apathy
[ ap-uh-thee ]
noun
- absence or suppression of passion, emotion, or excitement.
Synonyms: coolness
Antonyms: fervor, ardor
- lack of interest in or concern for things that others find moving or exciting.
- Also ap·a·thei·a, ap·a·thi·a [] Stoicism. freedom from emotion of any kind.
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There was something wrong with the town. The party of adventurers noticed the oddities right away, seeing as they were not particularly subtle. The entire populace went about their day with a listless, blank look in their eye. None of them, not even the children, showed any emotion at all. They simply existed.
“Okay, this is creepy.” Said Mara, the party’s rogue. “Like, really creepy. Seriously, it’s worse than that one place that got taken over by a weird hive mind ooze monster.”
“I don’t think it quite goes that far.” Replied Daniel, the fighter of the group. “But it is pretty bad. You think it’s some kind of spell?”
“Gotta be.” Mara said. “Nothing can make people act this dead inside other than magic. Borr, you wanna check these guys out?”
The party wizard was already examining the people. He had gone right up to a man who was listlessly carrying goods around. Probably transporting things to one of the small shops. Borr was able to go right up to the man without any problem. The man just looked at the small mage and kept walking. It allowed Borr to examine the man without any resistance.
“Yeah, it’s magic. A big spell. Really big. I don’t quite know what it does yet though.”
“I don’t know. It seems fairly obvious.” Daniel said. “It makes people apathetic to, I think everything.”
“On the surface, yes.” The wizard said. “But magic is never that simple. Even my most basic spells have many layers of complexity.” Both of the party members braced themselves for a lecture on the nature of magic and spellcraft. Fortunately for them, it never came. “And I can promise this is a very complex spell. I’ve seen many that can cover a wide area, but never so thoroughly as this one. And a complete suppression of emotions? That’s complex, advanced stuff. I’d love to see the spellbook of the people who made this.”
“After we pry it from his cold, dead hands, right?” Mara asked.
“I thought that went without saying.” Borr nodded. “Whoever made this spell is brilliant, but very dangerous. Not someone that can be allowed to roam free.”
“Great.” Daniel said. “So, will this apathy spell affect us? And how long do we have before it does?”
Borr went up to a different person, a woman cradling two eerily silent children. He performed his magic, examining the spellwork closely.
“It will affect us, yes. In fact, it’s already started to. But it’s a slow burn. It’ll be at least two days before we see any change in how we act, and another three before we’re fully under the effects. But it’s okay. If we leave the area of effect, it should wear off within a day or two.”
“So, does that mean if we take a few of these people out of the town they’ll recover?” The fighter asked.
“Yes. It will take a bit longer than it would us, because of how deeply the spell is rooted in their minds. But it will fade eventually. There might be some lingering effects, but nothing serious.”
“Cool.” Mara said. “So we just grab someone who looks like they’ll know stuff, drag ‘em out of town and wait till they wake up. Then we question them about the who, what and where. And then we kill someone and take their stuff.”
“A bit of a simplification, but yes.” Borr agreed.
“Alright, we’re agreed.” Daniel nodded. “I’ll go find someone that fits. And keep an eye on each other, just in case the spell works a bit faster than planned.”
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A mid-level quest for a DnD party, I guess? Or just a general fantasy story. Could go either way, really.
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