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On the last Saturday of the month of Desnus, with spring quickly coming into full bloom, you each find yourself approached by an immaculately-dressed courier wearing the livery of House Ornelos (a noble family within the city of Korvosa). She bows deeply to you, extending a hand-written invitation as she says ”Greetings to you, great champion. I humbly apologize for the abrupt interruption, but you have been personally chosen by Headmaster Toff Ornelos to participate as an honored guest in Korvosa’s annual Breaching Festival. We’re sure that you realize what a great honor this is and my master greatly hopes that you will accept this invitation on his behalf. We look forward to seeing you at the Acadamae of Korvosa for the competition. Until then, I bid you farewell.”
And then as quickly as she appeared, the courier vanishes with another bow and the casting of a spell.
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"That's what I've been brought here for?" Iladora blinks unbelieving at the empty air the courier left behind. A creature of the Lower Planes, Iladora steps out of the summoner's circle. Her large black raven's wings are folded behind her back, out of sight. Her plate armor and scythe, however, are not. Her dark hair, black as pitch, falls straight to her shoulders. Hers is the deadly beauty of a black widow spider, a rose dripping poison, a panther poised to strike. At her breast is a holy symbol bearing a skull-shaped fly-- the symbol of the Pallid Princess Urgathoa, queen of the undead.
"Oh, yes!" an overweight man-- whom Iladora supposes was the one who cast the spell-- responds. "You're going to be my champion and win me the Festival challenge!"
Couldn't reach any higher than me, huh? Iladora, though formidable, is by no means the strongest of the Pallid Princess's servants-- quite near the bottom, in fact, a junior lieutenant in the dark queen's army. "I have a better idea. I can either go back now, or kill you where you stand and then go back. Come to think of it, I like that option." She raises her scythe.
"Y-you can't!" the man stammers, though to his credit he stands his ground. "I p-put a geas in the circle!" Sure enough, as Iladora brings her scythe to bear, an invisible force intervenes and stops her weapon mid-swing. Despite her strength, her arms refuse to move any further. Damn. Was hoping he was as incompetent as he looks. Bolstered by his success, the man continues more confidently. "You can't kill me, you can't kill anyone attending the Festival, and you have to try to win! Winning the Festival will bring me lots of--"
"Fine," Iladora cuts him off abruptly. "Don't care about the rest. Just tell me where this stupid thing is. And make no mistake," she adds, curling her lips into a dangerous smile, giving him the customary loathing that summoned demons always showed to mortal summoners (in truth she rather liked trips to the Material Plane, but customs must be observed), "when you die, you fat piece of scum... I'm going to enjoy seeing you again." Once she has the information from the stammering wizard, she spreads her wings and takes off in search of the Acadamae.
"Well this is indeed unexpected but, should be a welcome break from my prayers." Alric sends a prayer to Apsu for his protection and glory... and heads towards the monastery library to find out more about the city of Korvosa.
Spending several hours researching all he can about the city and it's regions he quietly utters a prayer and claps his hands together. Looking up towards the sky, the clouds that created a dull steel sheen to the Ustalav sky gave way to a bright clear blue sky. Alric stands amongst the gravestones of the Gray. He winds his was towards a cluster of followers of Pharasma. Having formerly been a cleric of Pharasma he helps to complete the ritual he rudely stepped into then, asks for directions to the Grand Cathedral.
The rest of the day is finding his way around the city to a small comfortable shrine to Apsu. Taking a small meal in a local tavern he returns to the shrine and finds a silent area to meditate and prepare to head to the Acadamae in the morning.
A nasty looking Tiefling saunters into the room, his raised and roughened skin just as much an armor as the finely made mountain pattern coat he wears. He looks around the room with a detached air; a man that could kill you.. or not.. as his mood desires. He takes a seat in the corner, shaking out his cloak and long mane of fiery red hair before leaning the chair back and relaxing. Looking at him, however, it is difficult not to compare his relaxation with spider lying in wait.
An auburn-haired elven woman with green eyes and an unimpressed look on her faces glances over the invitation with great scrutiny. Finally, she turns to the young silver-haired child accompanying her and asks "So, what do you think of all this, little one?
The young child, who looks no more than 12, responds with a cheery smile "We might as well. It's not as if we were doing anything better before this came along. And who are you calling 'little'? I'm quite positive that you would become two-dimensional if I sat on you."
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Once everyone has arrived, you are escorted immediately to the headmaster’s offices in Ornelos Hall after presenting your personalized invitations to the campus guards. Toff’s office is an austere, well-organized chamber with floor-to ceiling bookshelves and a large oaken desk. The wizened headmaster stands to welcome his guests, giving a sideways glance at the young silver-haired elven child as she accompanies Evaleen in. Once the escorts have left the room and you have been seated comfortably, Toff speaks. "Welcome, and thank you for answering my invitation. As I’m sure you well know, the Breaching Festival is a longstanding Acadamae tradition, with prizes both material and magical. You might also know that entry in the contest is traditionally reserved for only the best and bravest of our students and a select few representatives of other Korvosan institutions. This year, though, we’re changing tradition and expanding the invitations further than ever—we want the most powerful, qualified individuals to compete, in other words. It has been a century and a half since the last—the only—winner of the Breaching Festival won the prize! One of you surely must bring glory to yourself and the Acadamae by enduring the traps and tricks in the Hall of Wards. I’m even willing to bend the rules to allow a team of allied competitors like yourselves to cooperate as a single unit—whatever it takes to get a winner tomorrow."
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Iladora looks around at the other competitors. Bring Your Daughter to Work Day, huh? Cute. She can't help but smile when she sees the halfling sporting the symbol of Apsu. Neither she nor Urgathoa has any particular quarrel with the god of dragons, but Iladora always enjoys dispatching priests of the good-aligned gods. I'm going to kill him last-- if he survives that long.
She raises her eyebrows at the idea of a team effort. All of us working together? On the one hand, allying herself with a goodly priest will give her much to answer for when this is all over; but on the other hand, winning this contest as part of a team is likely to drastically reduce the glory (and whatever other prizes are involved) that would otherwise go to the idiot wizard who summoned her. Silver linings.
Iladora touches her unholy symbol and looks at the others again, assessing their goodness. Better see what all I'll have to explain when I return. The surly tiefling, predictably, doesn't register. The little cleric lights up immediately, but that was to be expected. She is impressed with the strength of his aura, however. He's more formidable than he looks. The elf glows, too, as does the young girl-- both with strong auras of their own. That's not just any little girl... Is she competing?
"So what's the goal of this thing? Is there some item we're to retrieve?"
Vrolg looks round at the motley crew he has been assigned to, his eyes keying in on the child accompanying the magic using knight. "Shall Children be allowed to participate? This hardly seems the time or place for baby sitting.."
Turning his cold eyes upon the.. devil? Angel?.. he looks her up and down with a cool, appraising stare. I shall have to watch this one.. that could have been me.. I was certainly lucky, in my own way.. Finished with his inspection, he gives the Aasimar a nod of respect. Perhaps we can work an agreement.. stay out of each others way.. he thinks.
Turning back to the group as a whole, Vrolg says "This shall be interesting indeed, Headmaster. You have formed an eclectic group here.. I look forward to the test."
Alric looks towards the child next to Evaleen. A smirk comes across is face (as if he was an adoring father looking on his own daughter). Being a bit taller he looks up to her and says Can I get a hug? He then gladly seats himself next to Evaleen and gives her a warm smile. It is great to see you both again. We shall have to catch up on what you two have been up to since we last parted!
Turning back to the headmaster, Alric asks a few pointed questions.
This sounds interesting. Can you tell us all a little bit about the last group/individual to win the Breaching Festival? Why are the rules being changed now? I am sure that there are plenty of students/representatives that look forward to the challenge. We wouldn't be "stepping on anyone's toes", would we?
He glances towards the other two in the room and gently nods in their directions. Is smile might not be as warm as it was towards Evaleen but, it is still just as genuine. With all that he has seen (and those he has "worked" with in one fashion or another), he is sure he can find some common ground with which to forge a working relationship with these two.
He doesn't give the headmaster to even answer his first set of questions before he launches into a few more questions So what criteria was chosen for all of us standing here? Is there something special that we all can contribute to help making this Breaking Festival a popular and successful one? Are there rules that we should try to follow?
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Looking to each of you, Toff replies "The goal is to safely navigate the Hall of Wards, a magical maze full of traps and other dangers here on the Acadamea grounds. The first one to come out on the other side is the winner. That said, there are indeed a few rules, though they are quite simple. First, there can be but one winner—although you are welcome to work together to help one of your team win and then split the money. Not to worry, though. The winning prize, split among all of you, would still be a significant payout. Second, while contestants are free to work together if they wish, they are not allowed to directly interfere with other contestants. Third, the contestant who first emerges from the front doors of the Hall of Wards is the winner. Finally, all contestants must sign forms that release the Acadamae of any liability for any misfortune suffered as a result of the contest.
As for why I've chosen you, that is also quite simple. I've done my homework, and I know what each of you is capable of. Some of you in this room were even responsible to the destruction of the Lich King of Ustalov some years ago.
But in the end, you’re better judges of your own capabilities than I. If you feel that my research and estimation of your chances are overly generous, then I’ll simply have to find a more capable team to make history tomorrow.”
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Iladora's eyes go wide. "The... the destruction of the Lich King?" Her eyes dart from one person to another. Who was it? The elf? The little girl would've been too young at the time... The tiefling? She goes through her knowledge of the events of the fall of Tar-Baphon. There had been a young dragon involved, and an elf sorceress-- or was it a half-elf?-- and a halfling cleric-- this halfling cleric? And maybe a kitsune? She couldn't remember any tieflings.
Then the realization hits her, and her stomach drops. And I have to help them. When She finds out, I'm dead. The lich king Tar-Baphon had been Urgathoa's pride and joy, the organ of her will on the Material Plane. For ten long years, he had reigned over Ustalav and the undead had prospered; particularly in Caliphas, which at the time had been a city of vampires. The Queen of the Undead had been in ecstasy. When a team of nobodies had overthrown him, Urgathoa's rage was felt throughout several of the lower planes. You fool, she silently curses the fat spellcaster-- was he one of them too?-- who had brought her here. You utter fool. When I've fulfilled your spell I'm going to bring you pain like you've never felt.
"Well, we got lucky. It is good to be known though. Tough decisions to make but, in the end it was required." Alric looks to Evaleen and child and smiles.
"I am ready to join in the fun. I look forward to seeing what is ahead for us all. Where do I sign?"
The stoic teifling finally shows some emotion as an eyebrow cocks and he subtly shifts his position. Are you freaking kidding me? Every child knows that tale.. and here I am working with some of the same group. {rueful laugh inside his head as he watches Iladora squirm suddenly} Well.. this will certainly be interesting
"Well. I may not have helped to overthrow a lich king, but I am indeed occasionally capable of playing nicely and lending a hand.. I am interested to see the famous Alric in action.."
"As I look forward to getting to know you!" as he turns to the Tiefling. "I am sure that soon we will all end up working together... in one fashion or another." as he switches his gaze to the Aasimar. "... even if we have different motives, we are all heading towards the goal set before us. I won't be a cheerleader but, individually we are all weak in many ways. Together we can become more than ourselves and (hopefully) greater than any one person/ideology."
After sitting quietly, observing and listening, Evaleen looks to Alric and finally nods. "I'm in. There hasn't been anything terribly exciting happening recently. What do you think, Vorel?" The silver haired girl sitting daintily next to her grinned, stood up, walked over to where Alric was sitting, and hugged him around his neck. "Absolutely! We're getting the gang back together!" Her sharp eyes then darted over to Iladora; they narrowed as she looked her up and down, casting (detect evil) "Well, almost everyone."
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"Very good then. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a few more things to wrap up before tomorrow's main event. I leave you in the care of one of my trusted assistants."
Almost immediately (as if by magic) a lanky human wizard appears behind you. He bows low as he introduces himself, saying "Good evening, and welcome to the Academae. My name is Jander Liswin, and I've been selected as your guide during your stay here. I am able and willing to guide you wherever you wish, as well as answer any additional questions you may have about the Festival."
Evaleen stands, gathering her things. As she walks behind Alric, she ruffles his hair and places a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, cleric, let's go grab some dinner and catch up." Vorel releases Alric from her hug and offers him her hand. "Yes! let's get some dinner! We have missed you so much, and there are so many stories to tell!"
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When Sunday morning arrives, the Acadamae wakes to a single sharp ringing of the campus bells at the break of dawn. The Breaching Festival officially begins an hour after dawn, but eager spectators begin gathering on the surrounding walls and the campus’s southern quad even before sunrise. Hundreds of common folk sit or stand atop the Acadamae’s southern walls, while vendors of refreshments and souvenirs wander nosily and often through the mass. Important observers, such as aristocrats and other prominent locals and nobles, are allowed to gather at ground level among several large and colorful tents and pavilions erected overnight in the quad just south of the Hall of Summoning. It is in this area that you and other contestants are expected to gather, waiting for Toff to begin the competition with his opening speech at precisely 7:00 a.m. At 15 minutes before, a large group of nobles arrives to excessive fanfare—this is none other than Queen Ileosa and several royal attendants.
Three other competitiors are already at the tent by the time you arrive. The first is a is a slim, homely Varisian woman with brown hair that looks like it’s been self-cut by a dull knife without a mirror. Her nose appears to have been broken more than once and she carries herself like one who knows her way around a fight. While she stands off in a corner giving the don’t-bother-me look, the other two appear to be having a chat with each other. One is short, scarred dwarf with a surly attitude and the other is a tall, lanky human wearing nothing more than a tunic with breaches and a pair of leather bracers.
At 7:00, the bells toll the hour and Headmaster Toff Ornelos arrives in a blast of multicolored smoke, teleporting into the staging area from his office. He lifts his hand to signal silence, and after the crowd quiets, he speaks aloud to the crowd, but especially to the contestants. “Welcome one and all to this year’s Breaching Festival! I know the contestants are eager to begin, so I shall keep this introduction short. This year, as every year, one must enter the Hall of Wards via its eastern entrance after solving several minor conundrums our professors and spellcasters have set up at the other seven halls that surround us. The first contestant to emerge from these doors—” here Toff pauses to indicate the large doors in the Hall of Wards’ western facade, facing the quad—“shall be declared the winner of the Breaching Festival. If no winner emerges by dusk, there can be no winner for this year’s festival. Yet should one of these brave contestants accomplish what no one has accomplished in over 150 years, that person will walk away with more than 150,000 gold sails!” Here, the crowd erupts into cheers for several seconds. When the roar dies down, Toff places his hands inside the front of his robe and withdraws a glowing, fist-sized sphere of shimmering light that he holds aloft. The sphere dances and bobs an inch above his upturned palm. “These glowing spheres are the keys to your fate and fortune, worthy contestants. This is a key-light—there are seven of them hidden among the seven other Halls on the grounds. Each contestant needs his or her own key-light to get into the Hall of Wards. So find yourself a key-light, use it to enter the Hall of Wards, and you will have your chance to enter history!”
With that, Toff bows to the contestants, then signals to several other students standing nearby. They aim fireworks into the sky, and with a touch of magically conjured flame to fuses, a colorful set of pyrotechnic fire bursts signal the start of the Breaching Festival!
Vrolg moves into the waiting area and examines the other occupants.
"Well met, everyone." he greets them as he files in with the rest of his group.
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You note that the woman is in leather armor with a cloak draped over one shoulder. She turns to look as you hail the group, but says nothing in return. She merely nods your way to acknowledge your presence. As she does, her cloak shifts to reveal a pair of beautifully-crafted short swords sheathed on her hip.
The dwarf is heavily armored with dwarven waraxe tuckud under his belt and a large shield strapped to his back. Upon noticing you, he sneers as he calls out "Truly, this be the best tha' those wizards can be puttin' forth!? A dainty elven lass an' a couple o' half-fiend bastards? An' who be this?" he asks with a laugh as he steps forth to ruffle Alric's hair. "Did ye have to get yur mommy to sign a permission slip to let ye in today?"
His laughter only intensifies as he sees Vorrel step out from behind Evaleen. "Torag's fartin' asre! Ye really did have to get a permission slip fer that one there!"
The dwarfs laughter stops almost immediately as he's gently shoved to the side by the unarmed man, who steps forward to greet you as he says "Please excuse that one, he truly was raised in a barn. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Maganrad and if, I'm not mistaken, you must be Headmaster Toff's last-minute additions to the festival. I must say that it is an honor to meet all of you."
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"Half-fiend?" She glares at the dwarf. "Don't insult me, mortal. I am Iladora, lieutenant of Lady Urgathoa, Queen of the Undead. I'm here because some portly fool wants me to be his champion. His magic prevents me from killing you myself, so I can only hope that by the time this is over someone else will have done me the favor."
Evaleen visibly stiffens and makes a noise through her nose, but says nothing. Vorel, on the other hand, begins to tremble. She clenches her fists into tight balls that seem to slightly shimmer. Evaleen puts a hand on her shoulder and pulls her to her side. She whispers to her hastily , and Vorel slowly unclenches her fists. Vorel glowers at the dwarf. "I do not take kindly to your tone, child of the stone. If only you knew who you were addressing."
Evaleen clears her throat and calmly addresses the newcomers, "Please forgive her; she does not take kindly to insults about her apparent age. I am Evaleen Daramid, and this is Vorel. Perhaps you have heard of us?"
Vrolg ruffles under the dwarfs words. "Well, sir.. I shall look forward to stepping over your decimated corpse and grabbing the win straight from under your lice infested and mangy beard!" he spouts off before looking the effusive mage over and offering a curt nod to the man.
Alric begins to chuckle. "It is great o meet such a sturdy dwarf in such a good mood!" He gives the dwarf a light thump on the shoulder. "Evaleen, Vorel, and I have known each other for a while. I am glad to have just met Vrolg and Iladora (although she might not feel the same). We are indeed the last minute additions."
Alric turns to the kindly man, "Maganrad it is very nice to meet you. Are you a devotee of any gods? We have quite a diverse group and I always like meeting others of different faiths!"
Hearing the word Urgathoa, Alric winces a little. It was a time when he would have gone into a tirade against the person to say that Urgathoa will have her time again before Pharasma. But, he sighs outwardly, that is a part of him that he must let go given that Apsu has shown him another path. After sighing he looks to Iladora and gives a slight smile.
Thinking to the glowing orb, Alric tries to search his memory for anything he has every heard about religious symbology (or iconography) relating to this "key-light".
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Maganrad smiles at the halfling's question. "Well, actually, I..."
"Are the contestants ready!?" booms the magically-amplified voice of Headmaster Toff, killing all other conversation. "Very good. Take your places at the starting position!" He continues, motioning toward seven arcane circles inscribed on the open field in front of the building. As you each step into them, a door magically appears on the wall in front of each of you.
"Let the tournament begin!" he shouts, followed immediately by a thunderous boom and wild cheering from the crowd. Each of the seven contestants make a mad sprint for their respective door, flinging it open and running inside. Once in, you find that the Hall of Wards is a giant maze with stone walls running all the way up to the ceiling. The other three contestants waste no time and each take off down a different hallway. Before you can follow, however, the stone seems to come to life and magically molds together behind each of the three, leaving only one hallway left open. Upon walking down it, you turn around to see that this hallway also seals itself, leaving you no direction but forward.
After a few minutes of twists and turns, you finally come upon your first door. Opening it reveals a classroom inside, with five large tables surrounding a center podium in semi-circular form. Each table has a glowing red key-light levitating above it, just within reach.
Alric will step forward to one of the tables and reach out and take the key-light.
Vrolg leaps towards his portal, his cloak and tail flowing in the wind of his passage. He hits the floor on the other side of his portal at a run, and takes the only path left to the party with hardly a blink at the other halls as they close behind the other contestants. Entering the classroom, he stops and examines the room.
Vrolg grabs the little halfling as he moves towards a table. "Stop, Priest.. This is magic, and obviously a trap and one of the puzzles we were warned about." Assured the little man wasn't going to unintentionally set something dire into motion, Vrolg moves into the room, examining the tables and the podium.
[ooc]These are red key lights, but you only said the one held during the introduction was "shimmering". Can you be more specific?"[/b]
Vrolg moves about the room, examining the lights and pointing out the fakes. "As I said, we must use our brains, priest. I have no wish to end up on the wrong end of some wizards barbed joke.. if you know what I mean."
"Hehe... just testing! Well if these are indeed magical and are a trap, maybe this central podium has something to do with the trap?"
Alric begins to examine the central pilar.
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Alric's inspection of the central podium reveals it to contain a large supply of parchment, ink and pens, and other assorted things one might find in a teacher's desk. Vrolg's inspection reveals nothing telling about the key-lights themselves. However, upon looking under the table that each hovers over, he finds that each has an arcane mark inscribed underneath it.
Vrolg peeks under the desk at the arcane mark, examining it to see what it is and how it may react..
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Through the combined efforts of Vrolg's experience with traps and Alric and Evaleen's magical proficiency, you're able to determine that these are some form of summoning runes painted to the bottom of the tables. As for what they each summon, you're only able to determine that they each call on something powerful from the lower planes.
However, a thorough examination allows you to determine which of the five runes is a fake. Grabbing the corresponding key-light to that table turns it a golden-white color, causing the other for to fade and disappear.
Right=1, Left=2
"I guess I will go to the left"
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"Aw, no fun," Iladora says when the danger is explained. "That could've been a friend of mine, maybe he'd've taken care of this for me." Though she hates to admit it, however, part of her is glad to have them along. If she'd come in here by herself and sprung the trap, it's possible that whatever came out would've simply killed her and sent her back to the lower planes-- which would ruin the chance she's been given to wreak some havoc. Guess I'll keep them around, for now.
"Left is fine for us."
Vrolg listens as the party seems to reach a consensus, then draws his sword and heads down the left corridor on guard for any more traps.
[ooc]Taking ten for 33[/dice]
Vrolg looks at the key light suspiciously.. and also the surrounding walls and floor.
"It may be another trap.."
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"If it's anything like the last one, I've half a mind to spring it myself. Still, now we've seen it, let's double back again and keep looking."
-Posted with Wayfinder
"I agree this is probably a trap. Why not try to figure it out before just heading back?"