Session 44

Glod and the rest of the team go through the final wizarding exam: Course’s End.

07/15/08

Players: Gante (Jon), Epona (Elizabeth), Kerwyn (Will), and Glod (Adam F)

3rd of Summer’s End

After meeting the chancellor of the Mages’ Academy, the team grew suspicious of the artifact they found several weeks before. They had found a mysterious book on artifacts in the library, but found it to be somehow enchanted. Seraphina, an old friend of Glod’s, suggested checking out Coron Hall after nightfall to find students who would be willing to uncover the mystery, even if going directly against the school. Glod decides now would be a good time to attempt his final exam.

Glod leads the way to one of the towers along the school’s walls. It has no features to distinguish it from the other towers, aside from the small sign near the door: “Bailey Tower: Final examinations and graduation services.”

Glod reaches out to knock, but just as his hand is about to hit the wooden door, he hears “it’s open” from within. “Come on in.”

They open the door and find a room more or less identical to the tower they were in earlier today. A desk sits on the right, and a door against the back wall. An elderly wizard sits with a scroll in front of him. He doesn’t look up from the paper. As Glod approaches the desk, the man points to the opposite side of the room. “You can all just take a seat there for now. We’ll begin shortly.” Against the wall sit four chairs, one half the size of the others.

There is an almost dead silence in the room, making every sound a din. The wizard continues looking over his paper. After a few minutes, he gets up and walks towards the door. He grabs the handle and pulls it open, revealing a pair of wizards, one with his hand in the air, prepared to knock.

“Err… yes, well, thank you, Tebben,” he says. There is a stark contrast between the two men at the door: the first, a short, round man walks in with half a smile on his face. The second, tall and thin, walks lightly into the room without making a sound. The old man introduces the two.

“Professor Thorton of Evocation and Professor Greeves of Enchantments. The third, Professor Illiander, will be along shortly.”

The shorter Thorton makes his way towards Glod. “So, this is the hopeful examinee for today, eh?”

“Yes, and though it would be nice to spend time on longer introductions, you’re already behind schedule,” the one called Tebben says.

“Ah, right you are. We’d best make our way to the upper room then. Best of luck.” He and Greeves open the opposite door and walk up a set of stairs.

Tebben closes the door behind them and turns to the party. “I suppose I’ll retell the basic rules of the exam to you all, seeing as some of you have not been here before. You must simply make your way through each of the sections of the test. Points are awarded for successful completion of each one, with the highest scores being given for the most innovative use of spells. It’s well understood the wizards are generally specialists, thus your presence. You will aid Glod, filling in his weaknesses. In the event of your failure, clerics will be waiting to… clean up the mess.”

He makes his way back to the entrance. He opens the door, revealing an elf, somewhat hurried in appearance, carrying several papers. “And the third, Professor Illiander of Divinations. Late as usual, professor?”

“Don’t start, Tebben. Let’s just get this show on the road, huh?” He hurries to the opposite door and up the stairs.

“I suppose we can begin, then. Are you all prepared?” The group nods. “The three of you supporting, if you’d just come this way…” He goes to the door that the professors went up to and turns his wand like a key. He opens the door revealing a set of stairs heading down. “The three of you can ready yourselves down below. The test will begin shortly. You, on the other hand,” he says, looking at Glod. “will begin here.”

Once the team is out of sight, Tebben takes the paper he had been looking over and hands it to Glod, rolled up. “You’ll need this later. Don’t mention it to the other professors. We’ll meet again. Basic knowledge questions. That’s all we discussed here.” With that, he motions Glod down the stairs

Downstairs, the gray rock of the tower seems welcome compared to the foreboding, almost ancient brown earth from which this room is carved. It’s a square room with a hallway at one end. Though it doesn’t look long, they can’t see the other end of it through the thick haze.

They travel into the first hallway. The sight of the room behind them quickly fades to an immaterial haze as the room ahead comes into view. The ground here is softer earth, and they hear a faint scuttling sound from above. The team cautiously enters. Suddenly, a massive beast with dozens of legs crashes in from the stone ceiling. A monstrous centipede fills the center of the chamber as the adventurers draw their weapons.

Kerwyn dashes ahead and catches the creature off-guard while Gante attempts to flank it from the opposite side. The creatures opens wide its massive jaws and cuts into Kerwyn with a set of pincer-like mandibles. Poison surges into his body, but he shakes it off and keeps fighting. Epona runs up to help hold the beast back, channeling negative energy into the centipede.

Two bolts of pure magical force fly through the air and hit the creature squarely. It hisses at the pain. Glod begins casting his next spell as the team continues to hold the creature back. While Kerwyn continues his onslaught of blades, Gante makes an effort to distract it. It targets Gante, biting him with its massive jaws, but Gante holds divine immunity to poison.  Epona summons her celestial beetle to spray the bug with acid, while Glod continues with a ray of frost followed by a shot from his crossbow. The bolt hits with precision, right in the head. With considerable force, the creature begins curling up, it’s legs still squirming. With that, it promptly melts from existence.They make their way down the hallway, and once again the view of the previous room becomes hazy as they approach the next.

This room is much narrower, but longer, almost a hall in itself. All across the room, they see horizontal beams of light. Judging by the light’s intensity, they seem to be originating on the left and shining on the right wall. At the other end of this room is a large lever. The team surmises it may be possible to avoid all the beams, but isn’t even sure what failure would mean. Gante pulls out a rock as the adventurers slowly back up. Tossing it into the field, it barely hits on beam, temporarily casting a shadow on the right wall. Instantly, the room is bathed in a spectacular, incandescent wall of flames. The fire quickly dies down as the adventurers become well aware that blocking the light sources would not be a good idea.

After several minutes of discussing options, Kerwyn presents his idea: “what if the beams were to just go through the person?”

“I like the way you think,” Glod says.

“But just in case that doesn’t work,” Epona interrupts, “use this.” She hands him a potion she had been carrying for a long time, one that would provide some protection from fire.

“Well, here goes nothing.” Glod casts a spell of invisibility on himself. The others watch the lever on the other end of the room as it slowly changes position. The light beams flicker out. The team cautiously walks across and arrives at the other side of the room. They walk into the hazy unknown until another room comes into focus.

This room contains a table in its center with a key on it, and a hole in the right wall (about 1 foot squared). It appears to have a small grating about one foot back, then a keyhole set in the wall a farther 4 feet. The grating grid is about 2 inches.

“Seems simple enough,” Glod says. He casts mage hand, allowing him to pick up the key and maneuver it from a distance. The key drifts over and slides easily through the grate. With precision, it eases into the keyhole and turns.

Satisfied with the results, the team turns to the hallway and continues. This room is easily 50 feet tall, and 30 feet across. A massive staircase extends upwards to the next door. They cautiously ascend the staircase, which actually takes about a full minute to climb. Close to the top, there is a rumbling coming from beyond the wall on the left. It’s rhythmic, almost like accelerating footsteps. It begins growing more intense until the wall erupts. A massive creature of rock bursts through the it, stony shoulder first. Debris flies into the air. It’s maybe 15 feet tall, and shaped roughly like a human. The creature begins making considerable effort to walk over to the team, moving its massive stone legs which shake the ground with each step. The group is still about 20 feet from the top of the stairs, but Glod doesn’t think of fleeing. He raises his arms and casts grease, causing the stairs beneath the creature to become slick. With a tremendous din, the creature tumbles down the stairs, leaving a trail of rubble in its wake. Finally, it hits the base of the stairs, crashing into a heap of stone pieces.

Walking through the hall, the team arrives at a square room, which they are fairly sure is where they started. A gray stone staircase on the other end, assures them it is. Up the stairs, they arrive at the ground floor room where the three professors, as well as the older wizard, stand near the desk. They seem to have been chatting a bit, but quiet down once they arrive.

“Well, you’ve put on quite a show today,” Thorton says.

“An impressive utilization of spells,” the taller Greeves says, “and a firm grasp of the basics.”

“Let’s not forget a good understanding of evocations,” Thorton adds, favoring his own department. “Not all students can pull off two missiles at once…”

“The point being,” Illiander interjects, “is that you have passed.”

Kerwyn, Gante, and Epona all congratulate him on his accomplishment.

“Well, just try not to get into trouble on your first night as a full-fledged wizard,” says Debben, giving a cautioning look.