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Adrian Locke
Posted: 24 Jan 2006 07:04 PM |
The Birth of Adrian Locke
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The wind rarely blows so cold in August.
That is what Marckus Locke remembered thinking as he locked up on the eve of his son's birth. Front door, back door, the windows. Crime wasn't bad in their nameless Town. "I must be getting old, then," he mused to himself and walked to the bottom of the stair.
"How is she?" he called up the stairs to the midwife.
"Jus' fine, Mr. Locke, but you may want to come up here... bring some towels and cold water, too," she called back from their makeshift birthing room upstairs.
He wrung his hands nervously, and jogged into the kitchen... Annie must be getting close. He turned on the tap and reached down to grab the last remaining clean towel.
Thunder rolled across the sky.
Markus Locke set the towels down and walked over to the window. A storm had gathered just over the horizon... what direction was that... He couldn't remember. He was a retired paladin, after all, not a woodsman. He left the window, walked to the sink, wet the towels and trotted upstairs to his wife. The midwife was busy attending- she was right, it -was- nearly time.
"Here," he said, slightly out of breath. He walked to the bedside and took his wifes hand.
"Hi, Annie. We're going to do it," he said smiling. He looked at her lovingly. Sweaty, nearly exhausted, but nearly at the end of labor. He thought that she had never looked more lovely to him.
Thunder rolled across the small vale, and his wife was suddenly wracked with fresh contractions.
He stepped back to let the midwife do her work.
A stacatto thunderclap. No, breaking glass.
That wasn't thunder at all, Markus thought. He furrowed his brow, and turned from his birthing wife. He walked to the top of the stairs.
"Hello?" His military training suddenly took hold for the first time in years.
The crunch of glass from the kitchen.
He ran to his bedroom and grabbed his dagger from the nightstand. He waved into the midwife that everything was alright, and moved to the top of the stairs. He kicked off his shoes and crept down.
Four men were in his kitchen. He stood there, finding himself suddenly no longer the brave young man that he once was.
He remembered little else... a horrible sucking sound, a flash of red light. His vision swam and he hit the ground.
===============
He woke a short time later. He shot up, confused, then ran upstairs.
By Midoran, there was blood. His vision swam again, but only for a moment. He came to and realized that noone was injured. The midwife and Annie were arm-in-arm in the bed crying.
"They took him!" she shouted through tears. "They took our son!"
Marckus turned, in shock, ran down the stairs once more and gazed out his open front door.
Marckus Locke was struck dumb once more- the sky glowered crimson over the distant tower of Naillamne. |
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Adrian Locke
Posted: 05 Feb 2006 05:11 PM |
The Return
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The next day, they awoke from fitful sleep to find the infant asleep between them in their bed. It was as it never happened. Or rather, it was never again spoken of. Nothing was really ever the same again for Marckus and Annie Locke.
The memory faded, but remained a wedge between the husband and wife. What small pleasures they once shared together dulled and grayed. And, of course, people talked. They found that the rumor mill could be cruel. Simple and suspicious people, the connection between the bizzare storm and the birthe of the Lockes' son was not lost to most in the town.
Nevertheless, life returned, after a time, to a semblance of normalcy for the them. A pantomimed reflection of routine. Marckus enlisted with the local militia, old though he was becoming, and Annie devoted herself to the raising of their son, Adrian.
The roll of years slowly took hold once more and the infant Adrian began to grow. He was a sullen boy, given to brooding. Never well liked at school, his parents suspected. They never could help but wonder if he knew, somehow, if he remembered. It was always unspoken- a look across the dinner table, a private moment of anguish.
And then it began...
The birds came.
*THWACK*
It was always the same. Birds... dashing themselves against the windows, their son always looking on, catatonic. |
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Adrian Locke
Posted: 05 Feb 2006 06:02 PM |
The Notes of Havarin Mourne: Warden, Adassa Tower Sanitarium
==========================================
*between the notes on the following pages lay written an abundance of coded data in arcane symbols*
Ward Adrian Locke- Intake Report
Ward Adrian Locke was presented to me under heavy herbal sedation. Age 20, male. Standard range height and weight.
This case is unique in that it was taken on as al favor to a personal friend and in that there were no presenting symptoms of illness- only an irrational fear of the child exhibited by the parents. Indeed, I would have normally refused a case such as this if it were not for the behest of said friend and the conviction of his parents.
Adrian was markedly reserved in the intake intervew, though I cannot say for sure that this was not a lingering effect of the sedation. His intellect is apparently normal, as he displays understanding of both logic and abstraction.
His mood seems, at my first opinion, to be disturbed, most likely expressing aggression under certain circumstances. Further tests are obviously needed here. This seems the most likely cause of his parents fear.
This, by Theus, is truth.
*signed*
Havarin Mourne
Warden
Ward Adrian Locke- Progress Report
After running rage provocation trials, I cannot say certainly if the cause lies therein. Adrian seems to anger no more easily than normal, however, the amount presented does tend to be quite high. Still no outward sign of mental illness. Oddly, he has proven upsetting to several of the other patients, though I cannot determine why. Because of this, I have transferred him to solitary confinement... this seems to have remedied the situation.
This, by Theus, is truth.
*signed*
Havarin Mourne
Warden
Ward Adrian Locke- Progress Report
There seems to be more to this case than meets the eye. Adrian has, under mental domination, begun show some very interesting talents of a magical nature. He has developed the ability to manifest small, dancing balls of light, apparently at will. I've determined these to be of arcane nature- most interesting... he is unlikely to have learned this through formal learning, as he seems to have no real ability to call them up by himself. I am taking the liberty to perform extensive divinations into the child's past.
This, by Theus, is truth.
*signed*
Havarin Mourne
Warden
Ward Adrian Locke- Discharge Report
By Theus, what have I stumbled upon?
I cannot, in good concience, keep Adrian at the Sanitarium any longer. He is a danger to both staff and ward. He is hereby discharged and barred henceforth from the grounds.
This, by Theus, is truth.
*signed*
Havarin Mourne
Warden |
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Adrian Locke
Posted: 08 Apr 2006 11:15 AM |
Personal Journal
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Most of my small victories have been private ones. I've managed to learn enough wilderness lore to keep myself alive, and I'm even to the point now where I can concern myself with other things, like keeping this journal. I had never thought of myself as a person prone to reflection, but here I am anyway. Really I don't feel much like the same person at all anymore. I hope that, if the worst happens, someone will find it one day, and know what was done to me.
I've spent the past several months keeping out of sight, keeping alive. I've been spending most of my time in the eastern Mirghul, away from travellers and the rangers as much as possible. Strangers always have questions and I don't have any answers. It is cold and damp here, even when it's not raining, but food is abundant and passable. It's something, what hunger does to one's diet. It's taken some time, but I've managed to pick out a few plants that I can eat without too many problems. Note: the long, slender leaves with red veins are /not/ edible.
The haze I've been in for the past... however long, is finally receding. All of the precaution, the hiding, for nothing, it seems. I've not seen any face more than once or twice, and I'm beginning to doubt that Adassa is searching for me at all.
Fine. Time alone's allowing me to clear my head, exactly what I need right now. |
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