Finally! She had arrived in the Arcanaeum after so many weeks of travel. Ugh, life outside the temple had not been fun. Though she had left on lukewarm terms, the sycophants still saw fit to give her a modest well wishing for her leaving. Pathetic, really. They were glad to have her gone, she knew it. Their words and actions spoke volumes of their thoughts, and she wouldn't let herself be jerked around by them and their so called god any more. No. she had found a God that was far more...ambitious.

First things first, was passing the entrance exams. She had expected things to be difficult, but things for the most part at the moment didn't seem so, but this was just the first of many tests. Running through the pages and taking a brief check of the contents revealed it to be nothing more than a general aptitude test. Easy enough. Math, writing, and reading were natural to her. Far more so than trying to rely on weak deities for power.

Heading back to the first page, Isil began filling in the answers. With her background in education at a temple of Billant, she was very confident in her abilities to impress. Might as well even show off all of her known languages and intellect.

"The average air speed velocity...Unladen Swallow? Cormbac redtail or Eastern? However, for an actual answer you would first need to calculate the ground speed versus the wind speed..." The answer went on to indeed, thoroughly math and logic out the speed of an unladen swallow.

The next most stand out parts of the test were fairly simple. Just how well versed in other languages she was. Elvish, Common, and Dwarvish were fairly easy. Spoken on a fairly regular basis. Abyssal and Celestial however, was slightly more difficult. Celestial was something common in the clergy, but only used for ceremonial purposes most of the time. It was easy enough, but she had to go back and make a few corrections. Abyssal was...something she learned much more recently. Something she wasn't familiar with just yet.

Hopefully however, that wold be enough.

---

There, that should do it for her general knowledge. Answers given and accounting for. The next part was a little trickier, but of course, it was no problem for one as learned as her. A free form application testing your knowledge. Well, she was well versed in both history and arcana from years of study, but sticking to her strengths were going to achieve far better results. Religious topics were her forte, after all, and she had quite the vast repertoire of knowledge available.



Putting down her pen, Isil looked over her written work once more. A quick proofreading and making sure she didn't forget anything too important, and she decided she was done. There, that should get the higher ups attention. Even if they didn't by anything or everything, they should realize on some level she was both dedicated and willing to learn even the most exotic and unknown topics. Now, there was just one exam left - the magical aptitude test.

---

Finally, it was the magical aptitude test. A test of her practical skills. Using the few spells and cantrips she had at her disposal. Admittedly, as a normally by the books person Isil considered this was going to be her worst area. She needed to excel, but what could she do to stand out from the rest of the rabble? A quick mental check of all the spells and cantrips she knew as she was ushered into the test room.

Mage hand. Prestidigitation. Minor Illusion. Firebolt. How to use them all effectively? Minor Illusion and Prestidigitation were likely going to be her best friend in the exam. Mage hand was mostly used for utility. Firebolt was merely an offensive spell. Her spells...Protection from Evil and Good, Grease, Jump, Shield, Mage Armor, and Magic Missile. She had mostly been training to help people - magical effects that would benefit others. Something she was going to correct as soon as she was able to study.

Her thoughts were interrupted as it became her turn to show her skill. She gripped the wand she had been given to perform the exam tightly. Well, it was either now or never. The testing area was an open field. Some of the other students had their locales changed via illusions, but Isil wanted to keep things simple and practical. She didn't want to muddy things with some fancy acrobatics or a show. Magic was a tool for power, nothing more, nothing less. All she wanted A few fake target dummies set up on the opposite end of the field.

Ugh, this mage robe was fairly uncomfortable.

"Right then, Isil, just as you practiced..." She spoke, mostly to reassure herself.

When she was given the signal to begin, Isil made her first move. The dummy moved, beginning to walk towards her with its wooden sword in hand. Even if it was a simple illusion, she shouldn't get careless. First thing was first. Making a few arcane gestures with the wand she had been loaned, she cast her first spell - Grease. A patch of slippery grease splattered onto the ground underneath the dummy. With the sudden action, the dummies's footing became less steady until it took one step and fell flat on its face and lose the grip on its sword.

Quickly, she moved to cast another spell. A wave of her wand, and an illusory wall appeared in front of Isil. At first, nothing seemed to have happened - but for any watching from the Dummies side of the field would immediately noticed something. Isil seemingly had vanished. The illusory wall was a simple one, but on the surface of that wall,she had copied what was behind it, thus giving the illusion there was no wall there and one could easily see the area behind it.

Getting back to its feet, Isil relaxed slightly as the wooden dummy looked around for its target who seemingly seemed to have vanished. Grease and Minor Illusion taken care of. Next should be firebolt...as soon as the dummy turned around, Isil stood from her crouch, waving her wand once more, she cast Firebolt - the ball of fire launching itself from her wand and slamming into the dummy. Immediately she ducked behind her illusory wall once more, leaving the Dummy to wonder where it had come from.

While it fumbled around, Isil cast one more spell, this time on herself, the simple 'Jump' spell. Now she just needed to get the things attention. Dispelling the Minor Illusion, Isil revealed herself to the dummy, who soon found its target once more. It came walking at her, the greasy ground still beneath it. In one swift motion she cast one more cantrip - Prestidigitation. A small blindfold appeared around the dummies head, completely blocking off its vision long enough for it to completely miss Isil, and loose its footing on the grease once more before sliding and falling to the ground some distance away. Using her Mage Hand, she grabbed its weapon before it could reclaim it and finally, finished it off with one more fireball.

Slumping her shoulders and sighing, Isil felt drained. Well, she doubted it'd be the flashiest or most creative use, but she didn't care. She wasn't here for petty parlor tricks and shows. She was here to learn so she could finally get those traitors...

Appearance
Garbed in dark robes, this bird-man manages to skulk and hide his nature much of the time, simply by being unassuming in a corner. When attention is focused on him, however, there is no hiding the elongated red beak that is a source of much pride to him, nor those bright amber eyes. The rest of his head is covered in shiny black feathers. Though obscured by his attire most of the time, his torso and wing-like arms are covered in a beautiful gradient of dark to light blue. His clawed hands and feet are all scrawny red appendages with four digits each. Sometimes brushing the ground behind him as he hops is quite the elegant appearing feathered tail of alternating bands of black and white with the occasional streaking plume of vibrant blue. [Like this, for your reference!]

Though this creature cannot speak as most humanoids chose to converse, he is adept at mimicry and can imitate any sound. Often this may be someone's voice to convey agreement or a similar message but more frequently, he crafts flawless sounds of the nature and cities he has passed through. When asked for his name, the kenku hops gleefully from taloned foot to foot and a buzzing noise rumbles from somewhere in his throat like a piece of fast-paced machinery going all out. This is quickly followed by a cacophony of smashing pieces of metal and an explosion. Whizz Crash caws in joyous laughter at the noise.

Background
This kenku traveled for many years with his flock until they were separated during an unnaturally fowl storm. He searched and called for them, but days turned to weeks and eventually he surmised that he was the only survivor. Possessed of great skill in copywork and in need of funds, the kenku took up work with the Newhaven Crafter's Guild underthe watchful goggles of Mudarius Fizzlekix, a gnomish entreprenuer. It was with this gnomish master that Whizz Crash earned his namesake for his mimicry of the noises heard so commonly in Fizzlekix' Emporium. Though appreciative of the gnome and his guild, the kenku yearned for more-- he wanted to fly. He practiced endlessly on the few cantrips he had learned and spent nearly all of his free time Feather Falling from the tallest towers of Newhaven Keep. Tearful but true of heart, Mudarius gave the his apprentice a letter to take to the Apotheosis Arcanaeum, knowing the bird would leap at the chance. The pair shared an emotional goodbye and the kenku set off on his journey.

Apotheosis Arcaenum Entrance Exam
The kenku erupted with the sound of a crowd clapping and hollering for an encore as he skipped and hopped from the second to the final portions of his exam. The first was exceedingly simple for him: read, write, copy. The answers he scrawled even matched the typeface presented to him. The math was not too difficult, he had learned enough during his tenure under Galvanist Fizzlekix to ace the quiz. The second test was met with somewhat more difficulty.

"Very well, bird. I am Professor Mathias Vengrut. Let us see what you have learned of our culture." The examiner intoned. He was a well-dressed, dark skinned human garbed in robes of blue and gold. The kenku bobbed his head, quietly repeating 'let us see, let us see' in the professor's voice.

"We'll start simple. Our gods, perhaps yours as well, though that is certainly not a requirement. Leehna is...?"

There was silence, then a soft rustling of reeds and the chirping of a cricket.

"Goddess of Night, Darkness, Moons, Space, yes, yes, very good. What of Kurth?"

The kenku's beak parted as he tilted his head back and a massive roar erupted from him, followed by the sounds of swords clashing. The examiner stiffened a bit at the sudden noise, but nodded soon enough.

"Nature, War, Beasts. Well done. Gusstha?"

This made the kenku very happy. He buzzed around the stone tiled chamber they stood in, making flawless noises of wind and rushing air and continued to chitter gleefully at the instructor until even he was forced to smile.

"I take it you favor Her. Unsurprising and quite welcome. We all value our freedom here. For the sake of my time and yours, the rest will be submitted in written form."

Whizz had been studying feverishly for this moment and after he settled in to the desk, he snatched up a quill and ink pot then wrote an inspiring essay entitled On the Nature of Magic which quoted without fault three dozen of history's greatest philosophers of the matter. [Arcana 22]

He now approached the final and most difficult of his exams.

"Welcome, er, Whizz Crash." Professor Vengrut announced, reading from a piece of parchment familiar to the kenku. It was the letter written by the well-reputed gnomish inventor, Galvanist Mudarius Fizzlekix! The examiner had been joined by two others. One was a half-elven man and the other a rather imposing goliath woman.

"Welcome, welcome." Whizz repeated in Vengrut's voice with an eager bob of his head straight up and down. The Professor narrowed his eyes slightly, but continued.

"This letter details your skills in creating inventions. Show us." He gestured to a small array of gears, cogs, wires and bulbs.

Though unexpected, Whizz was quite relieved to begin with something he knew well. "One second!" The kenku uttered in the voice of an impatient gnome before he produced his own tinker's kit and set to work. Within a few minutes, he had crafted both a chair for him to sit in and a curious little device which rolled around on wheels, glowed and honked. Whizz liked to imitate the honking. He looked up to the patiently waiting examiners.

Vengrut gained a slow, almost cruel smile. "Moira."

The goliath woman stepped forward, hefting a maul almost as large as WC himself.

"No, no- wait! Don't!" Came the voice of a scared child. It was unnerving enough to the goliath that she faltered, looking back to the professor. He ushered her on and so she gained a steely look and swept her maul up high in the air above Whizz' contraption. The weapon buzzed with lightning. The kenku dove forward to curl around the animate object as it honked haplessly and Moira's maul crashed down into shield of force forming a nice little bubble around the kenku. She growled in dismay as the soft sound of clapping came not from WC this time, but the professor.

"Shield. A very apt use, candidate. However, that's not all we're here for." A look was given to the goliath once again and this time the kenku was too slow. One of her massive feet stomped down on the invention, sending springs and cogs flying.

"Why would you do that?" Came the exasperated gnome voice again as Whizz rested on spindly red knees before the ruins of his work.

"Fix it." Prompted the professor impatiently.

Whizz cocked his avian head at the instructor then gave a pleasant craw of understanding as he leapt up to wave his talons over the remains. He channeled what little power he had through a gnarled old branch of wood and the little vehicle seemed to break in reverse time, flying back together and reknitting itself until it gave a honk of celebration and its master honked back. Mending. He looked to the examiners for praise, but found only that Vengrut made a single pen stroke on a clipboard he held.

"Serenil." The professor uttered and the half-elven man stepped forward, forming a symbol of protection before himself. The symbol sunk into his chest and then his whole form flashed once with a sheen of power. "Adept Serenil will now test your combat skills. Begin."

The half-elf moved quickly, hardly giving the kenku time to step away from his contraptions. He conjured a little orb of flames between his hands to lob at the kenku. The firebolt flew high and WC countered by flinging a conjured Ice Knife towards his aggressor. The half-elf expertly dodged and the knife wedged between the tiles at his feet... then exploded. Shrapnel shards of ice flung into Serenil but the pain only served to further infuriate him. He waved a hand through the air and conjured three blue and purple darts of magical force which zipped through the air towards the kenku. Whizz ducked and wove through the room, but there was no evading these!

The Magic Missiles each simultaneously pierced through the layer of feathers to the scrawny body beneath which elicited a woeful craw of pain. He wouldn't be able to take another attack like that! Whizz ran towards Serenil as a cacophony of dolorous bells rang around his half-elven head. The half-elf raised a hand to attack but soon fell half-limp, disoriented and stumbling around the room as the professor gave a grunt of acknowledgement to the kenku's victory. A good sportsman, Whizz pulled up a chair for Serenil to slouch into, but as soon as the half-elf leaned into it, he kept going and fell right through the Minor Illusion.

Whizz Crash cackled delightedly and crossed a feathered arm over his chest to bow.

"Why, I ou..." Serenil began angrily from where he was sprawled on the floor but lost steam before he could make an adequate threat. He just settled back on the stone floor and gave a half-hearted promise. "I'll ... get you... later. Much later."

The professor made an extravagant gesture to sign whatever paper was on his clipboard.

"Very well, Whizz Crash. You've proven your aptitude for learning, knowledge and skill. Welcome to the Apotheosis Arcanaeum."