Patrick Dayne's page

All we know is that Odrick loves electricity. The look of it, the peals of thunder it makes, and the feeling of it coursing through his body, seizing his muscles in exquisite agony.

Odrick believes everyone should know the power of lightning. After all, the greatest feeling in the world is being electrocuted. It would be selfish not to share that with others, would it not?

He brings it to them, hosts within his own body and then shares with others, reveling in their writhing in ecstasy. After hours, sometimes days of giving his gift to them, most of his play mates cry, and say "Thank you" as they finally slip into the cold embrace of death. Odrick takes this as encouragement to visit more.

Odrick knows they truly appreciate his gift, because many of his victims stick around, invisibly following him after their death, ghostly forms still locked in expressions of pure joy, mouth wide in a never ending scream and eyes burnt out of their skulls. Sometimes they even help him bring the gift to his new victims, once he takes a while to knock them out of their reveries and help him. His first victim, a burglar, has proven one of the most useful over the years, letting him break into houses with great ease and sticking to the shadows. But the help of the cruel guardsman who tried to stop his mission of joy cannot be underestimated either. Nor the mage apprentice, or any of his other friends. Odrick doesn't play favorites. He'll bring his gift to anyone, anywhere. Even you, if you're patient enough.

Odrick keeps quiet about his childhood, but his exploits are a matter of public record, and he's happy to recount his tales to anyone who will listen.

He came to Ghastenhall with nothing but the clothes on his back, the lightning flowing in his veins, and a powerful determination to do what's right. He got a job working at a little bakery shop, and lived on that modest wage.

For a while, he worked without incident, but over time he began to notice that some people felt unfulfilled in their daily lives. They came into the shop, ordered a pastry, and ran off in a hurry, day after day, never stopping to enjoy life. Or came in, sat down with a cup of tea and a scone, and moped into their drink.

Odrick felt great sympathy for them, and began to think. "My life is so simple, yet it's filled with such joy! What is it I have that they don't?"

Odrick pondered this thought, he sat and he thunk and he wondered until finally he came to the only conclusion that made sense.

"Eureka!" he cried, causing all the patrons to jump, and then, sheepishly apologized to all, and continued in his head.

The electricity! Oh yes, that's what I have that they don't, the electric joy in my heart!

He finished out that day, and then set to work that evening.

First, he tracked down a guardsman with whom he'd made a rapport, and dragged him off somewhere private.

"You!" the man cried, recognizing Odrick "You're the man from the bakery, but why?"

"Why?" Odrick replied, tapping a finger to his chin "Because you deserve it." he finishes with a grin, and then gets to work, pumping the man full of power.

Hours later, once he'd expired, and Odrick had returned home, he lay in his bed.

What a good thing I've done today. Those screams of his, and the tears, and the begging for more! Oh it was wonderful. I'm glad I could make him so happy.

That night he awoke mid sleep to the sight of the guardsman floating above his head, mouth wide open in exultant ecstasy, and finger pointed directly at Odrick.

"Friend! You decided to stay?" Odrick exclaimed, delighted that the man cared so much to stick around even in death.

So happy was he, and assured of his rightness that he went out again and again, spreading his joy to as many as he could. Every one had some new, unique way of asking for more.

"No, please don't stop!" some would cry, and so Odrick would not.

"Wait, I have a wife, and kids!" others would call, and so Odrick would happily oblige in giving them the gift as well, as a favor to his friend.

"No! I'll give you anything you want!" some would call when they caught their breath, to which Odrick would reply "Please, no compensation is necessary. I do what I do out of the goodness of my heart."

And much more praise for his abilities flowed forth.

After a while, he'd amassed quite a collection of grateful spirits, six in all. The original guardsman, of course. A pickpocket he caught counting his ill gotten gains. A bored, lonely wizard's apprentice, who finally got some fulfillment. A father, lovingly embracing his children as he gifted them all at the same time. The sad trumpeter of a troop of soldiers. And last, but not least, a Mitran priest who clearly yearned to know a real higher power.

It was this last that undid him, as such an insult could not stand to the followers of the Pretend God, and they and the government put all resources into capturing him. His sentencing was swift and entirely unfair. They listened to his explanations and impassioned arguments, heard of all the good he did for those people...and discarded it all without a second thought, labeling him mad! MAD, of all things, when he was merely bettering people's lives on a daily basis! The injustice!

And so he was sent to Branderscar Sanitarium, unable to pass his gift to others, or even feel it himself, restricted as his movements are, lightning prevented from coursing through his body, and feeling the ecstasy of it sizzling through his synapses.

This last was a slight he could not bear. One injustice too many. He could have borne out his sentence in peace, content to keephis gift to himself, away from the ungrateful men who'd locked him here. But to prevent him from experiencing it himself? "For his own safety?" UNFORGIVABLE!

But Odrick is patient, and Odrick is kind. He'll still give his gift to them when he gets out, though the nature of his imprisonment means he won't be able to give the guards and doctors the attention they deserve. But they'll get a taste. They'll all get a taste.