Closed A Multi-Layered Fantasy

[Seraphiel Fletcher]

Seraphiel had neat handwriting for a boy of his age. Well, usually he had neat handwriting. What he had produced in the last twenty minutes looked like what you'd get if you told a five-year-old he could only go out to play after he'd finished his English homework. Some of it was vaguely hieroglyphic. Some of it was illegible even to himself. He thought he could read it, but in actual fact his brain was not processing what his eyes saw - his eyes were seeing what his brain remembered processing.

There were far, far more useful things Sera could be doing on his second day at Hogwarts than writing about the boats in a fictional harbour, but a story that one of the portraits outside the great hall had told him had given him an amazing idea for a new D&D campaign, and if he didn't write it all down now, he'd surely forget it. An old Herbology tome lay open beside him, which he flicked through whenever he needed character name inspiration. If only he'd had some snacks, he could have stayed here all day.

 

[Cassius Styx]

Cassius Styx was enjoying his time just wandering around, exploring what he should and shouldn't get into, which was why he walked into the student lounge with a bag full of goodies he snatched from the kitchen. Not that the stupid elves would mind, right? He stopped when his silver eyes landed on a boy that he had met a while back, and a smile finally crossed his features. It was rare given the scowl that always seemed to be present. He walked over to the lad and dropped his bag of goodies and snacks while peering over the boy's shoulder, "What the hell is all of that?" The handwriting itself killed his. He really should not be envious of it, but the Herbology tome attracted him. After all, his grandfather was gifted with that subject. "So, Seraphiel, you are a Hufflepuff. Can't say I'm surprised. You had it written all over you." As much as he called that house the leftovers, he knew of their loyalties, since his nephew and older brother both were sorted into that house, and they are among the most frightening people in the family. So, Cassius could not pass up a chance to have someone loyal to him after all.​

 

[Seraphiel Fletcher]

For a second, Seraphiel thought the snacks were a gift from some higher power who'd been reading his mind. Then he turned his head around and found himself almost nose-to-nose with Cassius Styx. "Woah. Hi," Sera said, splitting into a grin. He had Hufflepuff written all over him, did he? It was nice to know that all of his efforts had paid off. "And you are a textbook Slytherin. This is... Well, it's kinda nerdy. Have you ever heard of Dungeons and Dragons?"

 

[Cassius Styx]

Textbook Slytherin? Perhaps Sera was right on the nose with that one. Cass only smirked even more at the sheer thought of being someone like that. He glanced back over what Sera had and shook his head. "What is so nerdy about dungeons and dragons? We have dragons here in the magical world, and castles have dungeons. I don't quite get how that can be nerdy." Even his home had a dungeon. But it was referred to as a 'basement' for those that might not understand. Hell, even Cass didn't understand, but he overheard his parents talk about it and vanish for a little while. It was weird.​

 

[Seraphiel Fletcher]

"Nooo," Sera said. "It's the name of a game. You make, like, an elf, or a dwarf, or an orc, or whoever you want to be, really, and then there's a dungeon master - that's me, in this case - who tells a story, and everyone takes it in turn to decide what to do next. You're meant to work together with the other people playing, but you can be good or bad. It's really fun." He flipped the pages of his notebook until he came across a hand-drawn map, which he pushed closer to Cassius. "This is Skrogh. I made it up. It's where this story I'm writing is going to be set. Well... I don't actually have anyone to play with, yet. But that is a problem for another day! Anyway, I haven't even finished writing, so it's aaall OK."

 

[Cassius Styx]

Cassius' eyebrows raised as Sera informed him that it was the name of the game. He pulled the back of a chair and sat down so he could investigate what the hell he was talking about. But he looked over the map and recalled what Sera said. "Elves? Dwarfs? Who would want to play with those? Elves are just slaves with big ears that you can kick like a quaffle, so I don't get it. And what is an orc?" Cass really needed some guidance on this since he didn't see any sort of benefit in pretend but looking over the detail and work, it was interesting somewhat. "You even made a map? How many people do you need to play this? And dungeon master? I swear I heard that term before..."​

 

[Seraphiel Fletcher]

Sera laughed. He knew Cassius wasn't serious about kicking house elves. "Not house elves elves. These elves are like people, with pointy ears. Look." He opened up one of his handbooks and found a painting of a very beautiful lady elf with flowing blonde hair and a green dress. "Like her." Next he showed Cass a picture of an orc barbarian holding a huge iron battleaxe over its shoulder. There was so much to explain, Sera didn't even know where to start. Cass being interested was the best place to start! If he had touched Sera's arm, he would have felt Sera vibrating with excitement. "I usually play with three other people. I could probably do it with two... but three is better. Technically, you can play with as many people as you want, but it'd get kind of crazy if you had a whole bunch. So, you know... if you want to play, you should probably sign up now."

 

[Cassius Styx]

There were other elves? Cassius looked over the handbook that had a very pretty lady with pointy ears. "She looks more like a Veela than an elf... But that is cool!" Cass then looked over the pic of an orc, which he cocked his head side to side. He did not like the look of it. It was so ugly! Like a troll! "Orcs look like trolls. So gross." But somehow he was interested in this, which was odd because this sort of nerd stuff should have sent him running in the other direction. Playing with people though, which made him scratch under his chin. "Well, if you can find other players, count me in. I am wanting to see how this goes down. As far as elves go... Are there male elves? I wouldn't mind being one of those pretty faces. Or someone really, really strong. Like a body builder!" It was safe to say that he was hooked into it.​

 

[Seraphiel Fletcher]

"What's a Veela?" Sera asked. Maybe he could include those in his campaign, too. "You can be a male elf. You can be a male elf body builder, if you really want. Once you know what race you're going to be, you can pick a class. You're probably going to make strength your highest ability score, so... you might want to be a fighter, or a paladin. It will all make sense when we play. Um - here. Just take my handbook." He offered it to Cassius reverently. "Please don't spill anything on it, or tear it, or fold it, or anything. It was a birthday present."

 

[Cassius Styx]

Cass raised his eyebrows when Seraphiel asked what a Veela was. He bit his lip to stop himself from laughing. With someone who had some of them in his family, it was quite humorous to see some people not know what they were. "Veelas are these beautiful people. I don't know much about male veelas, but female ones turn into harpy looking birds and fling fire and stuff. Part-veela people are just pretty, with the females able to charm people." It was a basic introduction but the thought of being a male elf body builder made him laugh a bit. "Nah, I think I rather stay human. But what is a class? Fighters I know, but aren't paladins like, priests or something?" Yeah, he knew nothing of what Seraphiel was talking about and it showed embarrassingly. He took the handbook and opened it up. "I'll take care of it. You can trust me." He did not understand why he was interested in this, but he was.​

 

[Seraphiel Fletcher]

Sera wondered if he'd ever met a veela before; but judging by Cassius's description, there wouldn't have been much room for doubt if he had. "I don't know if that's terrifying, or really cool," he said, which summed up just about everything in the wizarding world. The more he learned about magic, the more he wondered whether he would make it through seven years of school alive.

He helped himself to some snacks from the bag Cass had dropped on the table. "Uh, not really priests. How to explain... They make an oath - that's what gives them their power. All the classes are in the handbook. You can be a ranger, a barbarian, a warlock, a rogue - I can't remember all of them, there's loads." Actually, he knew all of them like the back of his hand, but at risk of sounding too nerdy he pretended otherwise. "Do you actually want to play?"

 

[Cassius Styx]

Cass shrugged his shoulders when Seraphiel didn't know if it was terrifying or cool, since Cass thought that Veela's were pretty much just violent birds until they bred with the superior race. Then the people were just pretty. But that was it. Cass looked over the book and listened to Seraphiel explain how they were not really priests, but they made oaths and that was how they got their powers. So weird though. Cass looked at the book at the same time. So, he would be able to learn about this stuff then. "Shame you couldn't. That would have been cool to remember all that information." Cass noted, and grabbed one of the snacks from the bag that he brought. He glanced over at Seraphiel and stood up from the table. "I'm going to study this. But yeah, I'm down to play. Why not?" Cass smirked a bit, and reached out to pat the Hufflepuff on the shoulder. "Catch you later then, Seraphiel."​