SOMETHING BETTER THAN QUIDDITCH: INTRODUCING DUNGEON RUNS
Posted on April 3, 2018
Well, I'm within 500 words of writing another 5,000 words today. I've got an hour to go, and it looks like I will sail past 30,000 words total with ease. I'm so excited by the cast interactions and can't wait to see how they perform when put in reluctant teams.
I wanted Irving Wishbutton to have something athletic to do alongside his academic classes. It needed to be a sport that made sense for those learning how to play their part in a quest. I came up with dungeon runs.
I'm starting in on the chapters showcasing this sport. I think it will prove to be a lot of fun and skew more toward fantasy tropes than Harry Potter's Quidditch did. Not to take anything away from that marvelous sport. I just wanted to make sure my athletic accent was decidedly different and wouldn't be accused of just parroting that distinctive element of the Potter series.
Here's an excerpt:
Marcus and I closed our lockers and walked toward the passage that led to the arena. Gared and the others followed behind. It pleased me to hear the Golden Knight ribbing Lord Raggleswamp.
We stepped onto the field to see the rest of the class to our left, waiting patiently by the entrances to the dungeons. The field was about three acres long and wide. Raised seating encircled the area, going back a dozen rows on the lower level and about half as much on the upper level. Smack dab at the center of the field, which was simply a well maintained expanse of grass, two stone archways framed out around bulky wooden doors, each arranged to face one other. The doors looked like they led to nowhere, but they were magical and each allowed their respective teams to enter a dungeon constructed in a pocket dimension. All of this had been explained to us on our first day by Malcontent, one of his more pleasant days thankfully.
Large viewing screens littered the field, providing those in the stands multiple views of what was happening in the dungeon runs. No one occupied the stands. On weekends, when actual tournament ran, the place was packed. I'd been to two so far as a spectator but had yet to be a participant. Our class was slated to actually appear this weekend and I was quite nervous of our chances.
My team was made up of Gared, Roon, Marcus, Tiberius, and Sarya. The fairy and Roon joined us, and we filtered in among the rest of the class. Raggleswamp split off and joined his team.
Coach Malcontent made quite an entrance.
He rocketed in from our left, having taken a giant leap from some other part of campus that would make the Incredible Hulk envious. He landed hard, the ground compacting a good several inches from his impact. He flexed his upper arms and lumbered over to us.
Malcontent's appearance was the same no matter which aspect was in charge. I still felt when his bad side was in control, he seemed more imposing, but that had more to do with his swagger and constant hyperactive demeanor than any part of him swelling in size because of his nasty disposition.
He wore a simple pair of tan safari shorts and was shirtless, another similarity to Marvel's green goliath. His skin was purple, which made his white mohawk stand out even more. His boots were some sort of indestructible futuristic metal. He was apparently a supporting character in some fantasy quest involving a dark future where a magical apocalypse had occurred. Ornate tattoos gave the appearance of a mask around his eyes.
He let out a roar and then addressed the class. "Got a new development for you whiners. Just got back from having Harmstrike chew me out. He's not happy I let you pick your teams, something my other self thinks is the right thing to do to foster teamwork." He glared at us, but held his gaze on me.
Great, this is somehow my fault.
Roon noticed Malcontent's fixed gaze and gave me a questioning look.
I shrugged.
Malcontent rushed forward and stared down a small hero everyone called Cocoon Boy because he retreated into a cocoon whenever he felt put upon. He'd then emerge a few seconds later with a new appearance and powers.
Malcontent directing his anger at him would surely result in a cocoon. The boy was currently yellow-skinned and had a beautiful set of feathered wings.
Say goodbye to your powers of flight, Cocoon Boy.
Malcontent tore into the boy, "Time to shake things up, lowly little fools! I've got your new team assignments memorized. This is really going to mess with your runs today. Anyone care to take a guess who gets this scaredy cat?"
Cocoon Boy trembled and suddenly emitted a green light all over. Grey four-inch-wide strips danced all around him. The revolved around him like patrolling snakes before intertwining with each other and forging a lime-bean-shaped cocoon around his four-foot-tall frame.
Everyone watched the boy kick and punch within his cocoon for almost a minute. Suddenly, the cocoon exploded, showering several classmates who'd lingered too close in grey fragments.
Coach Malcontent had taken two steps back, knowing what would be coming. He placed his hands on his hips and loomed over the newly transformed character, judgment and disgust wrestling or dominance in his expression.
Cocoon Boy was now a three-foot-tall toddler with a mantis head, with the rest of his body covered in what looked like ninja garb or a pair of mime pajamas. He swiveled his new head about frantically and then backed away from the coach.
"All your new selves are sniveling cowards, Cocoon Boy. Not a hint of backbone to any of them. Face it, you're a disgrace."
I wanted to step forward and tell the coach to ease up but knew that would just escalate matters. Me doing the right thing would push him into stark-raving-mad territory. Everyone knew that by Saturday his mellow aspect would again assert itself, and he'd return to being one of the most beloved faculty members, second only to Warhinder.
Malcontent laughed and stomped his feet. He then dramatically pointed at me. "He's now with you, Wishbutton, along with Stacia and Fenwick. The dean says you can keep Gared and Tiberius among your ranks, though. No whining."
I sent Roon and Sarya an apologetic look. They both smiled half-heartedly and turned their attention to the coach, clearly wanting to know their team reassignment.