Role

Chapter 5

"Magic" to the common man is something much more than just what mages cast, it is
basically anything they cannot fully explain or understand. You here it in the
crowds a lot, "That is just magic!" when Flaaayin would make a rabbit disappear
into a hat. But in reality that magic is just slight of hand and dexterous
manipulation of the attention of the audience. When Flaaayin pulls a coin out
from behind someone's ear, it is not through magic that it happens, it is through
years of training and work learning this art.

So Flaaayin will refer to Magic in two ways, and you can definitely see which
way he means by his mannerisms and tone of beak.

Back to the story, Flaaayin's day of final proving was coming up. The day he would
officially be the Jester of Hamsah Mu'tazz, the chosen joker and actor for
the Sultan. This performance would be in front of the Sultan himself, as well as
the Court and all dignitaries of Mutazz. And Flaaayin was prepared for it. He
even officially renamed himself with the Registry of Names with a last name of
"Jester" in preparation for his glorious debut. Strange maybe, but he was that
confident.

On that day, there was obviously others who could try out, but the whole city knew
Flaaayin was the arial for the job, so no one else dared try out. That was true
until the day of the event, where a strange little gnome came and put his stamp
on the official entry papers. He was going to compete against Flaaayin!

Flaaayin and many of the Court were cackling, they knew that Flaaayin would
embarrass this new gnome and he would be laughed (not in a good way) out of the
Court. The gnome simply nodded toward Flaaayin and laughed as he turned to be
the first performer. Each was given the chance to do only one trick and that
would dictate their worth.

The gnome walked up in front of the Sultan, bowed briefly, and begain his show.
The gnome gestured and mumbled some strange words and suddenly smoke billowed
out of his robe. That smoke then manipulated itself into a form of a dragon and
that dragon roared loudly without any work from the gnome. The smokey dragon form's
eyes suddenly flared red and turned its massive head toward the gnome. The
Court giggled with pleasure and aura as the gnome suddenly "cowered" as the
dragon's head turned toward the gnome and opened. Hundreds of smoky teeth were
inside, and the Court could feel the heat of the Dragon's breath. The gnome
panicked and attempted to run from the Court, an act of course, but the smoke
dragon caught up to him and gobbled him up whole! The gnome disappeared in the
mouth of the dragon as if eaten. The smoke dragon chewed with satisfaction and
roared one last time, then disappearing into a whole set of magical fireworks
lighting up the massive Sultan's Court Hall. A final awe from the Court washed
through the Hall and then was silence. The gnome was gone, the dragon was gone
and there was nothing.