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"The plump man of no more than thirty years sat at his small table by the stone window looking out over Mithalskard, the cool air blowing in and causing the candle that sat beside him to wax and wane in height as it provoked into movement by the slight lashing of the wind. Slowing his mind the young man glared at the candle extinguishing it immediately causing a wisp of smoke to rise and be caught by the wind, carrying it into the room and instantly dissipating it into the air. Bring his attention back to the task he was doing before be picked up his quill once more and finished scribbling out the order for the alchemist, each ingredient labelled and numbered, he Finished the letter by signing his name ...Baldwin van Bereht. Pushing the paper to one side he stared vacantly into the infinite void of the sky, stretching out indefinitely over the whole of the land and beyond. Baldwin gazed over to the mountains in the far distance and upwards to gave upon the stars. He wondered what they were thinking at that exact moment and just exactly what they were there for if they had a purpose at all? He stood and reached up to a shelf in the dark room, pulling off a bowl of a soup like liquid that had long since gone-off. Placing it down on the desk with an outstretched arm as to not get too close he sat and stared at the putrid bowl with disappointment, several weeks ago he had placed a concoction of rather expensive ingredients into this bowl in the hope of brewing an aged potion of fire, the ingredients were wasted, his journey to the drake infested holes of flumal were for nought and all he got for is troubles was a smell that might turn a trolls gut. Baldwin poked the gelatinous mess with his finger and it seemed to wobble and move of its own accord for a while after, its non-descript form reacting of its own accord. Cursing, he picked up a small chunk of it between his forefinger and thumb and began to inspect it closer. The slime was translucent and seemed to bubble around his fingers going from being only slightly warm to touch to making them smart with pain and then a beastly ferocity until suddenly the pain became too much for Baldwin to bear and he lobbed it out the window . A moment of silence followed while the man with long blonde hair stood hopping about nursing his slightly charred fingers until he was brought to attention by a loud bang the seemed to shake the room...it seemed the slime was far more potent than he first thought."
OK this is one of the more recent sections of prose I have written and although I feel it serves its purpose there is something missing, I have a hunch I have not created much of an atmosphere in the juxtaposition between the slightly comic Baldwin and the fact he is a mage of kinds (mentally extinguishing the candle) and the more philosiphical seriousness (which i am certain will play a part in the sory to come as the reference of the existence of stars as physical beings stems from the novel 'Stardust' by Neil Gaiman, this however is not the case and the stars are merely to prove a metaphorical point later in the story)
thankyou
Steve
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