Hostages and Books

Sunday, June 14th, 2009

The group reached the city of Xaarum with no further issues. They decide that the most important thing is to find the home of the wizard Milead, who supposedly used devils to guard his home.

The five adventurers enter the city and see that it is not as well off as Zoa. The limestone walls are cracked and pitted, and the forest is in places growing right up to them.

They enter the first inn that they see, to both gather information and to celebrate their victory against the orcs and bugbear.

The name of the inn is the Dwarf's Load Inn, and the barkeeper asks what he can do for them. "Two ales, one for your, uh, small friend, then? Here you go...that'll be six copper."

Raizix puts a silver piece on the bar. "I'm sorry, sir, but I can't take this" says the barkeeper. "Xaarum has it's own coinage. You'll have to find a money changer. I'll put the ale on your tab, Master..."

"Raizix, and these are my companions, Darwin, Jelena, Ember, and Deekin."

"Oh, very nice. So, what brings you to Xaarum, since you are obviously new here."

"Well, to be honest, we are looking for the mage Milead."

The barkeeps face changes. "I didn't take you for that sort...I wouldn't get involved with him. He worships some dark, forgotten god they say. Let's not talk about that."

The group goes to the money changers and gets a couple dozen gold coins changed, and get twenty-two Xaarum coins in return. As they do that, Deekin returns. "Deekin found something! Milead has three devils that guard his house. And his house is right over there." Deekin points across the river to the older side of Xaarum at a large house in a clearing.

"Good job, Deekin. Let's go now, maybe we can get back to Zoa quickly."

It doesn't take long for them to travel across the river and to Milead's manor. It looks to easily be the largest house in the city. Raizix pulls on the bell rope, and is shortly greeted by an old, thin man with black livery. "Yes?"

"We are here to see the Wizard Milead about a matter of great importance."

"Your name, good...sir?"

"Raizix."

The man in livery waits, looking at the four others in the group. "I'm Deekin, cleric of the shimmering one!"

The others give their names reluctantly. The liveried man closes the gate and returns to the house. He returns moments later and says, "The master is too busy to see you. Good day."

Qe

"No, but I will relay the information to the master." He leaves once again, returning after a slightly longer wait. "As I said before, the master is too busy to see you."

Raizix pulls Darwin back, and Deekin follows them. "Is there something you can do, make him more friendly, or something?"

"No, I cannot. My gift doesn't work that way."

"Deekin can!" Deekin exclaims. When everyone stares at him, he begins again at a whisper, "Deekin can. It won't be long and he might be angry and it might not work, bit Deekin will try."

Deekin says with authority, "approach," and the man walks toward him quickly. Everyone else runs through the open doorway, gaining entrance to the house.

"Master, the hooligans are in the house! They have weapons and a magic user!"

The group searches through the house, to find a man in robes beside an empty fireplace, standing. Just as Raizix enters the doorway, a monstously huge viper appears between him and the man.

"Leave now. You have bothered me and my chamberlain enough."

The group have a heated conversation with Milead, telling him of the wizard Daresh and the coin of power grafted to her skin, and their attempts at creating another one to fight back against her.

"So, we need the blood of a devil," finishes Raizix.

"Then you have come for naught, and as I told you, wasted all of our time. Leave, before I summon the watch to remove you by force."

The group leaves dejected. But it doesn't take long for them to decide to get what they need anyways.

"Looks like we need a place to keep our stuff if we are going to be fighting devils in the city," says Darwin. They return to the Dwarf's Load Inn and get two rooms to put equipment in, and begin to look around the city for any other information about Milead.

It doesn't take them long to confirm that something supernatural guards the house at night. They also find something unexpected.

There is a bard, singing on a street corner who chants while playing out "What do you get when you cross a half-orc and a pig?
Nothing, there's just some things you can't get a pig to do."

While he did get a few laughs from those nearby, the half-orc across the street obviously took offense. "What did you say?" he says. while quickly approaching the bard, then snatching the lute from his hands and grabbing his shirt collar.

Raizix and Darwin also begin approaching the burly half-Orc and pudgy human bard. "I'm going to give you two seconds to give me a good reason why I shouldn't shove this..."

"No, no, I didn't mean it. I'm sorry," sobs the bard, almost incoherently.

"See, he's obviously sorry and we wouldn't want any trouble, would we?" says Raizix while putting hand to hilt. The half-orc backs up and away, and grunts.

"Your lucky, myoozishuhn. They won't always be here, and next time I see you, I'll tune you up real good," says the half-orc as he walks away.

"Good sir, would you like a job?" says Raizix to the bard.

"Why, um, yes. Yes I would. Thank you, and thank you for rescuing me from that ruffian. No sense of humor..."says the bard, apparently trying to be jovial but still trembling.

"Very good! We'll need your abilities at the Lord Milead's Manorhouse tonight at midnight. If you could meet us there? And here's a deposit for your trouble, " says Raizix as he hands the bard ten gold. "Your name, good sir?"

"Gonaathan the bard."

"Ah, excellent. I'm Raizix. We'll see you then."

The group then goes there separate ways, selling some of their equipment and purchasing necessary items while trade is still going on. They meet back at the Dwarf's Load Inn, and see a female dwarf performing music on stage in front of a large crowd. They go to their rooms and retire early, knowing that they will be up later and may need to leave the city.

Near midnight, they go to the manor house and a few minutes later, Gonaathan arrives. "I, uh, don't see much happening here, or a stage. Who did you want me to perform for?"

"Well, see, we needed your services to simply use this knife to stab one of Milead's guards."

"One of Milead's guards? But he doesn't have guards, he has...oh, oh no. You'll have to give me a bit more than you already did if you want me to do that. And I ain't fighting nothing. I'll stab it, if you hold it, or kill it or something. One hundred gold. No less."

"Very well. You'll get it when you do it."

After their discussion, Jelana approaches the gates of the manor, and contemplates hoping the fence. However, she had already gotten something attention that appears about thirty feet away from her. It appears like a ephemeral lion, glowing slightly, and going invisible in the torch light. She draws her bow, and shoots.

The arrow lodges into the form, which growls ferociously, and runs toward the fence. It jumps, and almost clears it in a single bound, but just misses the top and begins pulling itself up and over, far more intelligent than a simple animal.

"Get ready for it, I'll be guarding all of you, so don't worry about getting hurt," says Raizix over his shoulder to everyone, but mainly to Gonaathan. He runs forward, ready to engage the creature once it drops from the fence"

Jelena takes aim again, waiting for it to land. Darwin and Ember begin casting spells in preparation, and Deekin casts a spell on Raizix, who appears much stronger.

The creatures lands, and charges towards Jelena. Raizix smashes into it with his sword, and it turns it's attention toward him. Jelena shoots her bow as it is turning, and gets it in the side of the eye, doing some obvious damage. It begins trying to claw in to Raizix, but his armor protects him for the most part.

It doesn't take long for them to kill the thing, while Gonaathan stands transfixed in horror. "Now here we go, Gonaathan. Just take this longsword and cut it, anywhere you like. You just need to draw blood," says Raizix.

"I, um, uh....," stutters Gonaathan.

"Come on man, stick it, before I stick you!" shouts Raizix.

Gonaathan grabs the sword from Raizix and slashes at the devil on the ground, and quickly walks away and begins to vomit on the ground. Raizix grabs a glass vial from his pocket and collects the blood dripping from the wound.

He then walks over to Gonaathan, holding the vial and a knife in one hand, and a pouch of gold in the other. "Here's the hundred gold you asked for. You earned it."

Just after Gonaathan takes the bag, Raizix grabs Gonaathan's hand with his now free hand and nicks it with the dagger, allowing some of the blood to drip into the dagger with the devil's blood. It begins to bubble and smoke slightly, and he puts a stopper on it. "Yes, you definitely earned it."

"Your crazy, all of you," exclaims Gonaathan as he runs away, with gold in hand.

As the group gathers their things, they leave quickly, and come across a guard patrol. "Halt. Identify yourselves," says one of the guardsman.

"My name is Raizix, and these are my companions Ember, Jelena, Darwin, and Deekin. We were playing cards, when we heard a disturbance near that manor house. thought we would investigate. Adventurers and all, you know."

"Best leave that sort of thing to the watch. Get on back inside, and be safe."

"Will do." And the group returns to the inn and goes to sleep. Early in the morning, they pack their belonging and leave the city, fearing possible retribution from Milead.

Luckily, after three days in travel back to Zoa, they aren't accosted by Milead or by anything else for that matter. When they return to Halaan's forge to deliver the devil's blood, however, they see a sign on the door.

By issue of the

GREAT COUNCIL of ZOA

NO TRESPASSING

This land has been seized by the

City pending trial for the seditious

acts performed by the occupant

KEEP OUT

Just as they finish reading the sign, they hear footfalls behind them, and then see a dozen men, some with crossbows, aiming at five of them. "Come with us."

"Where are you taking us?"

"To see Sargeant Sooloe, of the watch," says the lead thug.

"Well, okay," says Raizix, thinking that he could possibly survive a crossbow bolt due to his armor, but Darwin would probably not fare as well, and wouldn't want to be responsible for the elf's death. The dozen men escort them from the forge, towards the city gates, and back north towards Xaarum. About half an hour outside the city, they meet four more people.

"Good, you brought them. I am Sergeant Sooloe," says one of the men, wearing chainmail and a longsword on his belt.

"If your a sergeant of the city watch, then why are we meeting you out here and not back in the city?" asks Raizix.

"Let's just say that I'm representing a different interested party today. Your friends of Halaan. If you want him back, you'll have to return some books that were taken from me that I believe to be in wizard Geolain's possession. Of course, we know you know both Halaan and Geolain, so don't pretend otherwise."

"There just casual acquaintances, really," quips Darwin. He sombers when he gets scowls from both Raizix and Sooloe.

The group reluctantly agrees to get the books in return for Halaan's release, but not before seeing that Halaan is alive. Sooloe agrees, and has Darwin bound, gagged and blindfolded and escorted by one of his men to see Halaan. Darwin returns, and when ungagged, says, "Halaan is alive, and is about five minutes away."

When he says that, all the crossbows turn toward him, and Sooloe begins to draw his sword. "That was foolish, very foolish of you, elf," begins Sooloe. "What is to say that he has not already been moved, or that you went in a, how do you say it, circular direction? You do not truly know where he is. Or perhaps you try to find him, and die trying, or he dies in you trying. Will you risk that, eh?"

"No, we won't," says Raizix. And he then turns to leave. "We'll have to books for you tomorrow, at noon."

The group then leaves, contemplating their next move.

Off to find a Coward and a Devil

Sunday, May 31st, 2009

Resuming the Kalamar Coin Trilogy, the group continues to find the ingredients to make their own coin of power, in order to fight back against Daresh and her own coin.

Two ingredients have been found already: a diamond touches by death and the breath of a dragon. The last ingredient is the blood of a devil spilled by a coward.

Halaan, the alchemist that is helping the group make the coin details the gathering of the last rare ingredient. The group wonders if any of their group qualifies as a coward.

"Deekin is not a coward, no sir," says Deekin. "I served the great dragon, which was fraught with peril! Deekin cleans dragon teeth. Only almost got eaten twice. Now, Deekin is brave adventurer!"

So the group goes to Geolain's hoping he has tracked down where to find a devil. The trip across town is uneventful but drenching, as the rain that came last night has continued on during the day, and people are avoided the streets.

Geolain says that there might indeed be a devil nearby, in the town of Xaarum. The group asks Geolain about the specific 'coward' requirement as well.

"Would the coward have to actually strike the devil to get his blood, or would something else work?" asks Raizix, while looking at Darwin.

"I am hypothesizing here, but I would say that if the required ingredient is blood spilled by a coward, then the coward need not land the killing blow. The devil could be killed prior to the blood-letting, or restrained in some way."

The group then sets out, deciding to save their coin and travel on foot rather than purchasing horses. The rain lets up just outside of Zoa, and the traveling is easy.

However, on the second day of their travel, they are suddenly ambushed by a group of orcs. The orcs swing out of the trees, riding logs designed to knock travelers into the muddy river below. This tactic works to some degree, sending Raizix into the river below. He begins to sink into the soft mud of the river bottom due to his weight and that of his plate mail.

As he struggles in the river, Darwin begins casting spells at the orcs, Ember throws daggers, and Jelena begins shooting arrows. Several orcs fall, but more spring from the trees.

As they are busy fighting the orcs on the west side of the river, Raizix realizes the predicament he is in when he hears a shout from the east side. He sees a bugbear wielding a wand, and then the mud surrounding him at the river begins to harden. He struggles and manages to extract himself before it solidifies, but barely keeps his footing on the now slippery rock on the riverbed.

In the fighting above, Ember and Darwin are holding off the orcs, and Jelena slips and falls into the river herself. She shots a well placed arrow into the bugbear, and he colapses in a heap. Raizix had just reached the east riverbank, when he sees a crocodile in the water coming towards Jelena. It snaps at her, but he wades into the water and quickly smashes it in the head with his greatsword, knocking it unconscious.

Ember and Darwin finish up the remaining orcs, and unable to communicate with one they kept alive for interrogating, leave him for dead.

Note: This was a somewhat short session, and I'm looking forward to the group entering a new city. They seem familiar with Zoa, and introducing a new city can be a fun experience.

The next game is tomorrow, so this is posted up just in time!

The plan

Friday, May 21st, 2009 - Part 2

After the Icarus exploded, the group goes back to ground level. Custer gets on the radio, trying to locate the mercenary he rescued and find out where he is.

“I’m at the site, looking for the boss,” Custer lands and begins walking around, using his optical imaging systems in his SAMAS to scan the rubble. Emergency personnel and equipment begins to arrive, and shortly a search and rescue operation is underway. “Dammit, this stuff isn’t supposed to happen! There were people in here, all types of people. Who’d want to blow up a building like that?”

“What’ll happen if the boss is dead?” asks Custer.

“Well, we’ll find the money and the company information in his safebox. You’ll get paid, don’t worry.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it. I don’t need it. You guy’s ‘ill need it more than me.”

“Well, I’ll let you know once we get things sorted here. If you can help, great.”

Maxwell and Veras are looking through the rubble too, trying to find any survivors, but as it gets later, Veras says they should be on their way to make the rendezvous.

They reach Riverfront Park Center early, in time to check things out. It appears what once was a park near the beach has become a bit of a shanty town. Some almost permanent buildings are interspersed amongst wooden buildings, where several people have taken up residence.

The group see two people leaning against one of the more permanent structures. One stands up and faces the other, and they turn away slightly from the three. They appear to exchange money for a small bag. “Hmm, not so different from Chi-town. Drugs are everywhere,” says Veras.

One of the guys walks away, and the other seems too absorbed in his new purchase to mind anyone or anything.

About half an hour later, a woman wearing a long coat walks by, flanked by two men wearing casual clothes but not appearing casual at all. “Follow me,” she says, just after passing the group, without making eye contact with them at all. Veras shrugs, and follows the three of them, and Maxwell and Custer follow suit.

They approach the building with the druggie, who stands up, looks suddenly sober, and opens a concealed door for the woman. The three walk in, and the doorman winks at Veras and says, “After you.”

Once everyone is inside, he closes the door and takes a seat. The other two men have already seated themselves as well. The room appears to be far more technologically advanced inside then it’s meager outward appearance would suggest. There is a large screen on one wall, several chairs facing it, and a lift going to what is presumably a basement level.

“Thank you for coming, take a seat anywhere you’d like.” Custer moves to the corner of the room, staying in his SAMAS, which crowds the corner. Maxell and Veras take chairs next to each other.

“You might be wondering why we’ve asked you all here. We represent various…interested parties in the city. They are concerned about a growing problem that you might have seen already,” she begins

“There is a severe water shortage in the city. People are literally dying of thirst. The DB’s are faring a little bit better, but not by much. The mayor claimed that he didn’t know why there was a water shortage or rather that he wasn’t withholding water. It’s too late to ask him now, as he died just a few hours ago when the civil government building was destroyed, as I’m sure you know.

“It’s possible that less forgiving groups have already targeted him for the water problem. Word on the street was there was five million out there for his assassination.

“There is a desalinization plant not far from here,” and on the screen appear aerial photographs of an area west of the city, “and we want you to investigate. Find out what is happening to the water supply, and fix it if you can. You’ve come highly recommended for what you do, and we’re prepared to pay you in kind.”

“So, I assume we can’t just walk in, right?” asks Maxwell.

“That’s right. There are bottweilers and borgs at the very least. There is a laser security system to detect intrusion as well. What was once supposed to protect the water supply will hamper our investigation, but won’t make it impossible.”

Everyone seems to make up their mind, and all nod in agreement.

“We’ll need a place to repair our equipment and get new supplies,” adds Maxwell, as if an afterthough.

“Don’t worry, we’ll have anything you’ll need.”

Paper Models

Paper Models 008
Originally uploaded by MelkiorWhiteblade

Well, I've been spending quite a bit of time during my lunch breaks working on paper models. These posted here are from Fat Dragon Games Deluxe Dungeon set, and so far, I think it's been worth it.

I've got several more pieces to make to have a complete set, but for now, I've got two rooms, and if I rearrange the pieces, I could have a few more I think.

They haven't seen actual play yet, but I'll find a use for them soon, perhaps for HackMaster Basic.

Chapter 3: The First Lapping of the Waves

As the darkness fades from her eyes, Terra stifling a moan, she lowering her hands from her now bleeding face. Her gloves bloody as she stared down at them, not feeling the pain, she only felt her sense of impending doom returning.

"Are you quite alright, Ms. Terra?" The wizened old instructor had somehow come up behind Terra after the plate had hit her, having deactivated the circle of protection surrounding her. "Ms. Terra?"

"Oh...uh... y-yes, I am alright, Master Quarkis. It seems I missed one of the plates," Terra replied, still shocked.

"Oh yes, the plates. Actually...here Ms. Terra, put your hands down now," Quarkis brings his own hands to her face. Like Terra's hands had when focusing her power, Quarkis' hands begin to glow, if more brightly, and with a steady greenish hue rather than her erratic crimson one. The cuts on her face are quickly healed, leaving no traces. Even the blood coating her fades and vanishes.

"Now, lets see that arm. Your floating disk seemed to hit that particularly hard," Quarkis mumbled to himself as he pulls off her glove, feeling along her wrist with his still glowing hands. "Well, no bones seem to be broken."

Looking up at Terra, he saw her eyes full of tears. "What is the matter? There should be no more pain."

Biting back a sob, Terra replied, "Have I failed my test, Master Quarkis?"

"No, Ms. Terra. I am actually quite impressed. You might be very surprised at how many students injure themselves in these demonstrations. Why, I myself... I suppose that is a story for another time, of course. But still, few students of your level are able to actually control elemental flame as you are without a pact with a fire spirit. It seems very likely that you will be asked to join the guild. Now you must excuse me though, the other judges have moved on to the final student, and I cannot miss his demonstration."

As Master Quarkis slowly hobbled over to the waiting judges, Terra sat on the ground. Both stunned and relieved, she almost could not believe that this whole day hadn't been a dream.

"Come on, Terra," Sertorii says as he walked over to her. "We wouldn't want to miss Vettessos' display. He has been working on it in the library for months now. Even Master Quarkis seems curious about what he will do."

"Knowing Vettessos, it won’t be anything noble or worthwhile. Every class that I have had with him proves that. Did you know that he was the student who turned Mistress Kinesha blue? It took the other professors a week to change her back to a normal color. Not to mention how many of his alchemy experiments manage to poison someone, never himself of course, or explode somehow. Did you know he was the one who melted the flesh off of Asinti’s hand with what was supposed to be a potion of night vision?"

Terra takes his offered hand as he helped her to her feet, and together they followed the judges to the last magical circle, exchanging more rumors of misdeeds. Vettessos, the short northerner, was still down on his knees with a large piece of chalk, putting the finishing touches on a magical circle of his own inside of the one placed by the instructors. As he continued drawing, Terra watched him closely.

Like her friend Kayla, Vettessos hailed from the wild lands on the northern border of the Eastern Territories. However, the two of them did not find comfort and friendship when each discovered where the other was from as Terra had expected. She soon learned that while Kayla was from the Kingdom of Grelz, Vettessos was from their very hostile neighbor, the Duchy of Bari. The two lands had been simmering with violence almost since humans had come to the region several centuries ago, and had fought in bloody open war only a generation ago. In fact, the renewed hostility between their kingdoms was the reason Kayla had left school. This fact did nothing to endear Terra to the pale haired little human she watched now.

She did not recognize the magical circle he is finishing, but that is no great surprise. The body of knowledge that modern magic encompasses made it nearly impossible for one person, even one as long lived as an elf, to learn it all. Even most who would be considered masters of the magical arts tend to focus on one small aspect of the craft, such as Master Quarkis with his healing.

Terra's reverie was broken when Vettessos' circle begins to glow with power. The young student moved to the center, kneeling in front of a large candle. With an indecipherable whispered word of power from him, the candle lights itself and his chanting began.

The words are much different than what Terra expected. In fact, she has never heard the language he is using. In the few required classes on the creation of magical circles of protection that Terra had attended, they had used the common eastern tongue. As the chanting became louder and more guttural, the flames of the candle burn more brightly.

The nagging feeling that she is missing something important tugged at Terra's mind, but she could not tell what it might be. It was almost as if there was something just beyond the range of her hearing that is calling out. The feeling grew more intense, the almost-sound rising and falling in rhythm with Vettessos' chants. Looking around, Terra saw looks of confusion on several of the other student's faces, as well as on a few of the instructors'.

Sertorii, whom Terra had almost forgotten was standing there, startled Terra when he whispered to her, "That doesn't look like a circle of protection to me. I might be wrong, but it’s forbidden by the Guild to learn any other type isn’t it?"

She half turned towards him, not taking her eyes off of the chanting boy. "Yes. Guild Master Rikkosk had that on the list of the forbidden arts. But Vettessos wouldn't be stupid enough to break the laws of the Guild right in front of the instructors. He would never be able to join if he.... Do you hear that?"

“Hear what?” Sertorii asked, who looked quite ill at ease.

“That voice-” A deep rumbling cut off the rest of Terra’s words, as the entire circumference of the circle burst into flames. The voice Terra had thought she heard now boomed clearly from the inflamed circle.

“A blood offering must be made, mortal,” the disembodied voice intoned.

The very sound of it drove a spike of pure terror through Terra. Her feet seemed to be stuck to the ground in horror as she continued to watch Vettessos, for now she recognized just what he had been doing as they all watched complacently.

“My offering is them, defiling one!” Vettessos nearly screamed as he pointed at the small crowd of professors and students gathered in front of him.

Through the rumbling, Terra heard the others around her. Most of the teachers seemed to be yelling at Vettessos, either ordering or begging him to stop this abomination. Sertorii stood by her side, as stunned as she was, when the demon that the young human had summoned began to tear its way into the world.

With an unearthly screech, the talons of the demon ripped through the air between Vettessos and the others. As the breach between the demon’s hellish dimension and her own world widened, Terra nearly fainted for the second time that day. At first Terra mistook what she was feeling as revulsion that one of her fellow students would bring such a thing into the world, but soon realized that it was the closeness of such a vile presence that caused the sickness she felt deep inside. Beside her, Sertorii fell to his hands and knees, gagging from the psychic stench of the thing that permeated the air.

As he retched beside her, Terra watched as the massive demon emerged fully into the world. Towering over the small Vetessos, it slowly turned towards the small crowd of teachers, taking a step towards them. Without thinking, Terra raised her hand towards the beast, again focusing her power into it. The fiery hues of magic began to coalesce, dancing around her slender fingers.

The flaming bolt that burst forth from her hand was of surprising strength. As she watched its speedy flight towards the demon Terra felt the first wave of intense pain hit her. By the time the ball of fire had hit the edge of the magical containment circle and dissipated harmlessly, she realized what a horrible mistake she had made. Not only had the reflexive use of her spell been useless, she had not even been properly prepared to use it. As she tore her now teary eyes away from the horrid creature to look at her hand, the one still glowing with her magic, she saw only the charred and flayed remains that seemed somehow connected to her arm.

It was then that the full intensity of the pain overcame her and brought Terra to her knees, screaming in pain. She looks back up as the demon begins pounding and tearing at the magical wall containing him. As her vision began to fade for the second time that day, Terra wondered if this time she would live long enough to wake up.

Hands grabbed at her, pulling her now almost limp body off of the ground. She could still hear the demon's terrifying roars of outrage as she drifted back into unconsciousness.

This is all I have right now. I think there is more to chapter 3, and I might have a print-out of chapter 4 which I'll try to get online soon.

Chapter 2: The Rising Tide Part 3

Terra ran down the dark hallway, dragging her satchel as she rubs her tired eyes, cursing under her breath. "Damn that cat! Why did he have to choose last night to get sick? At the very least he could have kept it to himself, and not done it on my bed. Maybe I should have strangled him and gotten it over with. He is such a..."

Already late as she emerged into the blindingly bright morning light of the practice field, she finds the remaining members of her class lined up on one side, listening to the wizened old instructor who spoke for the panel of judges behind him.

"Those of you here are the few who haves passed your written exams. You have proven yourselves able to memorize the tenants of the arcane. We like to pride ourselves on weeding out failures early, but of course, some of you manage to slip through the cracks."

His seemingly cataract-filled eyes peering out from underneath his bushy and unkempt eyebrows surveyed the students, stopping on each of their faces. As his gaze reached each one, they could feel the power behind those eyes, and although the day was warm, a shiver ran up Terra's spine.

"Now we will test if you can apply the knowledge that we have spent years pounding into your skulls. Knowledge is nothing without the power to use it, after all. First you will be run through a series of tests, to prove your mastery of cantrips and simple incantations. After that, for those of you who receive satisfactory marks, you will be asked to demonstrate a more powerful spell of your own design. Those with the most impressive displays will be considered for graduation. And the few who do may have the opportunity for a guild apprenticeship."

As soon as the instructor finished, dozens of servants came on to the field carrying large tables. These were set up in a large semicircle across half the field, with arcane objects and open tomes spread out on top of them, and for the next several hours, the few dozen students who had reached this point demonstrated the fruits of their studies.

Terra waited her turn at each of the tables with some trepidation, as some of those before her left the field in failure, having not been able to complete one of the demonstrations. After each table the crowd of students diminished, until, by the end, only nine students remained. These students were escorted, Terra among them, to the empty side of the field by the judges.

"Well," the same instructor begins, after clearing his throat, "I am proud of all of you that have made it this far. I only expected about half this number to make it to this point. Now we reach the final test. Take a few minutes to set up your demonstrations and prepare your minds in your assigned area."

Each student was led to a rather large circle that was seemingly painted onto the grass. Upon closer examination, Terra noticed a faint glow coming from the white boundaries of the shape, with much smaller lines leading towards the center. She recognized it from several of the tomes she had spent years studying from, but had never seen one until this moment. It was a circle of protection, meant to prevent any and all magical energies from penetrating the barrier.

Not something initiates into the world of magic generally encountered, the college seemed to have spared no expense to protect their students from accidents, Terra thinks to herself. Or rather, protect all of their students besides the one in the circle, of course. If by any chance something catastrophic did happen inside the circle, the student inside would bear the full brunt of it. Terra had heard the widespread apocryphal stories of such things happening during the final evaluations, as had every other student.

Terra, from her circle on the far corner, sat and watched the others rummage through their bags and books in preparation. After a couple minutes of relaxing and enjoying the warmth of the early spring sunlight and the smell of the grass, she stood, picking up her satchel. Taking from it several large plates, she carefully lined them up on the edge of her circle. She bent over them, examining the runic designs on them, turning them slightly, making sure they were aligned to her satisfaction before once again sitting on the grass and pulling on a pair of leather gloves.

The judges came to the first student, who had a small table of his own set up in his circle. Although she cannot see the exact demonstration, Terra knows it was something to do with alchemy, due to the large number of vials and beakers on the table. Apparently it pleased the judges, as her fellow student whooped for joy as they walked away from his table.

The next few tests passed much as the first, with small demonstrations of magical ability. The fifth student who was tested had something a bit more dramatic. This was the only other student that the introverted Terra recognized. A fellow elf like herself, although quite a bit older, she recalled his name as being something like Sertorii.

A column of water a dozen feet across gushed forth from the center of Sertorii's circle and reached a height of about thirty feet. Once at this height, the water stopped in place and begins pulsing. With each pulse, it changed shape slightly, coming closer and closer to the form of a person. Terra soon recognized it as an oversized replica of Sertorii himself. The giant form waved to the judges gathered below and at the nearby students before dissolving back into the ground. The applause from several of the judges surprised Terra until she notices that she is clapping as well at the impressive display of water magic.

The next couple of tests were nothing as spectacular as Sertorii’s hydromancy, with another alchemic mixture, and a classic spell of prestidigitation where a statue disappeared, only to reappear half way across that student’s circle.

Only two students remained to be tested now. Terra, and a quiet, light complexioned human boy from the northern wild lands waited for their judgments. Terra gave a mental sigh of relief when the judges walked towards her first. She dreaded this final test, but did not want to be the last one on the field to be judged. She knew she would crack under that kind of pressure. And if she failed after this much effort, after this many years of studying…

Shaking those dark thoughts from her head, she turned to face the judges and explained her magical demonstration. “For my demonstration of magical aptitude, I intend to show my mastery of a simple form of pyromancy, or fire magic. Having borrowed these disks,” she motioned to the meticulously placed plates on the grass, “which have been enchanted before hand with the power of flight, I will use fiery bolts of energy to destroy them in midair.”

With a theatrical flourish, she snatched one of the plates from the ground, and tosses it into the air, yelling out the word to activate its magical flight. “Akba!”

The plate soars into the sky, and began to dart around over the heads of those gathered below. As the disk reached the edge of the circle, it seemingly bounced off in invisible barrier with a small shower of blue sparks, only to fly in another random direction.

A smile came to Terra’s face as she watched for a moment, everything going just as it did when she rehearsed. Raising her right arm, she pointed at the flying plate, uttering the mystical phrase to release her power. The unintelligible words leave her lips, and a red aura surrounded her upraised glove. As she focuses her will, the aura forms into the form of a burning arrow and shoots towards the plate, shattering it into burning shards that tumbled to the ground several yards from her.

Terra, with growing confidence, raised two more of the plates into the air, sending them flying erratically around her circle. And with the same confidence, she sent out to more bolts of flame to shatter them both in turn. Light applause finally registers in her ears as she hazarded a look at the judges. Although nothing like the cheers for Sertorii's hydromancy, it still filled her heart with joy to know that her nightmares of failure weren't going to come true.

Raising up the last plate from the ground, she once again gestures towards it, gathering her mystic energies around her gloved hand. "Akba!" she said once again, sending her flaming arrow towards the plate. Unfortunately, the plate chose this time to bounce off of the magical barrier surrounding Terra's practice space. Her flame missed its target by a wide margin, dissipating into nothingness at the edge of the marked circle. The plate however, streaked back towards Terra, who only has time to raise her hands in front of her before the impact. With a shattering sound, the plate broke against Terra's right hand, sending sharp knives of pottery into her arms and face.

Darkness descended on Terra as she falls to the ground.

Chapter 2: The Rising Tide Part 2

Horns blare as the procession of proud knights emerged from the keep, hooves trampling piles of fresh flowers thrown by the village's residents and the families of the horsemen. The first rays of the dawn sun making their freshly polished armor gleam. The bright personal banners of each knight fluttered in the breeze from his lance tip.

A day of gathering had been declared in Talsu, from the capitol, which shared the name of the small kingdom, to even the smallest of the outlying villages. In every one of them, the nobles of the king gathered with their peasant retainers, as the serfs, with their spring planting long over, came to see the spectacle.

Many of the elders in the crowd remembered the last time they had watched the warriors of the kingdom leave for war. A few of those watching still bore the wounds from what the Talsians came to call the War of the Hammer. Near the head of the line of the knights, a young Elf was relearning his history…

“The War of the Hammer was the largest war in these parts since the end of the Elf-Dwarf War millennia ago, young master,” Arcturus lectured, riding beside the boy. “The War of the Hammer, like the present little squabble, began with the Duchy of Bari. A land which, I hope you remember at least this much from your lessons, Melkior, is now just on the other side of the greatest power on this side of the Great River, the Kingdom of Grelz. Of course, at the time of the war, that narrow strip of Grelz land between our two realms was owned by the Bari. They lost that in the blood settlement at the end of the war."

"There was a minor trade dispute over tariffs on Bari riverboats that traveled past Grelz out to the Middle Sea. When the King sent a messenger demanding an increase of the tariffs, the Duke of Bari himself took up a warhammer, and brought it down right on the head of the messenger. Unbeknownst to the Duke, the messenger happened to be the second cousin of the King’s third son. Are you following all this, or staring at the pretty peasant girls in the crowd?”

When Melkior did not respond, as he was indeed eyeing the comely and festively dressed elven girls in the crowd, their hair done up in wreaths of flowers for the gathering, Arcturus’ gauntleted hand rapped the back of his helmet, making the boys ears ring. “Young master, pay attention!”

“Yes, Arcturus,” Melkior turned his head, looking at the Swordmaster, a distracted look fading from his face only slowly as he straitened his helm. The occasional darting of his eyes back towards the gathered throng ruined his look of contriteness. “Please, enlighten me more.”

The elder elf only half raised his hand before dropping it back to the reins of his horse, sighing. “The spilling of royal blood, or rather the smashing of a royal skull in this case, not to mention the breaking of an oath and the killing of a messenger, led to war… I suppose that is a better cause for war than most. Killing a messenger, and breaking the sacrosanct pact to safeguard them, is quite an offense against both men and gods. Soon, the surrounding kingdoms, including Talsu, joined in the war on the side of Grelz. Badly outnumbered, the army of Bari managed to hold out in their keeps for month after month, repelling every assault. That is, until the winter solstice. That is when the atrocity started.”

“You’ve already told me about that, Arcturus. And before you hit me, I both remember and understand the significance of what you told me. The wizards of Bari made a pact with demons. Demons that tore the armies of the other kingdoms apart and ravaged the land. It took five years for the last of them to be hunted down and killed, or at least banished back to their own realm. Unfortunately for the Bari, the demons were as dishonorable as the Duke of Bari himself, and at the first opportunity, devastated his army as well.”

“And what did that lead to, young master?” Arcturus prompted.

“The Treaty of the Hammer, in which the names of all the kingdoms involved in the war were inscribed, along with the consecrated oath never to call upon the denizens of the infernal realms, on the same warhammer which started the conflict. The hammer is on display in the hall of the King of Grelz, and is brought forth every solstice to reaffirm the pact. But I don’t see how that will be relevant now, as the Bari were at the last oath swearing. Casperian was there, and told me so. They wouldn’t dare break that oath. To do so would bring down the wrath not only of armies of mortals, but the gods as well.”

“Mortals have been known to do stupid things, young master. We need only look at what both we and the Dwarfs did in our wars to see evidence of what atrocities men can do,” Arcturus intoned, sending a chill up the spine of the boy. “This will be your first war, hopefully it will be over quickly. I do not see how the Bari can stand up to Grelz, with or without the added levies of troops we will add, along with the bowmen of Tricarico. That is what worries me. Even men blinded by glory and thoughts of revenge should be able to see that they cannot win this fight.”

“If they are so likely to fail, why do you look so worried?” The young warrior asked of his teacher, seeing his brow furrow.

“Because, boy,” Arcturus looked past the riders in front of them, towards the horizon, “I don't see how they can win, and yet they try anyway. Does that mean they see a way that all of us have missed?”

The gaiety and excitement of his first ride to war was lost to Melkior as he pondered this. He glanced up to the head of the line of knights, towards his cousin Casperian and the main advisers of the clan. Question after question flooded his mind. What had they missed? What did the Bari know? Would it make a difference, as outnumbered as they would be?

"Dont look so down, young Master. We will find out what will happen in the fullness of time. Your cousin won't steer us wrong. He is a good man." Arcturas said, patting Melkior on the shoulder. The procession of knights and their retainers passed through the village and towards the far off encampments of the main Talsian Army.