Theodore is at a festival.
It’s a beautiful sunny day in in a city of sprawling towers and colossal arches adorned with rune. The cobbled streets are crowded with all manner of folk from all manner of planes, and they are shimmering with the glow of arcane energies.
A parade is in full swing, blurring the lines between mundane and magical.
Leading the procession are mighty wizards, their robes billowing like storm clouds as they conjure illusions of fantastic beasts and legendary heroes. Each step reverberates with the resonance of ancient incantations, and the air crackles with anticipation.
Enchanted floats, crafted from the very essence of dreams and nightmares. Dragons of emerald fire soar overhead, their scales gleaming with otherworldly radiance. Fey creatures dance upon the breeze, weaving ribbons of starlight into intricate patterns that dazzle the eye.
Amidst the procession, elemental jugglers manipulate orbs of pure elemental fury, while illusionists cast spells of illusion that transform the streets into scenes from distant lands and forgotten epochs.
Magical creatures from every corner of the multiverse join the parade, from majestic unicorns to mischievous faeries, from towering giants to diminutive sprites. Each creature moves with a grace and majesty that defies mortal understanding..
A young half-elf man named Theodore walks with his father through the crowd. Both are dressed in similar dark and simple robes with sheathed swords at their sides.
As the parade winds its way through the ancient streets, the very fabric of reality seems to shimmer and shift, blurring the line between what is real and what is imagined. Spectators gasp in awe as the barriers between the mortal world and the realms of myth begin to dissolve, and for a fleeting moment, they glimpse the true power of magic.
Amidst the excitement the father leaves to go get get them food as the Theodores face gleams watching powerful illusionist attempt to dazzle the crowd with a grand display of illusory magic.
As the illusionist carefully crafts and manipulated their spell, his face contorts and twists as he seems to struggle to hold his illusions together. In an instant the spell bursts into blinding light and disorienting energy.
Startled by the sudden burst of magic, a group of magical creatures, including a pair of enchanted griffins and a massive earth elemental, become spooked and break free from their handlers. With panicked cries and flapping wings, they stampede through the parade route, causing chaos and scattering the crowd.
The father is turning with two skewers of a strange magical creature in his hands as he’s knocked to the ground by the fleeing crowd.
In the midst of the stampede, one of the enchanted floats, designed to resemble a towering castle of crystal, begins to tremble and shake.
The father stands, “Theodore! Theodore!” calling out he rushes into the crowd towards his son.
Weakened, the crystal tower collapses under its own weight, sending shards of magical crystal flying through the air.
The father reaches his boy as the float shatters, he throws himself over his son and out of instinct casts shield.