Violese reappears right behind the halfing, already thrusting out with her sword.
Without a sound, the halfling fall and Violese is declared the winner.
Violese stands over her unconscious foe, raises her weapon in a brief salute, then lowers it again and leaves the ring. Her expression has not changed.
The fights had been mildly entertaining to watch, although the melee casters duels were a little disappointing. Their tactics were all similar in their execution. Power up their weapon and stab, stab, stab. Usu had to admit that strategy could put down an opponent quickly, but over-reliance on that method would be their weakness and easily exploited.
It looked like there was another puzzle match coming up. Usu moved closer for a better view. This one looked far more interesting.
The fights had been mildly entertaining to watch, although the melee casters duels were a little disappointing. Their tactics were all similar in their execution. Power up their weapon and stab, stab, stab. Usu had to admit that strategy could put down an opponent quickly, but over-reliance on that method would be their weakness and easily exploited.
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All of you return to your rooms after the tournament ends for today. You find a letter adressed to you stating the rules for the second round(magic items are allowed as long as they don't heal, otherwise they are the same). The next morning you find another letter saying the competition is being post-poned due to the disappearence of several contestants. Help is needed in locating them and search parties are being formed at the sign-up/ticket booth.
Trymos glances over the notice. "Missing people? Might as well help out."
He then heads to the booth.
With a raised eyebrow Zane reads the notice and after a moment's thought, reports to the search party assembly.
The morning prayers finished, Usu extinguishes candles and incense sticks before performing a series of stretches. His daily ritual complete, Usu peruses the letters left for him, slowly eating a modest breakfast in private. Beneath a small pile of admiring or curious scholarly letters ("Tell me more about that clay man. Meet me...", "I was impressed with the speed of.....", etc) lay a letter that piqued Usu's interest.
"Contestants missing? Hmm, sounds promising. Whatever caused this deserves investigation, considering the caliber of the contestants here. Midnight death duels. Kidnappings. Planar clashes. All possibilities." Setting aside the remainder of the pile, Usu gathers what supplies he feels he may need, and adjusts the scarves around his body.
A few minutes later Usu is present at the sign-in booth, casually sitting on the ground and stroking his chin.
Violese reads her letter, a brief glimpse of annoyance visible on her face (permitted only because no one is around to see it). Fah! I had best assist - the sooner they are recovered, the sooner the contest can continue. She prepares herself for travel and heads to the sign-up booth. As she goes, she remembers the elf combatant from the day before, and some small part of her wonders if she will wind up searching alongside him - or perhaps rescuing him...
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When all the contestants that are not missing have gathered, one of the judges speaks up, "As you were told, several contestants are missing. There are currently 12 missing, most of the of apprentice rank. What makes this disappearence even worse, 2 of the 12 High Mages, and the wards they had on there rooms were unactivated. This is also true for the wards on your dorms. If not for the blood found in most of the missing persons rooms, this competition would continue, but it seems someone doesn't want that happening. You will be grouped together in a way that best compliments your area of expertise in the hopes of finding those missing, and whoever has them. You will be allowed into the rooms in question to perform your own searches, but not much has been found. Any information you acquire should be brought to our attantion. Be careful and discrete whenevr possible, we do not need the population of Avalon learning about this, and we do not want anymore people to go missing." As the judges start to form the groups, its easy to see that the High Mages are working alone and do not stay to be grouped. Trymos, Zane, Usu, Violese, and a female gnome in flowing robes wearing the holy symbol depicting the sun are groped together. The other groups are given their part of the city to search, and your group is told to search the north-east.
Usu stood and gathered with the others who were called with his name. He recognized many of them from the duels yesterday. Bowing slightly, he said "Greetings. Shall we go forth on the task at hand?" A few seconds passed as the rag-tag group assessed itself, no doubt trying to mentally adjust their standing with each other.
A grin tugging at the corner of his mouth, Usu bowed slightly again and continued, addressing first the gnome, then the group, "Unless I am mistaken, you are a cleric. May your deity walk in peace with mine. Likely no one has divination spells prepared, as none of us are a Diviner, therefore I believe we should forgo going to the rooms. Let those with the right magic seek truths from that location. We should venture to the north-east and begin our search."
An excellent idea. It seems thatsome in this group are better equipped to "interrogate" than divine, tohough I do find such narrow specializations, and indeed the entire fallacy of "schools" of magic to be a bit silly.
Trymos adjusts his shield. "Well, I can't think of anything better. Lead on."
Violese nods agreement.
With the majority of the group agreeing to go to their assigned location, Usu walks with the others to the north-east area of the tournament site.
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As you make your way through the north-east section of town, few attampts to get information prove succesful, as people wonder what mages are doing away from their dorms(your in the slums). After a hour of uneventful invistigation you find yourselves resting by a fountain that has seen more than its share of use.
Trymos, his senses dulled from being close to so many explosions, is not very observant.
The past hour had been tremendously boring and unproductive. Usu stared into the mess of the fountain, feeling as dirty as the water. This search was below them.
Zane is too busy observing the other casters' habits to notice anything, though he does listen for anythuing untoward.
His attention caught by the sound of magic being cast, Usu tells his companions, "Someone is speaking words of power. Give me but a moment to discern the nature..., yes I believe I know what it is."
19.
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His attention caught by the sound of magic being cast, Usu tells his companions, "Someone is speaking words of power. Give me but a moment to discern the nature..., yes I believe I know what it is."
19.
Usu
"Yes, I know what it is...Danger! Run, if you value your skin! This is a power beyond my current reckoning."
As he speaks, Usu attempts to get around the fountain, putting the structure between himself and where the words of magic are coming from.
Violese points toward the figure in the alley. "There!"
"What! Evocation! *EXPLETIVE*!", shouts Trymos as he dives for cover behind the fountain.
Zane takes cover behind the neares available object.
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As each of you take cover, the strange man finishes reading his scroll. Four large orbs of fire blast toward where you were just standing, only to be stopped halfway there. The gnome is leaning against something invisible, and looks back toward you. "You four were in the competition? Hurry up and catch him!" She runs foward as the man turns to escape and begins to cast another spell.
Stepping out from behind the fountain, Usu grits his teeth as he replies, "There was no time to stop him, gnome. I am amazed that you could finish your scroll in time. A strange ambush it was, too. Still, if there is a chance to stop him now..."
Usu hums and chants while his fingers and hands dance, ending with his right hand outstretched toward the escaping man. Clenching his hand into a tight grip, he attempts to prevent the man's movement.
Zane draws a scroll and begins to rapidly utter arcane syllables, pointing to a spot in the air just behind the man's head.
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The man tries to fight the Usu's spell, but soon he can do nothing but stand there, unnaturally still. Nodding her thanks to Usu, the gnome studies the man's face, then walks out of the silence. "I don't know who he is, but that isn't unusual in Avalon. Should we search him or let the officials do it?"
Maintaining his grip around the man, Usu nods his head to Violese and Trymos, "Before he breaks free, why don't you two restrain him physically. Seeing as how well you handle a sword, Lady Elf, you can keep him guarded the best while in the silence. Trymos, you can search him, please."
"I'll be glad to." Trymos gets up, cracks his knuckles and draws a knife as he approaches the man. "Hey, Zane, you mind dropping the Silence after I search him?"
"Of course," Zane dispels the silence and watches the man closely.
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"Ha! You think capturing me will do you any good? You will not get any information from me, foolish mages!" He stares at you all with a look of contempt. "And soon your little tournament will be for naught. My mistress will see to it that the prizes are hers and soon Avalon will fall under her eternal rule!" He laughs insanely for a few moments, then falls silent.
Trymos sighs and suddenly grabs the man's shirt and leans in close, his combat knife dangerously close to the man's face. "Listen you son of a *EXPLETIVE*, you're going to tell us who you're working for one way or another."
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Trymos sighs and suddenly grabs the man's shirt and leans in close, his combat knife dangerously close to the man's face. "Listen you son of a *EXPLETIVE*, you're going to tell us who you're working for one way or another."
"You.. you do not scare me. Warmages, you can't even detect magical auras can you?"
"You.. you do not scare me. Warmages, you can't even detect magical auras can you?"
Trymos lets go of the man's shirt and smiles bitterly. "No. No I can't." He then turns and begins to walk away. Suddenly he spins around to face the man again, the knife slashing in front of the man's head. "You know what, I'm *EXPLETIVE* sick of everyone calling warmages weak! *Waves knife around erratically* Oh yeah, we can't do much of that fancy stuff, but we don't *EXPLETIVE* need to! Most of that other stuff can't do *EXPLETIVE* in an actual battle. And why does everyone seem to not understand why we wear armor? Have you ever seen what happens to a formation of wizards if archers get them in their sights? A real horror show, I can tell you that much! Mage Armor's good for emergencies, but it doesn't really work against a *EXPLETIVE* hail of arrows! I didn't train for ten *EXPLETIVE* years just to be ridiculed!"
He turns back around and sheathes his knife. "I just want a little respect, is all. The rest of you want to interrogate him, be my guest."
Patting Trymos on the shoulder once, Usu says consolingly, "We all have our place." Then addressing the bound man, "Though sometimes we believe we are above our station. You may not talk to us now, but you will eventually."
Turning to the others, Usu continues, "We should bring him back to the site. No doubt there is an Enchanter there who can wring the information out of this worm." Dragging the bound man to his feet, Usu shoves him forward.
As he begins to walk back to the tournament site, Usu muses, "A curious man he is, too. A scroll of magic as his sole possession. No spell component pouch. A sorcerer? A common thief who got lucky with reading? A madman with gifts from his mistress? Hmm, well either your mistress is weak, to have you as a servant, or doesn't care much for you. Either way, it appears you are in over your head now."
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As you return to the tournament site, you see several of the other groups have returned, but some are heavily bandaged. While you are not the only ones who were attacked, you are the only ones so far to have captured your assailant. Those in charge are impressed by this unexpected success, and begin to question you on where you found him and how he attacked you. They also ask if he revealed any information you think is important so they know what to ask first when their interragators get to work.
Usu explains to those in charge, "Our search proved fruitless until we were ambushed by this man from an alley. Our companion gnome managed to stop his scroll-spell and we prevented his escape. The captive mentioned something about his mistress taking over and ruling for all eternity before he refused to speak more. Perhaps you can be more persuasive. We found nothing in his possession of any interest."
Finished with his explanation, Usu moves around the other ambushed groups, asking who their assailants were and what spells were used, and how they were cast.
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Usu explains to those in charge, "Our search proved fruitless until we were ambushed by this man from an alley. Our companion gnome managed to stop his scroll-spell and we prevented his escape. The captive mentioned something about his mistress taking over and ruling for all eternity before he refused to speak more. Perhaps you can be more persuasive. We found nothing in his possession of any interest."
Finished with his explanation, Usu moves around the other ambushed groups, asking who their assailants were and what spells were used, and how they were cast.
The officials thank you and leave to interregate the strange man.
Usu learns that several of the decimated groups did not even see their attackers, but magic was involved in every attack. The High Mages were not attacked at all, and they believe it is because the enemy is afraid of their power. Rumors abound that some of the magic used in the attack weren't spells at all, but power granted by some dark force. Only two groups were attacked in this manner though.|
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Almost an hour later, the officials return and call for everyone's attention.
"The man captured has revealed little, for it seems he was trained to resist our magical methods of extracting information. He died from the strain he put his mind through to keep information from. What he did reveal however, is very important and deeply troubling at the same time. It seems an ex-contestant from last years competition is choosing to assualt out tournament in the hopes of claiming the prizes for her own. She apparently plans to conquer Avalon for revenge and we believe all of Asgard will be next if we do not stop her. Her name and race is unknown, but we managed to glean her location from the man's mind, a castle two days walk from here that was believed to be abandoned. Those who cannot fight due to severe injuries will remain here while we reassign groups for travel. Those who do not wish to fight may also stay behind and protect the prize chamber. Since we do not believe she know we know of her location, we will be sending you there via teleport spells. Take what you think will be needed. Those who can cast healing spells will be given two full charged wands to keep you alive as we lay siege to the castle. When you are ready, report to one of the rings in the arena and your group will be sent through." As the gathered mages begin their preparation, the High Mages make their way through to the arena and are the first to lay siege to the mentioned castle.