A Spooky Debut

The body of Khadim came waltzing into Hosenka with Rih in control. The Spooky decorations told the god that something unique was going on. Rih had no idea that the town was hosting a festival, but he wasn't too displeased.

"Please let me have a turn. Just a few minutes, you can take back over whenever you want."

"Oh yeah? Thanks, but I don't need your permission, Khadim, to take this body over," came Rih's sarcastic response. He was the most powerful of the three consciousnesses within the body which meant he had free reign to do whatever he wanted.

"Hoh," was Nasr's only verbal response, though a chuckling sound could also be heard. The entire conversation happened within Khadim's head, while the body walked over to a line, peering around it to see that they were serving witch's brew.

"Yes, of course, you're right Rih. I just meant, what's the harm in letting me do something a little bit?" Khadim's tone was very close to sounding like whining at this point. The line moved forward as their inner dialogue continued.

"What's the harm, you say... I remember what you did the last time I gave you control." The body of Khadim kept moving forward, only a single person stood between it and receiving their share of witch's brew.

"Me too."

"Ok ok, you're right. I messed up last time," Khadim's tone sounded like someone who would agree with anything Rih said in an attempt to try to get what he wanted. "I won't do that again, I swear to you."

"Hah, I know you won't." Both Rih and Nasr's voices could be heard laughing inside Khadim's head. The hand of Khadim reached forward as it was now their turn to receive his witch's brew.

WC: 295

The member 'Khadim' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

---

'Normal Dice' :

Rih, using Khadim’s hand, took the punch, but the bartender’s hand returned to Khadim as Rih was about to step away. ”Hey! Don’t forget your token.” Khadim’s free hand reached out and took the golden skull token without even looking at it. As he stepped away from the brew stand, Rih took a sip of his drink and continued on. Despite being regarded as a god some millennia ago, Rih never even noticed that some people were having really bizarre reactions to the drink that he was now enjoying. It seemed like ignorance was bliss, especially when peppered with a fair amount of luck.

Khadim couldn’t even taste the punch as Rih was in control of the body that they shared. The boy just felt so downtrodden and miserable in the prison that should have rightfully been his body to have and control. As Rih continued enjoying himself while he strolled around the festival in Khadim’s body, Khadim's mind began to wander.

Khadim thought of a mystical realm with skeletons of gold that gave their owners unimaginable power. Naturally, these heroes also had golden blood and could seemingly heal from any wound. Their greatest enemies were witches who used fantastical potions and summoned ghoulish undead to combat the golden powered heroes. The golden warriors used swords garnished with rubies and sapphires that easily sliced through the rotting flesh of the undead.

"What?" Khadim asked as he came out of his reverie and realized that Rih had been speaking to him. He couldn't respond without knowing what he'd been told or asked.

"I said, its too bad you can't taste this sweet drink." Rih then downed the rest of the drink, every last drop. "Oh well, guess you'll just have to miss out." Both gods laughed inside Khadim's head. If he had control of eyes, Khadim would have made them roll, but alas, he was unable to perform this most gesture to relay his frustration.

The three eyed mage wandered through the festival, Rih still maintaining control. Khadim watched the people around them, wondering if anyone else at the festival was being held prisoner in their own minds. He presumed he was the only one, but he had no real way of knowing. Finally, a game caught Khadim's eye.

"What's that?" he asked. "That ride, with the tunnel."

Khadim's body paused, looking at the sign. "Tunnel of Terror, why? Do you want a ride?"

"Yeah! Looks like a lot of fun and scary too."

Khadim's body began walking, right past the line that lead to the Tunnel of Terror. "You're either really gullible or really slow. You're not getting this body and you're not partaking in a silly thing like that which is designed to scare you." They looked past the tunnel, seeing boats awaiting riders. Khadim had never been on a boat and he wanted to give it a try, but Rih wasn't nearly as accommodating as Khadim would have liked. The body with all three personalities inside continued on through the spooky fall festival.

"What about that one?! Its got zombies and a mallet!" Khadim's excitement was evident in his tone.

"What part of this do you not understand!? Rih's tone was also evident in his tone, he was frustrated beyond belief. In truth, Khadim had already realized that the best he could do was annoy these gods that took his body, forcing him to simply watch as they used his body as they saw fit.

"Oh, just let him do one..."

"We do have to get three, golden skeletons to get the prize after all." Khadim was trying to make a logical argument, though he already saw a flaw in it after having made it.

"I don't need you to get a skeleton, but since Nasr says so... you can do this one." The god controlled their body over to the line and waited, watching as best he could as the other participants competed to see what they would win. When it was their turn, Rih relinquished control of the body to Khadim. "Ok, kid, you're up."

Khadim, a little unsteadily, walked up to the machine. "Thank you! Thank you both so much." His hand moved to the mallet and clenched the handle, feeling the worn leather in his palm and along his fingers. Khadim was relishing the things he could now feel: the cold air blowing through his hair and across his skin, the weight of the mallet, the sounds of the nearby rides as they were loud enough to shake Khadim's innards. It was also so amazing and wondrous. And then the machine in front of him whirred to life, it was time to play...

WC: 779
Total: 779 + 295 = 1074

The member 'Khadim' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

---

'Normal Dice' :

Khadim wasn't used to controlling the body and trying to do something that required both coordination and speed were proving to be his downfall. Every time he swung the mallet downward, the ghoul would be gone before the mallet got there. On one occasion, the mallet slipped and a little and Khadim's hand smashed into the machine causing him to squeal in pain. Many onlookers didn't understand why someone who wailed in pain would then begin to smile, because they didn't understand that Khadim rarely had the opportunity to feel physical pain and the experience had brought a smile to his face. Despite his smile, his swings were still too slow and eventually his turn was over and he'd only managed to hit one of the ghouls.

"Even I did better than that," said one of the  three, 8 year olds that had been watching. Khadim's cheeks did get a little redder as he realized that even such a young child had better control and reflexes than Khadim. But, feeling his cheeks flush with blood made Khadim smile once again as he was handed a golden skeleton token.

"Is that guy high?" Another onlooker asked, presuming Khadim must have been under some sort of chemical reaction to have performed that incredibly poorly at the game.

"Wow..."

"Yeah, that was... awful, but you had your chance." Rih said as he reclaimed control of Khadim's body. Suddenly, Khadim could no longer feel the metal of the coin in his hand, the wind going through his hair seemed to stop. He was, one again, disconnected from the body which was rightfully his. He had been excited to have competed, even if he had done remarkably poorly, but his mood slumped as control was taken away from him.

The body of Khadim, with Rih at the helm, continued on through the festival. Akin to phantom limb syndrome, Khadim could almost feel the wind still flowing through his hair and the dull pain coming from the fingers that he'd smashed on the machine. He knew, because Rih was in control, that he couldn't really feel the feelings, but they seemingly reverberated through his mind as Rih walked up to another event to participate. Khadim came out of his reverie.

"What's this one? Khadim's characteristic excitement wasn't present in his question.

Almost as if responding Khadim's lackluster mood, Rih answered honestly and without the normal vitriol that his tone usually exhibited. "Best I can tell, they put some candy under one of the three small coffins, move them around, and the player has to pick which coffin the candy is under. Simple, in theory."

Khadim's body leaned to the right, allowing its inhabitants to see around the line they were standing in. The coffins were there and magic began to move them, but eventually, they moved so quickly that you could barely see one coffin from the other. Khadim was sure there had even been after images of coffins as a result of their incredible speed.

"Can you keep up with that speed? I couldn't at all."

"No, your body is too weak. We'll just pick one at random."

"Game of chance!" The body moved forward as the line got shorter and shorter. Finally, it was their turn and they took a seat on the stool. The man opened the middle coffin and placed the candy inside, closing it slowly.

WC: 564
TWC: 564 + 1074 = 1638

The member 'Khadim' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

---

'Normal Dice' :

The magic took control of all three coffins and they began swapping places at a slow speed, before getting faster to the point that none of the personalities within the body could keep up with the Magic’s speed. Then all three coffins began slowing down before resettling in a row on the table.

“Thoughts?” Rih asked.

“Middle,” Nasr responded, though not providing any thought processing or reasoning for his choice.

“Uh, left… maybe.” Khadim was clearly not confident in his response.

“Useless,” Rih responded, before moving Khadim’s hand to pointing towards the middle coffin. The game’s operator slowly reached for the coffin, pulling the lid off to reveal candy inside.

The operator handed the candy and the golden skeleton coin to Khadim. Rih stood up, taking both things. “I’m really gonna enjoy this candy, maybe I should share with Nasr seeing as how he did help pick the correct choice.”

“Oh, thanks!”

Rih ripped the wrapper off, dropping it, before placing the candy in his mouth.

“Yum me.” Nasr remarked after tasting the sweet candy.

“Yeah, fruity too. Pretty good.” Rih added.

“Come on guys, this is so unfair. Just a split second, that’d be enough!” Khadim pleaded his case. Then, for just a moment, Khadim could taste the sweet flavors on his tongue accompanied with the fruity tang of green apple. And then, it was gone. “That was sooo good. We should eat more candy!” Khadim stated to the two awakened gods that often controlled his body. He was sad that the flavors were gone, but also happy to have had them at all. Truly a “better to have loved and lost” situation. Khadim was also really enthused that Rih had shown him kindness and allowed him to taste the candy at all. Maybe Rih isn’t such a bad guy after all, he mused to himself as Rih continued to walk around the festival in Khadim’s body.

“Don’t get carried away little bug, we still need your body to enact our plans. As much as I dislike having to share space with you, we’re stuck with each other for the foreseeable future.”

Despite Rih’s tone, Khadim felt like Rih was saying that he was going to be nicer from here on out, though only time would tell if that feeling was accurate or not.

WC: 385
TWC: 385 + 1638 = 2023