Misfits Origins: Wilster Moonshadow - Elven Magus

Wilster Moonshadow

Many years ago in the River Kingdoms...

A soldier in the service of the Bloodstone Swords, Wilster Moonshadow began his service to the mercenary group as a sword-wielding fighter. He joined with his childhood friend, Rosten, and they made good money protecting merchant caravans and acting as guards for nobles.

After several successful missions, the pair gained the favor of Nemas Ricasso, the leader of the Bloodstone Swords. Soon after, he tasked them with a more dangerous mission: locating a wizard that had been harassing and stealing from the people of the River Kingdoms. 

On a rainy night, Wilster and Rosten led a group of mercs through a group of riverside caves where they had tracked the wizard through the deep mud. Wilster and Rosten went ahead into an open cavern from which they noticed water seeping through the dirt ceilings. Spotting the wizard - who had his back turned to them - Wilster drew his sword. The noise drew the wizard's attention, but as he swung around, a pile of mud and rocks crashed down on him and his readied spell fizzled into the damp air. 

Gushing water followed the mud and rocks, which swept Wilster's sword from his hands. As Wilster turned to help Rosten, he saw his friend knocked to his feet and washed out the back of the cavern. Before Wilster could follow him, more rocks and sloppy mud caved in and pinned him to the cave floor. 

Wilster held himself above the rushing water as the rain subsided, the river water receded and the waters in the cave drained down to a wet mess. Dim light penetrated the cave through the hole in the ceiling, and Wilster slowly got his bearings. He quickly noticed he couldn't move, as his left leg was pinned by a large rock. He slopped through the mud around him found some rotten food, a few books and a what he thought was a pile of junk. 

Over the next few days, he choked down some of the old food and passed his time by reading some of the books while he waited for a rescue. Surely some of his brothers from the Bloodstone Swords would come back to save him.

Some of the books were boring histories, but he eventually came across a wizard's spell book. Most of the incantations, ingredients and instructions were elaborate and difficult to understand. Wilster tried them all anyway and noticed through his readings that the random junk scattered about the floor was spell components named in the book.

Wilster's first success was "mage hand," which allowed him to pull his sword back to himself. Unfortunately, when he tried to use it to pry the rock pinning his leg, it wasn't enough leverage. He needed more strength.

Wilster continued through the spell books and eventually found success again with "burning hands," which only produced a spark from his fingertips. 

These small successes pushed him to keep trying even though he ran out of food and was quickly losing strength. If he was not able to push or pry himself free soon, he wouldn't have the strength to continue. Finally, Wilster found the spell "unseen servant." 

Clutching a hunk of wood and a small piece of string in one hand, Wilster waved his other hand in the motion described and read the words from the page. When he was finished, Wilster could feel an invisible presence in the cave near him. He looked at the rock pinning his leg and felt the presence move away.

And then the rock began to shift slightly. Wilster grabbed his sword, wedged it between the rocks and began to push with his shoulders as he tried to move his leg. Slowly, ever-so-slightly, it shifted. He pushed down with what remained of his strength and his boot slid out from under the rock.

Wilster felt the presence vanish as he pulled himself to his feet and looked at the spell book, which was deteriorating from a week spent buried in mud and water.

He knew that he would have to find a teacher and learn more of these spells.

Wilster Moonshadow is played by Kevin Coffey, a dude who reads a bunch of comics, wishes he could play more D&D and writes about music for a living. For more of his writing, check out his music blog, Rock Candy.