticking away. The girl ran behind the privacy screen in the corner, and he pushed the other side against the wall and pinned it with the chair. She was trapped now, and he moved to the edge of the screen slowly, and peered round it.
The girl was huddled in the corner, with precious tears running down her cheeks. The sight of them was so arousing! He flung the screen to one side, and advanced. He was so intent on what he was about to enjoy, he could almost feel her hand on his manhood already – then he felt my blade, too… Seconds later, he was curled up on the floor, struggling to remove his manhood from his own throat, and bleeding to death from the wound.
‘Come, dear one, you’re safe now.’ I told her, and held my arms open to her.
She stared at the dying man for a few seconds, then stood and edged past him to me. She didn’t come into my arms though, instead, seeking my permission with her eyes, she took the dagger from my belt sheath, and crossed to stand over the shivering mass. Almost gently, she lifted his chin and drew the blade across his throat. Giving the blade a wipe on the bedding, she returned the blade to me with smile of thanks. Then she flung herself into my arms and sobbed.
When we go back over Whips life, we look at her education at the Thieves Academy:
After my time with Zeph, I felt I was ready for the Academy - the Academy, however, was not ready for me.
At the end of my first week, I was called to the office of the Principal.
‘Young Lady, I have had complaints from every one of your teachers about you.’
I blinked, twice, and then asked: ‘what sort of complaint, sir? I am doing my best to learn from all of them.’
‘How can you say that? You attended the start of the first lesson, and have not been seen since.’
I smiled then, which – in retrospect – may not have been quite the best thing to do, as it annoyed the Principal.
‘Sir, the first lesson was about hiding, and the teacher told us to practice our skills at all times. So I do.’
He was in mid-tirade when he paused, open-mouthed. ‘You have attended every lesson?’
‘Yes sir. I’m here to learn, and will not learn if I do not attend.’
‘I have to admit that I find that hard to believe, Whipitq. However, Scout Compolton did tell me that you were very advanced… Perhaps you would care to demonstrate your abilities, so I can assess your honesty?’
‘I would be happy to show what I can do, Sir. But please do not ask a rogue to be honest… I am, however, truthful.’ We both smiled at this.
After a moment’s thought, and a glance around the room, I made a suggestion: ‘Perhaps if you let me leave the room, then lock the door behind me. Take any object from this room and place it in your safe. Then call for me.’
He blinked. Then he called for his assistant to join him. ‘Please escort Whipitq to the waiting room, then return here and watch the door.’
As Whipitq was escorted from the room, Principal Schneider looked around his office, then crossed to the wall and took down his graduation dagger. By the time the safe was open; his assistant was back, guarding the door. He placed the dagger in the safe, closed and locked the door, replaced the painting that hid it, and then turned to his desk.
As he sat, he realised that Whipitq was still sat across the desk from him. ‘I asked you to escort this young lady from the room!’
‘I did, Sir! She was outside when I shut the door!’ He tried the door, and found it still locked.
Principal Schneider cocked his head to one side, ‘you were able to pick the lock, open and shut the door, and relock it, without being seen – in the time it took me to open the safe. That is impressive.’
I found it hard not to grin. ‘Oh no, Sir. Opening a door without being seen would take magic – I simply followed him through. I was already in the room when he locked the door.’ I paused a second, then added, ‘by the way, Sir, I would appreciate the return of my necklace from your safe – I will exchange it for your dagger, if you wish…’
The look on the Principals face was priceless, as he absorbed my words, and their meaning. Then he stood, opened the safe, and took my necklace out. Turning, he handed the necklace to me, and accepted his dagger in return. Silently, he put the dagger back on the wall, returned to his seat and sat, heavily. He thought for several minutes, before asking ‘Please, in future, allow your teachers and classmates to see you. If you feel that a teacher is holding you back, please talk to me before disrupting the class. Should you have any problems with your studies, of any kind, you come to me first. Is that all understood?’
‘Yes Sir. You want me to go undercover as an average student.’
The book has two main stories, one of which is Whipitq's search for her family. This is where she learns about her parents:
‘Dawn – your Mother – was believed to have been killed when she attacked the Ogre City. A lot of that is first-year history, as you know.
What is not such common knowledge is the reason. As I said earlier, she was searching for her child, stolen from the birthing bed.’
‘Me’ I said, and felt unusual warmth inside: My Mother had wanted me!
‘No. I firmly believe that she never even knew about you. If you remember, I said I saw a babies head emerging after you were born. You had a twin, hon. THAT’S what Dawn was searching for. Somewhere out there, you have a brother or a sister.’
I felt like my emotions were riding a roboboar over the Steamfont Mountains! Up, down, and shaken at every step! My Mother wanted me; my Mother didn’t even know I was born; I had a sibling; my sibling didn’t know I existed; my Father was… ‘My Father? Who? Tell me about my Father!’
‘Ah… Your Father. Bear in mind, this is only guesswork, but also bear in mind your own size, and how everybody believes you to be a gnome… I need to tell you another story.
Remember the gnome I mentioned? Aboudin? I told you he had died months earlier…
Abe was on the dawn watch – a very bad joke, as it turned out – and was also supposed to be preparing the equipment for a fishing trip.
We awoke that morning to the strangest noises imaginable. Abe was groaning: some say it was in terror, some say it was in pain – I personally lean towards lust. He always did like them big…
Scrambling from my tent, I saw Abe in the dim light just before the sun rose, stood on the shore of Lake Rathe, looking at the water – and when I turned to see what held his attention, I saw a naked giantess emerging from the water.
The giantess came out of the water, turned, and sat down to dry herself. Unfortunately, she sat on poor Aboudin. I never saw him again.
When Dawn sat down, Abe had plenty of time to run, but he didn’t. And the giantesses face… She seemed to smile as she sat on him, wriggled a little with a dreamy look on her face, threw a dress on, and then stood and wandered away. We were all stunned for a minute, unsure what to do, then we searched for Abe’s remains, but never found them. He had disappeared virtually without trace – all I found was this boot.’
With that, Zeph handed an old boot to me.
‘After that, Dawn often had a dreamy look on her face as she wandered around. I even saw her talking to herself a few times. A few months later, she was obviously pregnant, and the only male who had been close enough was Abe…
I think, hon, strange as it may seem, that your Father was Aboudin Uick, my old friend and comrade.’
I clutched the boot tightly, absorbing the words.
‘So… My father was a gnome. My mother was a giant. My surname is Uick. And I have a brother or sister somewhere… Is that it?’
‘There is just one more factor you need to remember while searching: Dawn probably never even knew you were born, so your sibling will be unaware of your existence, even if they survived.’
