Chapter 1: The Patience of a Librarian

“As I say!” the being said to me. “Unlimited POWER!!!” …and I threw it off a cliff.

What? I’m fond of my eternal soul thank you. No need to bargain with one of the Djinn just to lose it in the process.

I turn around and walk away from the cliff, heading back to the massive underground treasure hoard.

I had stumbled upon this place when searching through the ancient runs above me. When I say stumbled, I mean that quite literally. A large rock broke beneath me, and I fell down a hole.

Luckily, it was quite a sloped hole, and the edges had eroded away over the centuries. Whatever trap, or function it was meant to fulfill had long since been forgotten to the annals of time.

What lay at the bottom, however, was too interesting to just let go. I have to say, my curiosity got the better of me. I am an old Elf at this point; I’ve lived over three thousand years. What’s a little risk now and then going to do? Cut my lifespan short? Short I suppose would be a relative term there, but you get the point.

Seeing as I am not dead, much to your chagrin, what I found at the bottom of that hole must not have been deadly at all! No. what I found was a massive hoard of jewels, gold, and other assorted fineries. Most of them rotted to dust at this point, but the precious metals were still very much intact.

The cavern that held this hoard of valuables was immense. It had to be a whole king’s stride in diameter! There was a massive chasm at the far end, too black and perilous to see down, and there were a few massive statues, holding secrets of the past that one might never know!

Ah, but you’re probably not interested in such things, are you? No, you adventurer-mercenary types never are. Very well I will return to the point.

So there I was, searching through the old artifacts, trying to find something worth putting in my library, when I stumbled upon a marvelous piece! It was a pure gold and mithril oil lamp. It shown like a star in this bleak place, almost as if it cast its own radiance!

It seemed to just have been a decorative piece, as its spout was not hollow like one would expect. I carefully lifted it off of its pedestal, checking first for any traps. After attempting to clean its inlays with my handkerchief, to get a better look at its inscriptions, something I did not expect happened.

Smoke began billowing forth from its solid spout as if it were not filled in with metal, but hollow as the bones in a bird. An enormous presence became known to my senses, as I dropped the obviously cursed object and began to prepare for combat.

Luckily for me, the object’s curse was not targeted at me, but at the being inside. You see, that object held within its depths a Djinn. The Djinn are a curious sort, most of them are simply monstrously powerful, but blisteringly average people. They can usually be found in isolated places, as their long lifespans make finding friends difficult for them.

That’s your average Djinn though. There are many varieties of them, and some are not as decent as those folk. A long time ago, during the ages when gods roamed the planes of mortals freely, one of The Menace cursed a group of Djinn. They took over their bodies, their minds, and their spirits. The curse wiped away any individuality that these Djinn had, and replaced it with their own. They were truly a horrible sort.

What’s that? “Enough with the history lesson!” you say??? Fools! Your carelessness will be your undoing… but fine. Have it your way.

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This particular Djinn, to my arcane senses, obviously belonged to the group of Djinn that had been taken in this way. So I knew I could not trust its words.

It began pontificating on the virtues of myself, trying to play up my ego. It even offered to be a “gracious host”, thinking it could snatch away my body and escape its prison. I did not give it the chance. I picked up the oil lamp, carried it to the chasm, and threw it.

…

…

…

“What? That’s it???” a particularly dim human said.

“Yes that’s it you nitwit!” the old guild librarian yelled at him. “What do you want? A long drawn-out conversation with a body snatcher? I think not. I didn’t live to be thirty-one-hundred and four to throw away my life like it’s nothing.”

“Well, I think it was the right decision personally. It’s okay Chet, we’ll find another way to get your wish.” the paladin of their party said, trying to placate the young mercenary.

“Lorielle is right man, you’ll get a chance someday; try to stay strong.” the rouge behind them said, patting the man on his shoulders.

“For what it’s worth, I’m sure there is research on the Wish spell in my library somewhere.” The old man said. “I will allow you a few free hours inside, for listening to this one’s story.”

“Really?? Aw thanks for your help.” Chet said.

…

They would later be kicked out for drooling on one of the books.

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