.
Gemmie and Marz each follow the listings, asking for directions a couple times, and arrive simultaneously at their room on the second floor (see description of the boys' room). Coming up just behind them is a stocky, female ratfolk who cheerfully drags a leather pack almost as large as she is. She nods and smiles. "I'm Whisken! It looks like we'll be roommates this year."
The first week of courses is always hectic at the University di Magia. First years bustle through the sunny quadrangle, the noisy halls, and the gloomy dungeons, finding their dormitories, tripping over the long gray robes, and carrying a small fortune in books made with this new-fangled "paper" rather than parchment.
The older students stride through the halls more confidently, having already stowed their books and found their rooms. They pass the time throwing balls, wrestling, gossiping, or showing off some new cantrip they've learned (only allowed outside and far from other students, of course).
Assigned randomly to your rooms, Mezdav, Jermaine, and Mohk find themselves three strangers, bringing their possessions to the same cold, stone room on the first floor of the West Wing. Crammed into the room are some rough wooden furnishings: a bunkbed, a standalone bed, a wardrobe, and one small writing desk. There is a small, barred window that lets in a little light and niches in the walls for candlesticks but no candles are provided.
Jermaine's blue eyes search the room as he enters it with Mezdav and Mohk. He pops his knuckles nervously, unsure which bed to go for and if it would be presumptive to just pick for himself. then a solid black cat moves about his ankles and he smiles down at her, reassured and he speaks up , "I'm Jermaine. This is Islith my... " Saying familiar sounds so weird but that is what she is, "My familiar and my cat. Who wants which bed?"
Islith moves to the stand alone bed and curls up in the center of it.
"Ah, don't let my cat bully you guys if you want that one" he says sheepishly.
Wordlessly, Mezdav plops himself onto the bottom of bunk bed; it's frame creaks a bit under the solid mass of the half-orc. He busies himself stuffing his gear under the bed. Finally, he works up the nerve to say "I'm Mezdav, Mezdav O'mara" after a slightly uncomfortable pause, he adds "College of Artifice".
"Nice to meet you, Mezdav. Artifice?" Realization kicks in, and he pops his knuckles Well there's no way I'll be able to hide my own magical training A reluctant sigh, "you both might as well know, I'm a necromancer." He hopes the revelation doesn't alienate everyone, "I was sent here to continue the teaching my old master started."
The Elf was organizing her backpack and books by the humblest bed in the room, but as the ratfolk spoke, she openly and genuinely smiled at Whisken. Marz was a bit socially awkward, a little paranoid even, and the years had been rough on her, despite being young for her race. Her hair was poorly brushed, her clothes were old and torn, and it was clear she was making an effort to look studious or erudite.
Nice to meet you, Whisken! - she finally spoke, approaching and extending her hand - I am Marz. Marz Shun.
Whisken grins and shakes Marz's much larger hand with two delicate hands with fine fur. "I've been waiting my whole life to come to the University! I've read through the assigned reading for the first half of this quarter but haven't had time to do the rest." She looks nervous. "Do you think that will be enough? I don't want to fall behind!" She turns to Gennie and looks up at her curiously. "And what's your name?"
"Oh, hi everyone!" a Tiefling says in the door as he pauses. "I guess I'm a little late, but I'm here to share this room too. Well. I think it's this room." The man waved his hand in front of the blindfold and grinned. "Turns out reading can be a little challenging, sometimes, so I counted the doors instead. I'm Mohk de la Ame. Hopefully, you're new roommate." He paused. "If I counted right."
Jermaine tries not to stare. He's seen a tiefling but rarely been this close to one. Then he realizes Mohk is blind, and can't really stare, right? THen he feels increasingly foolish as he realizes he's not answered a damn word yet, "Oh! Oh, yes. Sorry. I'm Jermaine, this is Mezdav and we were just saying hi to each other and see who wanted which bed."
THen he adds lamely, "I can move my cat if you want the stand alone rather than the uhm.. top bunk."
"Nah, wherever is fine." Mohk grinned and put his bag on the top bunk without issue. "Don't worry about the whole 'blind' thing too much. I can't read, but I've got a pretty solid sense of whatever's within twenty feet of me. So I can see the room door, I just can't read the numbers if they're flat." Patting the bed, he added, "So this I can sense just fine. And I can spot people and magic pretty easily, too."
"Really? Wow, if I were blind and tried to take a top bunk I'd fall on my face . That's amazing." He says impressed.
Mezdav's jaw drops and he asks "How do you do that?!?"
”Ah, my apologies. I am Genevieve Silversoul, but my friends call me Gennie. It’s nice to meet you both.”
A luxuriously white and red fluff lands on a nearby bed, barely shaking Gennie who is clearly used to this. She grins.
”And I suppose this is Tai. In the spirit of kindness, she is shameless. She is entirely capable of making herself known and keeping herself fed. Don’t glare, you know they’d figure you out soon enough!”
The mongoose settles cozily atop a pillow and closes its eyes.
“Do we have a hearth at all in here?”
Gennie drops her gear onto the bed Tai claimed without thinking about it, and nearly trips over the wicked seeming scythe before carefully putting it against the wall and continuing her search.
”Its not sharp, yet, the Manufactorum doesn’t have whetstones small enough to sharpen the curved blade.”
Unfortunately, Gennie determines quickly that they are not provided with their own hearth. The large building will retain some heat from the ovens, etc., and the winters are mild but you will all certainly want warm clothes and thick blankets when winter comes.
Whisken beams though she is distracted for a moment by Tai. "It's wonderful to meet you, Gennie! I'm hoping to specialize in arcane conjuration. What about you two?" Then she adds nervously. "Tai doesnt... bite, does she? She's almost as big as me!"
You all only have a moment to conclude your conversations as the bell tolls, signaling that your first courses begin in five minutes. Along with dozens of other students, you rush through the halls to your first classroom in a dungeon dimly lit by candles.
There, you are greeted by a stately halfling in long, master's robes wearing a holy symbol of Nethys. Once the forty-some first years have settled in, he begins "Welcome to the University di Magia. You all had to pass an examination to be here but do not believe this means your place here is now assured. Should you prove slow, chaotic, or intractable, you will be expelled immediately. There are many who would gladly take your place." He raises his hand, incants something, and a piece of chalk rises into the air and begins dancing across the chalkboard.
He cast a slightly altered version of scrivener's chant.
"Turn to page 6 of Elementary Abjuration, which lists the schools and traditions of magic. I am certain you have already familiarized yourselves with these by doing the assigned reading. At the bottom of the page, you will find a simple orison or cantrip inscribed in arcane and divine traditions. Each table has one minute to cast this spell on as many of its members as possible."
Gennie, Whisken, and Marz find themselves seated with a tiefling, a human, and a half-orc. You all have your textbooks out. In the center of the table lie two miniature cloaks and an assortment of wooden holy symbols.
All the other tables immediately buzz with activity as students collaborate, incant, and touch each other's shoulders. Once the minute is up, Master Tomas grasps his holy symbol and shouts some incantation.
Jermaine grabs what he needs for class in a scramble as the bell tolls, throwing other things on the bed that he won't need (he hopes) and lamenting he doesn't have time to make it all tidy. It's so much better than his bed at home. "We should get a move on, gentlemen. We don't want to be late."
And he moves into the hall hoping to rush to his first class. Dozens of students share the path and he feels a bit like a fish in a pipe line with other fish. Not an alien experience given the size of the city they live in, but the hallway makes it feel more obvious.
Too late he wonders if he should have offered to guide Mohk, or at least read room numbers Well, he said he could sense things about him so I guess he'll be okay. It IS amazing. He might be better at avoiding people than I am for all I know. Magic is strange, and often terrifying, but it is also , he must admit, neat.
The scrawny young man stays focused, and yes, a bit excited. He is working more to weave through the hall and not crash into other students than he is looking at the students himself, but the diversity is striking.
He finds his way to the first class...
There, you are greeted by a stately halfling in long, master's robes wearing a holy symbol of Nethys. Once the forty-some first years have settled in, he begins "Welcome to the University di Magia. You all had to pass an examination to be here but do not believe this means your place here is now assured. Should you prove slow, chaotic, or intractable, you will be expelled immediately. There are many who would gladly take your place." He raises his hand, incants something, and a piece of chalk rises into the air and begins dancing across the chalkboard.
Jermaine finds himself not even sure he's seated next to, as he absorbs the words with a focus.
Scrivener's chant! I've heard of that one
"Turn to page 6 of Elementary Abjuration, which lists the schools and traditions of magic. I am certain you have already familiarized yourselves with these by doing the assigned reading. At the bottom of the page, you will find a simple orison or cantrip inscribed in arcane and divine traditions. Each table has one minute to cast this spell on as many of its members as possible."
He turns to it. Of course he knows about the schools of magic, but he pales a bit as he realizes the requested cantrip isn't one he prepared a bit. Salvation! He can use the book itself like a scroll. With practiced ease, he reads it. Jermaine's harder part is manners involved.
"Pardon me" He says, a light blush as he touches a girl's shoulder casting it on her as she is at his table, hoping she doesn't mind. Someone to HIS side isn't so polite and just pokes him casting their own on him. He taps another, and again says "Pardon me" "Excuse me". Hopefully jermaine's good manners won't slow down his casting as he tries to get all three read and cast.
vs DC 15
1 rank + 3 trained +2 int
"Spellcasting isn't my thing" grumbles Mezdav, but he gamely tries to help out with the casting...
Then Master Tomas's spell hits...
+1 wis +2 luck +1 resistance
Marz looks at Whisken and Gennie with curiosity. She wasn't really afraid of the mongoose, but a bit fascinated as per the creature in the bed. She heard of familiars before, so she can only fathom this was the case here.
When Whisken asked her about specializations, she scratched her head. She really haven't thought about it at all! Regardless, she tried to answer with as much confidence as possible.
I don't know... Maybe enchantments? I like them. And abjurations. - she completed, still not too confident, and laughed nervously as if already worried she would screw everything up.
When the master performed the spell she was shocked - and had no idea what she just saw. It was fun to see, however, so she pushed herself to avoid dropping her mouth and pretend she was comfortable with it. Maybe someday I will get to write it in my book!, she thought.
She looked around as the other students opened the textbooks, and moved as fast as she could. Noticing the blind student there, she stuttered a bit.
Do you need help? - finally asked, imagining he wouldn't be able to flip the book pages to the right one, and likely wouldn't have any point in doing so.
As she waited for an answer, she tried to do the spell herself. It wasn't on her book, but she imagined this was something she was likely capable of doing.
Oh! - she said, as she performed well the words the first time she tried - Look at that!
She really couldn't hide her own surprise on being able to do it, and could feel in her body that her magical resistances had suddenly be boosted. That sounded like an interesting spell to have!
Gennie grins and recites by roteI am not responsible for Tai’s decisions regarding biting, begging, bribing, or bumping. She is her own mongoose and I am only tolerated for belly rubs. Which is a good thing.” she laughs as the mongoose rolls over and shows it’s belly, and she affectionately rubs it and nods to her new roommates. ”She’s a softie if you are kind.”
When the group rushes down to class Tai settles cozily in her favored perch against Gennies neck, reminding her to focus on the book and the indicated page.
: As the instructor begins teaching she murmurs to herself in wonder. ”Mage hand? No, something else. Now resistance, where is, ah.”. Tai nips Gennie gently on the ear.
Flustered, Gennie stops a page early and only just realizes she’s working on the wrong cantrip when the words on the page suddenly make too much sense. ”Oh dear. Where did I go wrong Tai?”. Tai helpfully turns the page, and puts her nose at the (now) clearly labeled resistance.
: Undaunted Gennie continues.”Right, resistance?!”
: Finally with some confidence. ”Resistance!”
Tai buries her head in Gennie’s hair, but Gennie is just delighted to have cast the spell at all, a surge of happiness buoying her mood.
:
As the incantation rings in the air, Gennie feels something pass over her.”What was that?”. She looks around to see if any of her classmates might need assistance and leans toward Marz who doesn’t look quite right.
Mohk followed the others, using them as guides to get where he needed to be. While following a corridor wasn't too big a problem, and getting a sense of a room wasn't too big an issue, navigating an entire building he hadn't learned the layout of was more than he could handle on his own. Was Detect Stone a spell? Maybe he could learn that.
Still, he joined the others in class, picking up enough sense of the room's layout from the sounds and the presence of other people and magical items to work out where to sit without making an idiot of himself. The problem came from the first task. Of course it involved reading...
The tiefling nudged whoever he was next to. "Mind reading it out loud?" Hopefully the teacher wasn't a stickler for silence in the class room...
The tiefling nudged whoever he was next to. "Mind reading it out loud?" Hopefully the teacher wasn't a stickler for silence in the class room...
Jermaine , if hears that, says the spell aloud more for his sake, or tries to as he reads it
Whisken is so excited in class that she pores over her book, looking for details that she can add then she raises her head to comment helpfully right as time runs out! Master Tomas' spell resounds over your heads.
Mohk, Jermaine, Gennie, and Mezdav are unaffected, as are some other students. But Marz and Whisken immediately grow extremely calm and sit still, blinking and looking around.
Master Tomas cast a widened calm emotions. You note he is now holding a dark grey, lesser widen rod which he puts back in his pocket.
Tomas calls out "Some of you did well, casting the spell on all of your members." He points to your table and one other. "The rest of you must practice."
Then he pauses dramatically and peers at you all, one by one, then dismisses the spell with a wave of his hand. Whisken, Marz, and others snap out of their supernatural calm with a start. "As you can all see, abjurations do not guarantee success. Some of you resisted my spell without resistance. Others failed with resistance. But those who cast the spell met with greater success." He gestures to your table where 4 our of 6 resisted. "That is the nature of abjuration. You cannot guarantee anything. But each spell can be the difference between a vampire seizing your mind or not... an spell incinerating your ally’s skin or not… a poison ending a royal line or not…”
He falls quiet for a full half-minute, letting his eyes wander over his students. Then he resumes in a firm tone ”You WILL study the texts before class. You WILL practice the most difficult incantations and motions in a safe area before I ask you to perform them. And those of you who failed today WILL seize the opportunity to do better.”
He then continues the lesson in a somewhat more sedate tone, laying out the subschools of abjuration. After the two-hour period ends, you all begin filing out of the classroom.
As you walk through the hall together with the other first years, many chat about their first university course.
You feel an unbearable itching begin on your lower backs.
A whisper, slightly nervous, "A magic to calm emotions. I'm not good at charms or the like, but I think so." He's had a devil of a time with spells that influence others minds, or even fool people. It just seems.. dishonest somehow. But this shows him that his teachers will not share his hang ups. How could they? Every sort of magic is likely to be found here.
Attentively, he takes the call to do his best to heart, and nods somberly. He seems to be, or is trying to be, a serious student, taking notes as the teacher talks.
When the two hour period is over, he enters the hall with the others, and feels safer talking to them, "Master Tomas is rather no nonsense. I guess with magic you have to be. I think our table did rather well for a first day."
"Tai, did you shed down my shirt again or is someone being juvenile and in need of a lesson regarding respecting the tat and tail?" asks Gennie as she she stops and steps to the side of the hall. She starts to take off her overcoat of scales after a quick glance at the Mongoose. Tai meanwhile mutely shakes her head, then begins to work on the lacing.
Setting the garment at her feet a moment later she continues, "I was afraid of that. Someone jinxed us. Mind taking a look and letting me know what they thought to write on my back?" Gennie turns her back towards Marz, Jermaine, and Whisken, pulling her leather under-armor aside. A surprisingly vidid and intricate tatoo in silver and gold rises along her back, to vanish under her shirt. Her lower back is otherwise unremarkable, although something isn't quite right.
She puts a hand on her side. "It itches, fiercely, just here in the middle", at this point she is quietly dancing in place.
Jermaine immediately turns his head away out of politeness while acting as a scrawny barrier from others in the hall observing this. A mutter "I could try to detect magic on it if none of the ladies can but gazing at the bare backside of girls is not how I was raised." Of course, at least one of his sisters would roll her eyes if she were here and tell him not to be such a prig, but principles are principles.
So instead he blocks the views from others in the hall if that's needed
Marz smiles and shakes her head, feeling suave as the waves.
Wow... Ever since that pesh party, forty years ago, I haven't felt something like it... - she let out, before recomposing herself.
She shakes her head, understanding what went on, and immediately taking a mental note - This was incredible! I wonder how effective it could be in a real situation of stress? I mean, someone with a knife by your neck? Well, I guess a tough teacher can be even more stressful than that!
Still in silence she chuckles at her thought. The next couple hours pass almost quickly, compared to that, until they're finally free to roam back the halls.
When Gennie calls out her itching, the Elf approaches, shy - and tries to help her identify what's going on. Beyond looking at the pink haired girl back, however, she lets her eyes go around the halls, trying to sense whoever would have been responsible for it.
She doesn't seem to be too successful on her intentions, though.
The irritating itch just above his tail made Mohk twitch slightly, his tail jerking furiously. "Yeah, I'm with Gennie. I've got a real itch right at the top of my tail." The tiefling paused at the mention of 'backsides', but this was one of life's mysteries that evaded the blind man. Backsides were fine to sit on, but his brothers had mentioned them being fun to look at as well. Given that wasn't an option...
Mohk did use Detect Magic to see what he could pick up, however. For him it was like a...ping in the dark, a note. The longer he focused the more distinct the note became, giving him the information he wanted, and he could feel how far away from him they were.
Marz only finds small, pinkish red bumps, indicating some kind of irritation on Gennie's lower back.
Whisken looks curiously at Mohk and announces "Well it seems we worked well together! I haven't met you gentlemen yet but I'm Whisken and these are my roommates." She gestures to Gennie and Marz, allowing them to introduce themselves if they wish. Then she turns back to Mohk again. "Hmmm... I wonder if it's the same thing with him."
"Oh, sorry. I'm Jermaine, Nice to meet you, whisken." He's glad his cat isn't with him right now though.
He wonders about the itching again "Why would you two be targeted?"
"Would you mind if I took a look? I have some experience in the healing arts" Mezdav had been planning on a minute examination of the ceiling while the pretty lady was en dishabille, but with Marz and Mohk apparently confirming it's a real thing has prompted something either medical ethics and curiosity...
1 rank +3 trained +1 wis
Gennie shrugs. ”I think I’m going to need to head to the clinic, but you can take a look. It’s my back just above my tailbone.”. Giving Mezdav a chance to examine the irritated skin, she soon picks up her gear again and shrugs it on, Tai once again helping with straps.
With a destination now somewhat set she asks her roommates, ”Meet you at the next class after we get checked out?”. After they respond, she heads out, being sure to Mohk if he accompanies her.
Whisken smiles at Jermaine. "Nice to meet you! I hope to study arcane conjuration when we specialize in third year. What about you?"
Mezdav only determines that Mohk has similar bumps but does not determine anything as to the cause.
"I.. am already kind of specialized, Whisken" Jermaine suddenly feels a bit dirty and unsure all at the same time "Before here, I was taught magic by a necromancer." It feels weird to say it but it's true. "I'm just seeking further mastery so I can get my family out of poverty."
And he nods to Gennie, "Okay. If you like, I can share my notes with you and Mohk later." a cough "If you want I can give a look too. But I'm no healer." he looks embarrassed but helping people is even more important than property
Otherwise he wishes them a safe trip to the clinic
Marz introduced herself, as clumsy as one could be.
Oh... I'm, I'm Marz. Marz Shun. Nice to meet you. - the Elf completed towards Jermaine and the others.
She then turned to Gennie.
I can accompany you there, if you need... - she scratched her head, a bit worried, but mostly still confused and catching up.
"Nice to meet you, Marz, formally that is" Jermaine says recalling how all six of them did pretty well together at the table. The elf girl seems to have it hard, but that could be guess work, Jermaine realizes. Sometimes it occurs to him hard as his family has it, there are some who had it worse. Still going to try to get my mother and sisters to better lives though and I hope Marz gets a better life for herself to. Heck, I hope we all do.
He looks a bit lost in thought for a moment, then finds his focus.
All that Jermaine determines at this point is that there is no magical affliction hounding Mohk and Gennie.
Mohk is happy for people to look at his lower back, if they really want to. "Yeah, take a look. I mean, who hasn't seen a tail before, right?" Mohk grinned to tell everyone he was joking. "I'm guessing that it's something to do with the lessons? Will the faculty help with this kinda thing if so, or are we supposed to deal with it ourself?" Mohk paused. "Is this a lesson too?" That was a wild idea, but it made sense. Sorta. It depends on how the school liked to do stuff. "But given the itchies, I'd say we go see someone, yeah."
Hearing the offer to help with the reading, "Oh, thanks Jermaine, that'll be great." The Tiefling shrugged. "I'm not sure how to deal with the reading. Maybe I'll need a seeing-eye Familiar?" He'd heard it was possible to look through a familiar's eyes, if you knew how, but he had no idea if it was true.
"Well, no magic that I can sense either" He finally shrugs at Mohk, looks like both of them came up empty
"And you're welcome. Happy to help. I'll take notes and the like while you two go see a clinic. "
Gennie nods, and then heads for the clinic being sure to describe the sights to Mohk as they walk.
”It’s fascinating how so much of this was built. The workmanship and craft that fabricate and other modern techniques allow. Ah, this must be the clinic.” As they step inside, Gennie waves at the receptionist to get his, no her, attention.
”Two students, some sort of rash on our backs. We don’t think it’s magical, but we also don’t know what it is and we just came from abjuration.”. She stands tall to look past reception as the student starts asking the usual questions.
”Is the Lady of leaves in or is she busy? This really is unpleasant.” she grouses good naturedly then answers the intake questions as quickly as she can. It might itch, but she’s had much worse.
It takes some time and asking to find the clinic but Gennie and Mohk arrive soon enough. A student on duty asks a few simple questions then they sit and wait. Soon enough, a man in a blue tunic walks into the clinic, looking hurried.
You recognize him as Professor Ernesto Virigass. Within the university's hierarchy, the professors are more esteemed than the lecturers but still have to perform certain duties, like helping at the clinic, from which the masters and headmaster are exempt.
He takes both of you into a private room for examination and asks a few questions. "A rash coming out of abjuration? Peculiar coincidence... Now I will examine the skin of your lumbar region." He does so and tuts quietly to himself.
He looks perplexed as he stands up. "Most peculiar. You both have body lice. To be specific, gremlin lice. Have either of you contacted or seen any odd, tiny creatures recently?"
As Gennie and Mohk went to the clinic, Marz tried to find her way to the next class. She had her notebook in hands, in which she tried almost aimlessly to capture small details from everything she was seeing. Yet, on the back page of it, she had written the overall weekly schedule, and was hoping the notes were enough for her to find her ways around.
Elves are particular keen sighted, and Marz wasn't an exception; the shy, socially awkward youngster moved around with dexterous grace, but it was fairly obvious that the students around her were likely more apt to the arcane studies - she tried to convince herself that she read about barbaric warriors which could instinctively generate magic effects by tapping into draconic bloodlines, and that she would likely see more misfits around, but so far it didn't seem to be the case.
No, I don’t think so.” answers Gennie before her mind finishes processing the full message.
”Wait, lice!?”. With a quick and well practiced motion she spins Tai’s pack around and deposits her familiar onto the bench and begins combing through the sleepy Mongoose’s fur. After confirming her friend is fine, she looks back at the professor.
”Ah, this is Tai. I don’t have to bag my gear and burn my bedding, do I? Sally Laceweaver had to shave her head.” she shudders.
”I, We’d, look ridiculous without hair.”. She gestures to Mohk, Tai, and herself but her eyes remain fixed on the professor.