The Shadow Man from ‘Princess and the Frog’
So, what do you want? We work with curses, so being friendly isn’t something we’re used to. You’re not a Paladin, are you? Okay, guess finding this place helps too. Yes, I know this is a kiosk in the middle of a mall. Normally, we look like a place that sells expensive sunglasses. What if somebody wants to buy a pair? You know, that’s never come up and we’ve been here for a decade. So, what are you looking for?
One curse is easy to cook up in a few minutes. We do have a buy six, get a Seven Sin Jamboree for free. Fine, but that’s the only deal we have. By the way, once this starts, you can’t back out unless you take a cookie. Trust me when I tell you that your blood sugar level will be the least of your worries if it comes to that. What if you run? That’s when I send Nell after you and she hasn’t eaten in days.
Since we’re ready to start, I’ll give you the delivery options. We have verbal castings that you simply have to read in the vicinity of your victim. There are potions you can slip them either by drink or having them put it on their exposed skin. My personal favorite are the mouthwash versions because you know there’s a 30 count exposure time. There’s always using food, which includes liquids and powders. Besides all of that, we have patches, pills, darts, and dust.
Next up is what the curse will do. Don’t worry about telling me who the target is because that’s not my business. Best not to know the details beyond gender and age. We have physical alteration curses such as losing hair, skin deformities, growing a tail, or whatever else you can dream up. All of those have the same base, so it’s only a matter of including the proper trace amounts. Mental curses typically involve hallucinations that affect at least one sense. Very simple and literally been done to death. Elemental curses force transformations or give uncontrollable powers that will get them killed by the populace, but those aren’t popular these days. More than likely, the target will be seen as a superhero and become a hero. Yes, I know I said uncontrollable, but the thing still has an on and off switch.
Bestial curses? Haven’t done one of those in a while, so I hope I have the supplies. You need fresh parts of the proper animals, so the more exotic transformations will require a few days. Nothing too complicated, but you can’t find skin flakes and urine of every animal in this mall. Unless you want to do a dog, cat, pigeon, or rat. Yeah, a hyena will be tough and not really a good idea. Turning an enemy into a predator can backfire horribly unless you take the proper precautions. I don’t care if this person has an annoying laugh and it would fit. No, I’ll still do this, but I simply don’t care and the warning means you can’t say I didn’t warn you.
That settles everything and I should have things ready by . . . you already have the hyena ingredients. Rather suspicious. Are you a Paladin? Disgruntled zookeeper? Didn’t see that coming.
Q1) When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
