D&D Spells as Flash Fiction: Acid Splash, Aid, Alarm, & Alter Self
So for a little bit now I've thought that you could take each spell in D&D (I'm using 5.5) and use them as prompts to tell a fun story. Then I saw this Flash Fic February challenge the Story Collective was doing and thought, what the hell.
So each day this month I'll post a short (less than 500 words) story about D&D spells and the sorts of worlds they suggest, starting alphabetically.
I've been posting these on my Bluesky account, but thought I would start putting them here too.
Enjoy. I certainly have.
Acid Splash
My name is Glim and I make acid.
I was ten when folk from the city came ‘round looking for those who could do sums. There was work to be done, they said. Ma and dad told me to go off with them, small as I was, and near useless at the farm. The men of the factory made us stand and answer math problems when we got there. I got all three right without much thinkin’.
Those who passed were taught the acid spell. Say some words and make a gesture with a hand, and it appears nearby in a great bubble. If you aren’t careful you’ll burn yourself awful. Some got hurt so bad they couldn’t make the signs or mouth the words. But those who could make the bubble burst in a brick well ten times in a minute were named first apprentices of the first Acid Works. There was a great party. Priests came ‘round to bless us.
Time went on, they taught us how to make different acids. If you changed how you said the words and moved your hand, they’d be useful for different things. The sing-song acid was good for fertilizer and mining. The hard slap was good for clearing rust. The shout acid for artisans and alchemists.
We had to keep track of each spell we did and for what acid and tell the foreman after each shift. If you couldn’t remember or said the wrong amount or hurt yourself, your pay was docked. If you made too much fuss or spoke of the Crows who cawed outside the factory and said awful things about the Church, you got sacked.
When I was apprentice second class they made a dorm for us all so we didn't need worry about rent in the city. When I was apprentice third class one of the brick wells caved in and some of my friends fell into the vats below. The foreman said there was an award for turning in those you thought might be Crows, who he said sabotaged the mortar in the wells.
I’m apprentice fifth class now, and eighteen years old. My throat hurts when I say the words. My fingers are stiff from all the scars.
I wonder what I’ll do when I can’t make acid.
Aid
“Why a white strip of cloth?” the High Priestess demurred.
“We are not sure, your eminence,” Sister Vogo replied. “The magical force was detected only when white cloth was used in conjunction with the words and gestures as you have seen, we attempted with–”
“What do you mean by detected?” the high priestess turned to face Vogo.
“Well ever since the Church declared that all magic should fall within its jurisdiction, this humble nunnery has attempted many experiments to detec–that is discover various arcane uh… behaviours, using the materials at our disposal.”
The High Priestess folded her arms in front of her as she stared down at Vogo, who became fascinated with the bricks beneath her eminence’s shoes.
“Are you telling me that you have had these women speaking gibberish and making hand signs in an attempt to discover new spells?”
Vogo’s mouth opened and closed several times in an attempt to respond.
“We uh, we have found with the spell in question that the magic seems to increase blood production substantially, not in a way that overflows the body, but replaces blood that is lost. Some sisters wish to put forward a theory that there exists in blood some materials that seal cuts, diminish bruises, and maybe even make the sick and elderly well, your eminence.”
Vogo closed her eyes as the high priestess sighed.
“So would you say that this spell causes a… youthful vigor in the recipient?”
Vogo nodded quickly, “Absolutely your eminence. We have had many subjects report so.”
“Very well, sister Vogo. Your nunnery shall receive another year of protection from your Chapter and the Church. And I would like to experience the effects of this spell in my chambers before I leave. Attend me this evening, after dinner.”
“As you wish, your eminence,” Vogo bowed and sighed, relief flowing through her.
Alarm
To the Esteemed Dean of Major Arcana,
Thank you again for sending your new spell to our humble cloister for testing. It took us a time to secure enough bells and silver wire, but rest assured we have spent the last month deep in practice and reflection.
There was some initial confusion as to the volume of the verbal ingredients of the spell, as the described effect seemed to happen each time we completed the spell in initial testing. But then one of our brethren recalled being a guest at a lecture you gave at the blessed Cathedral of Hanam last year, and your wise preference for a softer cadence.
Having applied a volume barely above a whisper, we found success in testing the spell with the intended effect: if a person crossed the marked territory the sound of a bell did ring out. Moreover we found the same effect with cows and pigs we keep here in abundance.
We also found that while casting your spell, if a louder verbal component is applied, there seems to be an inverse relation to the size of creature that can cross the threshold without raising the intended sound. A whisper produces the effect as described above. Saying the verbal components at a volume at a mumble or quiet prayer, the alarm will only sound if something the size of a dog or chicken crosses the threshold. Producing the verbal material at a level we would describe as below conversation, the spell only triggers an alarm when a mouse crosses the threshold.
We are excited about the various practical applications this can provide you and your college, and the imminent wisdom in your choice of naming the spell “Alarm.”
May we be so bold as to ask a question of you and your college? To return to our initial observations of the spell when cast at a loud speaking volume, such as at a pub or spirited school debate, the alarm is triggered almost immediately. Is the college aware of any creatures that could cause this alarm that are smaller than the eye can see?
Alter Self
He stood in front of the mirror in his room, alone, sweating. He wore only a loose tunic, something a classmate had left behind after a tryst one night. He heard boys chasing each other through the dormitory halls outside. He would graduate from the college of Major Arcana at the end of the year.
He took a deep breath and stared into his own eyes. He was focusing on a simple spell from his fundamentals of transmutation class. It had no material components. It wasn’t animating a cauldron or gifting a beast with language. The professor had described it as having simple but vital utility. Growing gills and webbed fingers to avoid drowning. Turning hands into talons in case you were ever ambushed by brigands.
But there was another application for the spell. A thing you could do if you took your time on the last three syllables and moved the somatic gestures away from the neck and fingers and instead focused on the face, chest, and pelvis. Something transgressive that beautiful students whispered to each other in dark corners late at night where something inside him feared to go.
He readied his hands and fixed an image in his mind: a painting of a knight that hung in the hall outside the cafeteria. It portrayed a young woman standing in front of a mirror as she was attended by her squire.
He cast the spell and his breath caught in his throat.
A wrong had been righted. A scale tipped towards balance. A knot inside untied.
And she cried as she looked at herself for the first time.
