[IC] Wizard's Tower (a magic medieval-fantasy RP)

[Hael]

"Are we no longer beloved, brother?" A fair-faced but heavily armored and injured woman was speaking, while she kneelt against her will, and a magic sword lay helplessly only inches from her grasp.

Standing stalwartly over her was a silent wizard, his true face obscured by the long shadow of a hood- a fine addition to his previously golden robes, now forever tainted with the blood of his own. Scattered about on the mourning ashen earth were the burnt and desecrated bodies of those the Wizard called 'family', those he once ate and drank alongside, those he loved...the Wizard shook his tired head. That life could be no longer. It was not his own fault, it was their's. They had gone too far. He had tried to warn them, he had tried to beseech them to follow once more the will of gods, he had tried...

Rage came upon him like a storm, and he suddenly gripped the hilt of his silver blade.

He looked down at his once cherished friend one last time, kneeling there like an angel among rotting corpses...and he plunged the sword into her heart.
She fell and died with a gasp of pain, sorrow and- most of all- surpise.

For the first time in over a century, a tear found it's way down his young face.
But now was not the time for weakness or remorse. Now was the time for action to the good of all, man, woman and child.

Looking out into the horizon, he almost swore he could see the outline of the hated building, although it was hundreds of miles to the south.

Spitting blood on to the ground, he took the first step of many for the Idolized Tower.

---

Meanwhile, at the Tower

The Wizard King paced the grounds, passing by hundreds of flowers and other alchemical reagents. He glanced up at the pearl, marble, sapphire stone tower. White and blue, over thirty stories above ground and twenty under, and containing over two-thousand rooms. It was irrefutablly the most gorgeous masterwork of architecture in existence, and certainly the only "living" one.

Seamus smiled. When his guests arrived, that was the first thing they would notice. The heartbeat, that is. As you draw closer, you don't hear but feel the life-force of forty-thousand souls beating in unison, all trapped within the Tower. Those thousands are what made the Tower so powerful, and the closer you get the harder it is to resist the will of the Tower's Master.

They did not realize it, but they would soon be his in immortality...and obedience.

[SepticGentleman]

Umbrix

---

The night is long, and dark.
The whispers are twofold.
There is the veil of self and soul.
And then there is the unknown want.

…

Bare, withered, cloven hooves trod along a path wrought with lush, verdant overgrowth. The forest is pleasant but not at all like home. The trees are not thin and black and twisted. The grass is not gray and riddled with puddles of mirroring rainwater. And there is no fog. Does he miss these things? Of course not. But there is no scorn in the lack of homesickness. He merely doesn’t think much of it.

Traveling behind him is a hulking creature, carved from many and fused into one. The meats hang, and the sludge drips slowly. There is no face, and at the same time, there are many. It carries burlap sacks with some of its many arms, full of tools and resources meant for the sickest of things. Its master walks before him, staring straight ahead. In the distance, the antlered figure beholds his destination with his four eyes.

The Tower.

Umbrix approaches the doors with his servant Ernsk in tow. In his mind, he gauges the possibilities of what happens next. The doors open and he is shooed away for being uninvited? Or will they have actually been expecting him? The magics of the outside world didn’t confuse him, but they didn’t impress him either. He’d made it all this way, seeing nothing but mundanity and skepticism along the path. But he pressed onward because he knew, he knew… this is where he would find what he wanted. What he needed.

The hearts are beating.

He raises one of his hands and wraps his spindly fingers into a fist, but he doesn’t knock. One of the doors creaks open and out extends the head of one of the tower’s many servants. He looks up at Umbrix, somewhat taken aback by both the Fenneca and his abominable companion, but he speaks calmly nonetheless.

“We have been expecting you, master… Umbrix, I believe?”

“Mmm.” Umbrix replies, giving the man the first of many wry smiles to come. “There is clairvoyance at work, I see.”

“Many more besides you are expected. You’re actually one of the first to arrive.”

“And you’re aware of my intentions?”

“Not me, no. But Prince Seadus is definitely more knowledgeable of the events that are transpiring. You’ll be able to inquire about the issue with him later, for now… I must show you to your quarters.”

“My quarters.” Umbrix replied, stepping inside with Ernsk following suit. “Of course.”

…

The room is lavish and dotted with ornate furnishings. The colors are all royal. Everything is polished to a shine. And it is all unsatisfactory for the Fenneca as he scans the room, his wry smile gone.

“This room has been selected for you.” The servant said, “You may conduct any renovations you feel necessary to improve your living experience here. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must attend to other matters.” And with that, the servant departed.

Umbrix gave the room one last look before he, too, began to walk away from it, issuing one last command to Ernsk before he was gone.

“Fix this.”

The abomination bellowed lowly, entered the room, and shut the door.

[Metronome]

The sound of merry hooves clacking against the wood floors echoed through the hall. The cheeky little creature they belonged to plodded along with a couple biscuits in his hands, stolen from the kitchen. His mouth was surrounded by crumbs as he stuffed himself full of breakfast. The satyr managed to eat quite a bit for a person his size.

Rowan had been in a good mood throughout the week. He'd managed to hear a rumor of new visitors coming today, and the prospect of having fresh faces around excited him. The same, old, boring wizard had gotten tired and cranky of his games. Half of them either ignored or threatened him with dismemberment.

Rowan was rounded the corner of the third floor overlook, a railing to one side that looked down into the foyer. The sound of the great, oak door creaking open made him stop. The satyr peered over the railing, his floppy ears perked up. He watched at a strange deer man and a...pale and crusty looking fellow came in. They were soon led to their quarters, and Rowan couldn't help but be nosy about it.

He shoved the remaining biscuit in mouth and hoped over the railing, landing nimbly on the one below it. He trotted down the stairs and kept a bit of a distance as he trailed the newest arrivals. His curly head peeked around the corner as the deer man entered and then left his new room. He seemed pretty boring. Maybe the other new people would be more fun.

Rowan stood straight and leaned his back against the wall, pondering whether or not he could get away with stealing more food.

[Duthguy]

Matuna figured he was getting close to the Tower, as he felt powerful energy radiating form somewhere. Of course he didn't expect a warm welcome, but he only saw the in his mind inevitable fight as a chance to test his worthiness of entering and even looked forward to it a bit. Of course he had non intention of giving up on his goal until he either succeeded or died trying, and since the Tower was in a forest he had no reason to worry about food or water.

However when he arrived at his destination he found that there was no one waiting for him. Determined to make a grand entrance anyway, he swung his great sword planning to destroy the wooden door. However before the swing was completed he stopped his attack, the blade now in front of a servant's face. Without even blinking the servant pushed the sword out of his face, only showing surprise when he noticed the hideous creature it belonged to. The servant quickly regained his composure though. "I guess you didn't receive an invitation. Oh well the fact that the Tower informed me of your presence means you're welcome anyway."

"You're right no note was sent to me." Matuna answered both glad that he got in and disappointed that he got no chance to show his skills off. "If you don't mind me asking was schools do you specialize in? The servant asked, while opening the other door for the visitor. "I use Fight Spells and I See Far." The Troll answered.

The servant asked no further questions as he showed Matuna to his room which turned out to be better than he expected. There was a sharpening stone, a rack for his weapon, a bed that while more comfortable than the stone floor wasn't too soft in his opinion (meaning there was no mattress or pillow) and it had thick enough curtains that he could make the entire place dark to practice Mysticism at any time of day.

[Queen Tomato]

The Violet Witch

---

Irina arrives.

When describing the arrival of any other individual to any other location in the world, such a simple statement would suffice. But, this was not the case with Miss Irina Blue, the Violet Witch, whose arrivals were oft nearly as miraculous to behold as herself. The closest bystanders to this event would more accurately report that, rather than simply "arriving" at her target location, Irina "descended". With careful ease, and grace beyond her right, the Violet woman alights upon the pre-determined section of soft grass, which crumpled slightly beneath her weight.

Their eyes were directed downwards, as instructed. All of what they could see of her arrival was her feet, which began to move almost immediately after their appearance, carrying the body attached to them over towards where the two servants were standing. There, they freeze for a moment, until a woman's soft, airy voice spoke up.

"You can look now."

After this simple phrase, the pair of servants raise their heads, and are almost immediately blinded by the queer violet light emanating off of the "thing" hovering in the air behind Irina's back. Instantly, their minds are overwhelmed with sensation as intense interplanar static filters through their retinas, bringing their minds to within an inch of complete mental collapse before the light, abruptly, stops.

"Take me to my room."

Acting as though nothing had happened, Irina steadily begins to walk towards the Tower, which stood a near seven meters away from the place she had arrived. My calculations were off by close to half a centimeter, she considers to herself idly, as she awaits her guides' return to reality. Now that she was here, on site, she could tell the reason why. She had accounted for the possibility of magical interference due to the Tower's unique construction, but she had not known that this... beating, would be quite so strong.

It was unusual for her calculations to be off, but rather than being upset, the youthful witch almost seemed to be in a good mood. When the tower's servants came forward, and lead her to where she would be staying, she was half-tempted to begin idle chatter, to vent off all of this unnecessary positive energy. She didn't, though. Instead, she kept it to herself, walking along with the young servants in stride, counting each and every stone, tile, step, nook, cranny and window she passed.

Soon enough, they were at her room. Now, up until then, Irina's thoughts had been completely occupied with revising her calculations, measuring the distances and interference within the Tower itself, but now, she allowed them to wander to the doorway she was now looking through. The servants concluded their duties, and went off, likely to find some reprieve from their now pounding headaches, leaving Irina to take her first steps into her new bedroom.

It was... oddly constructed, to say the least, but it seemed to fit Irina's specifications perfectly, and she was a very difficult woman to please. Even the last bit, which she had not expected to be fulfilled, was done so perfectly that she might just smile.

Standing before her were two children, girls, fidgeting slightly with hands clearly soft, and free from the toil of manual labour. Their eyes were intelligent, but more than a little anxious to be meeting such an imposing figure under such circumstances. Here, they had awaited since sunrise, cleaned, dressed and prepared to meet the person who they would be serving for the duration of her stay.

"Um, Miss... Blue? We're-", the slightly elder girl starts, but is cut off by Irina's light voice.

"There will be plenty of time for that, dear. For now, how about the two of you help me order myself?"

The girls begin to get to work eagerly, and Irina could not be more pleased by their performance. They were not the Prince's, or the Tower's, but strictly hers. Orphans, specifically requested prior to her arrival, designated to serve as her assistants.

She was satisfied. Under these conditions, she could continue her research, even in this alien environment.

And so, she heads to the secret, adjoined room, with a single piece of chalk in hand.

She would need to begin immediately.

[ArenaSnow]

Vlantian walked slowly to the tower and saw other people make their arrivals; one of which was a more 'dramatic' one by nature. He had no taste for such petty spells; only the runes of old could have the professionalism that he had spent many years perfecting.

What was I thinking again? Oh yes, the Tal rune...

As he half-attentively walked up to the door, thinking about the intricacies of the Tal rune, he forgot about knocking, instead seemingly dooming himself to hitting his head on a large solid door, and thought about the odd heartbeat-like hum coming from the tower.

To his great fortune, it opened for him, reminding him of what he was about to do. He looked at the servant who stood in the doorway with a surprised mutter of, "Oh.. ah, good day to you sir..."

"Welcome," the servant had to think for half a second, a half-second that annoyed Vlantian. Few would notice it, but Vlantian was irritable. Walking for as long as he had. "Vlantian III, to-"

"Yes, yes, I feel welcome... my room?" he muttered. It was obvious that they gave him the newest of servants. Not a very old one, either. Then again, he didn't send any mention whatsoever of his preferences.

"Yes, of course. Right this way." the servant lead him up one flight of stairs, a journey that Vlantian found almost as excruciating as carving a mid-tier runeword, and opened the door to his room. "This is the room selected for you. Please make any adjustments to it as you wish." Seeing that Vlantian only had the pouches and many pockets of his long robe, he went off to greet another visitor, secretly relieved.

Vlantian walked into the room. Its furnishings held no appeal to him, as he had lived in an old ruined castle with little thought for the fine cushons and sheets that had once been the 'state of the art', which by his time had become rat-homes that he replaced with a carved headrest some time ago. There was a table on the side of the room, just barely big enough to suit his needs. At least the host had known he was a Runic mage and provided that, along with three stone slabs. A decent start.

He had put the spellbook and his runeword-in-progress into a unique rune of his own creation, one designed to contain a certain amount of mass, and where he had put his objects in. Bringing out a small runestone, he pressed hsi index finger in the lower loop and placed it on the table.

The rune vanished, being replaced with a spellbook, a half-finished runeslab and, appearently, a runic dagger. He didn't recall putting that one in.

He sat down on the bed, barely keeping his balance as it was a bit on the soft side, at least for him. He would have to recreate his assortment of protective runewords. That would require a few days and a pair of slabs... he started regretting not sleeping the past three days. He couldn't sleep any more, either, unless he put up the most basic of defenses in such alien ground. Particularly the same ground his own father had ranted against for years.

He didn't share his father's hatred of the place, but didn't entirely trust it either. There was certainly an immense amount of power in the very walls of his room alone.

He supposed he could understand that. It was made of the same power that had brought his line down in the first place; it had to be immense. At least the old witch hunts, as his father called him, ended a long time ago. Now all that remains was considerable distrust by magic users of all types, although he had met a rare few that were more open.

He refocused, looking at the slabs on the table and pulling out one of his thirty ink vials along with his specialty pen. Time to get to work...

[thegreenleafe]

The Alchemist

The Alchemist was mere miles away from the tall sapphire blue and pristine white tower and the sun was high above him, it was high noon. As he continued on his dusty animal path, Aurelius noticed a small blue flower with a gold orb surrounding the actual flower off the path in a small wooded area. The sun glanced off his white teeth as he smiled, it was a Magnum Opus, which is a very rare ingredient and can only be found in strong magical areas. Everything on the plant can be used, from the gold orb to the roots below, it all had its uses. The gold orb, for example, can be powdered and added to any potion, or poison, and its power would increase ten fold. Luck really favored Aurelius as a patch of Magnum Opi that contained six more flowers was only a few feet further. While the appearance of seven of these special flowers might be ordinary to an average passerby, even a skilled wizard, it serves as a warning and it says that there is powerful magic at work. That worried Aurelius, in all of his years he has never seen seven Magnum Opi together; however the appearance of seven of the flowers also meant their alchemical uses would be even stronger so he picked them.

After his brief detour Aurelius Ingem exited the small wooded area and noticed something disconcerting, the sun had gone down and almost touched the horizon. All he could think is that there is something very wrong here as he made his way toward the tower. By the time he reached the tower the sun was halfway down and the old alchemist was tired. He was very grateful to see the giant stone doors swing open effortlessly and a servant to come grab his heavy bag full of the tools of his trade. However the curling stairs far up into the top of the tower concerned him, but he should have known he wasn't lucky to have bottom floor room. For forty-nine steps he stopped up, only having to stop once to lean on his staff a for breather. His room was bare, but big and very blue. It had a single bed, a night table, a large window, and a desk that would be perfect for his things. He thanked the servant and took his bag to arrange the many items required for a proper alchemist.

He pulled out a heating element powered by an energy crystal, he turned it low and placed a special pan on top of it and inside were the seven Magnum Opi. Now he must wait.

[GummyCat]

The Boy & The Demon

The air around them was salty and damp as distant sound of the sea could be heard, as Mercutio stood upon and intruding rock from the earth looking above the trees and seeing the waves of the ocean. Closing his eyes and sniffing the air, the saltiness of the air disguised the 'scent' of the tower to an extent but with him this close, Mercuito could feel the power of this living tower. "Can you feel it Fen? Can you feel it? Its just like what they told me, we're definitely on the right path! Come on, I'm certain we'll reach there before sun down, so lets get going!" Mercuito eagerly said to his Demonic guardian that was floating behind him, observing through the forest to the tower ahead of them. The two of them had a passive relationship that they both learned to try and enjoy it since they were going to be stuck for a long time. They had many questions that they both wanted to ask to why they were bound to each other, and so until answers were provided they would both not hinder either one of them.

"Ugh, I don't like this feeling that I am getting from this place" Fenox grumbled as he watched the tower along with Mercuito, staring intently at the building with contained so much life force. In a way it was simillar to Fenox himself, as he consumed souls and used them to increase his own powers, in theory the building if he predicted correctly was an intimidating and powerful object of sentience. However, the two of them already hypothesized about this theory and it was the most likely one, however other explanations were still on the table but this seemed the most dangerous and probable. "This place is the most to provide an answer to why we are bound together, but it also has the biggest risk involved. But I guess if we don't risk our own live to find something then we might as well just not try, right?" Fenox said to Mercutio snickering slightly as he morphed into his defensive form, appearing as a rib-cage that defended Mercutio. Fenox didn't like it but since they didn't know what they were against in that tower this was the most practical reaction as they would be able to defend themselves if they didn't have the first move.

He smiled as he nodded in confirmation, Mercuito began making his way down to the tower leaping off his rock and heading through the forest. Upon reaching the tower, Mercuito was about to knock on the door before it opened with the servant flinching the moment he saw him and Fenox. Averting his gaze during the conversation and seeming nervous the servant said "R-right this way sir, we have been waiting f-for the both of you." All Mercutio did was nonchalantly smile as he was guided but being inside the tower, his attention was all spread around looking for anything that caught his eye. He didn't care that the servant was giving him a strange look for the ghostly rib-cage that surrounded him.

Once inside their room, he looked at the room briefly and waited for the servant to walk down the hall and turn before investigating the tower himself. With his curiosity and Fenox's careful watch, Mercuito explored the tower for anything interesting that seemed to be interesting and to see if anyone else was inside this tower

---

The Knight

Korthul walked to the door, and knocked politely on the door waiting for an answer which quickly came. With his invitation in the other hand he quickly handed to the person who answered the door. All he heard then was a gasp of surprise, looking down the female servant was intimidated by his silent posture and stare. Deciding to just get straight onto business, he spoke first to the girl who was frozen. "Hello, Sorry to intrude but I believe this invitation was sent to me. If you don't mind my journey has been a difficult one and I hope you may guide me to my room if you can?" He said civilized trying to seem friendly to the girl so she would just take him to his room. His feet hurt as he was accompanied by several of his team members where they made several detours which had unfortunately cut into his predicted time to arrive at the tower. They all one by one left him as once he reached to the coast he was alone, thank god. He hated them but only dealt with them as they helped him accomplish what he needed to be done. Faking being a friendly leader for them was taxing on his mentality but he was able to endure that for a while, having to slipping off his facade every once in the long while. The girl nodded meekly before walking him to his room, where upon opening the door for him she look at him for a last time before bowing slightly and abruptly leaving.

"God, that's all over now what do I do? I was invited here but I don't know what this prince wants and I don't like to stand her waiting if I was invited to this tower for something. Wandering around would seem rude but If someone doesn't meet with me soon, I shall wander about soon." He mumbled to himself silently, he looked at the bed in his room and laid on it, yawning as he observe the room bored. Looking at his traveling pack he put to the side, he knew that he wasn't the only person who was invited and they would sooner or later meet if it was needed. Until then, Korthul was going to keep to himself and he got off his bed, walking to the window he peeked through the covers watching what was going outside silently trying to see if he could see any of the other guest here.

[Dark Cloud]

Alrin Nevran had been sure that he had turned at the right point on the old and dusty dirt road that he was navigating the skeletal horse that he had summoned not but a few hours ago but besides that he had been lost for what seemed to Alrin like years or eons as he rode through the dark forest and when he neared the exit of the forest his hearted skipped a beat.

Alrin goaded the skeleton horse to ride faster and it ride like the wind, in no time he was exiting the forest and...

There he saw it the fabled tower that he had only heard rumours and directions to its ramparts of magical sanctuary where he could study until he probably crumbled into powdered bone dust and sand.

Alton was also very exhausted so he forgot his train of thought and only thought about what lay ahead for him!

He silently congratulated himself and then , he without even savouring the moment lashed the reigns and bolted off towards the Tower on his skeletal horse.

[PhoebeCarlisle]

@Hael

The weather was quite cool and it was raining. She was starting to feel like a drowned rat. She started running to the tower and was getting puffed. When she saw it in view she slowed down and took in the exhilarating view. She almost thought she forgot about the invitation but then remembered it was in her fur jacket. She sighed taking it out and ran all the way up the stairs. She felt as she couldn't breathe and rapidly started knocking on the door. She felt a big gust of hot air come towards her as the door opened. This large man was at the door, but she wasn't intimidated because he had this big grin on his face. "Ah, where is your invitation miss?", he asked. She got her invitation out which was slightly crumpled and passed it to him stuttering "h-here y-you go s-sir". "Ah yes, we were expecting quite a lot of you guys coming", he stated happily. She nodded and pointed inside. "Yes, please do come in,its bloody cold out there", he said gruffly. She smiled and walked inside, then he closed the door.

"I hope I didn't arrive to late sir, I had to run all the way here", she said meekly. "Nah, but I got told to take you to your room miss", he stated walking off. She followed him quickly to a nice open room. "Thank you so much for this nice room, before this I was sleeping in a tree", she exclaimed happily. "Oh, thats no fit place for a girl, I must be off, there will be someone coming to see you though", he smiled and walked off. She thought to herself so there is others, well I'll just sit here and wait. She started humming softly closing her eyes on the bed.

[Cyclone]

Crompter lied down as still as a dead man in the bed of the wagon. The ride was peaceful enough when he could get into a drunken slumber so deep as to be able to ignore the bumps in the road, or the small ones at least. The horse drawn wagon suddenly hit a rut where the road was not even and one side of the carriage leaned over, flipping the sleeping passenger over and slamming his head into the side.

Muttering a half dozen curses below his breath Crompter at last woke up. His head throbbed, the pounding pain the result of a hangover as much as it was from just slamming his head into the wooden side of the wagon. Grumbling, the miserable drunkard rubbed his eyes. The wagon's cloth cover was partially transparent and while it only let the faintest bit of sunlight through, that was enough to worsen his headache. It would not do; the pain and exhaustion were enough to almost make Crompter delirious. Fortunately, hangovers had a cure and that cure involved a wondrous form of medicine. The grouch reached for a wooden mug and then filled it from a nearby keg of grainy ale. After a few drafts he felt much better.

The young man that was the driver heard the thuds and low muttering coming from behind. After sleeping through the night and much of the morning his damned passenger seemed to have at last awakened. That was good; they were almost upon another hamlet and he hated having to rouse the cranky nobleman. "Aldwin," the driver cried out, "there's another village up ahead. You owe me more gold."

Searching for his coin purse for an embarrassingly long time, Crompter began to grow afraid that he had let it fall out of the wagon while he was in some state of torpor. Eventually he found the thing in his pocket, though. Scowling at how droll and pathetic his state of mind was, he emptied the leather pouch of its last few coins and then pushed aside the curtain. Squinting in the light, 'Aldwin' handed the driver his fare and then retreated into the shade of the wagon's inside to consult his map. "You'll go north at the next crossroads," Crompter curtly told the boy. Just as he had withheld his true name and disguised himself to avoid being recognized as a wizard, he had similarly been giving the boy direction as they went. Telling the driver to simply go to the Idolized Tower would blow his cover.

With that done the still dazed wizard settled back down in an attempt to go back to sleep. Some time later, just as he began to drift away, the wagon suddenly came lurched to a stop. Angrily Crompte's eyes shot up, and through the cloth curtains between him and the driver, he saw the silhouette of the boy's hands up. His hands were off the reins. Just as he was about to shout a word or two at the incompetent fool, a loud voice sounded from the side of the road.

"That's it boy. Hands up and surrender your valuables, or you get an arrow to the throat," came a sneer.

Crompter considered the possibility that he was dreaming or hallucinating, but the voice was all too real and so were the footsteps from outside. Quietly, he pulled out his wand from its sheathe on his belt and opened the pouch next to it. As the robbers outside cautiously came closer, they took no note of the tiny wooden figurine that clattered out the back of the carriage. They did see the blast of light that followed it, and the massive orc that appeared where a moment ago there had only been a carved toy.

With a ferocious bellow the orc clutched its axe and charged. Crompter leaped out the back of the wagon just in time to see it maul the closest bandit. There was another one some distance away that held a bow. Suddenly ignoring both Crompter and the driver, that terrified villain loosed an arrow at the orc before running. The bestial warrior howled with pain upon being shot, but that did little save aggravate it. The fleeing archer stood no chance as an arc of light flew from the wizard's wand and struck the bandit's leg, turning it to stone and instantly immobilized it. Falling to the ground in a heat, he was quickly dispatched by the orc.

Suddenly, the green-skinned brute spun around and noticed the driver and Crompter for the first time. With a savage roar it charged, but the wizard was prepared. Cackling, he stumbled forward and shot a bolt of magic. Too drunk to aim, he missed. The orc was now almost upon him, but that only made things easier. The Drunkard smiled and merely Altered the gravity in front of him, reversing its pull and sending the warrior shooting skywards. A beam of light trailed from his wand to the flying orc, and suddenly the brute's green body was grey and made of stone. In any case, he fell like a stone and smashed upon hitting the ground. Crompter grimaced; that was a harder landing than he had intended. His magic had grown rusty over the years, and it looked like that was one more figurine that would need replacing.

The bewildered driver could only look at his passenger for a few moments, jaw wide open in disbelief. After a few painful moments of a stare that conveyed both awe and horror, he stammered, "Y-you're a wizard!"

Crompter spat. With a wave of his hand his disguise faded; the Alterations on his body and items gone, the impressive nobleman called Aldwin was now Crompter, a weathered old man. The luxurious silk robe turned into a filthy, rough-spun tunic. The golden letter opener in his hands revealed itself to be a wand, and the handsome yet indulgent face of an arrogant noble transformed into the visage of a wrinkled old man, complete with greying hair.

"Yes, I'm a wizard," Crompter admitted. "I'm the Drunken fool of a wizard that was a 'permanent guest' for the last few months at the Wild Bear Inn, if you've heard of me. And my name isn't Aldwin." After a moment of pause and thought, he went on, "Now that you know who I am, I reckon that I may as well tell you that we're on our way to the Idealized Tower. No need to wake me asking for directions any more, eh?"

Once again Crompter spat. He walked to a small brook along the side of the road and filled his favorite mug with its dirty water. He swirled his finger through the water inside, and suddenly the liquid was his favorite mulled wine. He drank deeply, then stooped down to pick up a rock. He squeezed the thing in his hand, and when he released his grip it shone like the sun, transmuted into solid gold.

"For your troubles," Crompter said as he tossed it to the amazed driver. "But don't ask for more. You don't deserve it."

The boy's smile vanished in an instant, and Crompter returned to the wagon to try his luck at going to sleep once more. They still had a long journey ahead of them, and the wizard knew that there was no way he would make it in time to the Tower. That was of no concern, though; he couldn't truly be bothered to care much. He wasn't entirely sure why he bothered to make the trip anyways, though he admitted that it was good to do something. The occasional trip like this was necessary to keep him alive.

[SepticGentleman]

Umbrix

---

The tower, being devoted to the pursuit of arcane knowledge, was packed with labyrinthine libraries devoted to practically all forms of magic arts, and even beyond those, sections full of information on all known species across the many lands of this world. They even had a book on Fenneca. And it dictated just about what Umbrix expected.

Fenneca were born of an abominable union between a demon and a satyr.

The Houses of the Fenneca engage in abhorrent rituals to sustain their life forces.

The Fenneca of House Manskr abduct and consume small children.

That last one was partially true, however. Orniklask was notorious for the practice, but the rest of the House never bothered intervening. He’s gone now but, he departed with a full belly.

Umbrix was seated upon an ornate wooden chair, reading through the book with several more sitting on a stand next to him. The aisle on occultism proved fruitful in providing tomes written on the topic of necromancy, many of which he’d not had the good fortune of reading in the past. As much as he detested the ideas on the art that other races held, he was somewhat confident he would be able to collect something from the collected works. He’d work on it until this Seadus figure decided to call the guests together. And speaking of guests, many more had arrived after the Fenneca.

As he read onward, the patter of a young girl’s hurried footsteps sounded from outside the little enclave. Umbrix looked up as, what he presumed to be a servant, entered his view. As she ran, she turned her head left to catch a glimpse of the seated Fenneca. Her eyes widened a little and she almost stumbled, nearly dropping whatever it is she was carrying. She quickly regained her composure and went on her way.

Umbrix paused for a moment before returning to the book. And for a moment, he wondered what the general opinion of his kind was in this place.

[Duthguy]

Seeing as he had nothing better to do at the moment, Matuna decided that he might as well explore the Tower a bit and maybe meet the other residents. Sure he could just spy on them without them knowing, but what would be the fun of that. Though he could always learn the general layout before leaving his room. He closed the thick curtains and immediately the chamber turned dark.

Matuna took out his crudely made Seeing-stone, and holding it on it in his hands focused on the Tower itself. It was at this point that he realized the Tower was affecting his Magic positively as the first image not only appeared faster then normal but also clearer, though even with that boost he was still not as good as he should be with all his practicing.

He switched from an outside view of the entire building to an inside one of his own room and from there retraced the path up several stairs and down multiple hallways back to the entrance in order to confirm he still remembered the route the servant showed him. From there on he checked out single floor one by one first working up and then down. He discovered several things, the multiple libraries, where the available magical substances were stored, and so on. But what really got his attention was that parts of the Tower were blocked from his sight, while this made him curious, he had no way to See into them.

Having explored as much of the Tower as he could he wanted to check one more thing that would actually make the libraries useful for him. Matuna looked for at least one book written in the Troll alphabet, and to his surprise he found several in different libraries. He put his Seeing-stone back where it came, grabbed his sword and headed for the nearest library holding a book he could actually read. When he got there he saw that some kind of Deer creature already had claimed it as his won study spot, something he would have know had he bothered to check up the residents as well. "Would you mind if I study here as well?"

[SepticGentleman]

Umbrix

@Duthguy

---

A troll.

Rather surprising, that.

"Not at all." Umbrix replied, motioning his hand to his left, towards the seat across from the stand. "Be my guest."

Not necessarily waiting to gauge the troll's reply, Umbrix resumed reading. He had to admit, seeing one in a place like this was just the slightest bit odd. Whatever powers were enacting this distinguished confluence were drawing in quite the array of colors. It prodded a sense of curiosity in Umbrix that he hadn't felt in quite some time. This was the first in all eighty-four of his years that he'd been in such a varied location. He'd have to wait and see what... the...

I documented a personal account from a resident of the small town of Daudy Willows. She claimed that, upon entering a woodland clearing to search for one of her children who'd absconded in the night, a Fenneca approached her with said child in tow. She described the creature as "tall, with horns curved like a goat's, four eyes of blue, and a coat of rich, brown and white fur". The Fenneca spoke something in its native tongue and sent the child away with her mother. She said the child seemed distant, and longing to return to the woods. The mother, upon consideration, submitted her to the local authorities for questioning of the Fenneca's motives and activities. To this day, that child has not been seen or heard from, and no other stories of any Fenneca in that area cropped up.

_"Argis..." Umbrix muttered under his breath, smiling a bit.

[Dark Cloud]

Alrin Nevran stumbled into the Library to find two others in the room, one was a deer-like humanoid with antlers and the other Alrin didn't really focus on him because he looked humanoid and alive.

"Do you to mind if I sit in here for awhile?"

Alrin said through his gritted teeth he was tired and his joints hurt, plus riding a skeleton horse was not very comfortable at all.

"My name is Alrin Nevran or Alrin the Black and it's a pleasure to meet you!"

He slumped into a chair across the table from the Deer-like man or whatever he was.

[SepticGentleman]

Umbrix

---

"Alrin the Black". He calls himself that but he's far too cheery for the name. Umbrix knew where this was going and he wasn't interested.

"Well... the pleasure's all yours then." Umbrix said to the new arrival. He nodded, closed the book, and grabbed the others from the table before standing up. "Good day." He said, leaving this Alrin character and the troll to their own devices. He headed for the library wing's exit, back into the winding corridors of the Tower.

...

Ernsk should have been done by now.

Umbrix approached the door to his quarters, hearing the snapping of wood emanating from inside, and slowly pushed it open. He looked to see the floor covered in various fluid stains, dripping from Ernsk. Tar, blood, feces, the like. The walls were torn and the furniture was all cleared away. Over by the fireplace, now lit, Ernsk was breaking apart almost everything and tossing the pieces inside. The only thing it'd left was a large table that once stood by the bed. That'd be used for work.

Ernsk looked to its master and bellowed with its many mouths.

Umbrix nodded, and smiled.

"This will do."

[Dark Cloud]

Alrin didn't really care about anything until the second person that he thought as normal was actually an Troll.

"You were invited here as well eh?"

He said as he removed the hood from his head letting it down to his back, so his hair may dry since it was such a long journey and he made many mistakes along the way being attacked by bandits and other assorted amounts of idiots who think they can get close enough to steel a mans gold well they might need to think again and maybe think a third time because you don't approach a Necromancer thinking you can easily murder him.

But at least he was here now in the recesses of the Tower that he had sought out for such a long time and now he had made it and he was especially happy to be here although he needed to start acting like a proper Necromancer like his mentors once had told him when he was young and brash.

[Duthguy]

Like the deer man who had just left Matuna felt no need to interact with the human, but he also had no desire to unnecessary antagonize a potentially powerful Mage. After all there was a difference between enjoying a good fight from time to time and being a reckless idiot. So he answered his question. "No I wasn't, still got in anyway."

Hoping that he had gotten the conversation out of the way, he kept looking for another book. this time his goal was the simplest looking book written in the alphabet used by humans so that he could hopefully learn to read it with the help of the few letters he already knew and the book written in Troll.

After a while Matuna settled on the thinnest book he could find and took it to one of the desks. When he opened it, it turned out to be full of pictures with their names written under them. He figured it was probably there in case any of the guests invited or brought children at the age where they could start to read along, not realizing that by giving him access to the knowledge contained in the libraries, the Tower was preparing him for it's master's plans.

[Dark Cloud]

Alrin found most everyone here wanting to be alone so he got up and left because he decided it not worth bothering the troll any further than he should.

Alrin wandered about the grand halls of the Tower, exploring and searching for places where he could put his gear and other items but he had no idea where or what kind of rooms there were to use he knew about the library and that was all but it didn't matter he found an open space to work on his spellcasting and he began by taking out a full set of bones placing them on the ground and began speaking in the elvish tongue to cast the spell.

When he finished the bones joined together to form a humanoid skeleton of sorts, this satisfied Alrin and then he dispelled the magic and the skeleton fell apart.

He spent the next while exploring a bit more and looking around familiarizing himself with the layout of the Tower.

[thegreenleafe]

The Alchemist

The Alchemist enjoyed his room immensely, it was plain and bare, which appealed to him. Strangely enough in the night stand was a published work on alchemical processes called Alchemic Processes written by both Aurelius and his mentor Phineas. The fact that that book was a pleasant surprise and it seemed as if this particular room was prepared for him. The Prince was a good host, Thought the Alchemist, I wonder if the other rooms are prepared equally well for the strange assortment of wizards here. Aurelius went to his table that were filled with his tools. Among the table was a forge for smelting and can double as a heating element, there was also filtration and purification tanks. There were a myriad of other tools and other such devices that could be used to make potions, poisons, and even could help with the process of changing the nature of base metals.

The Magnum Opi that he found needed to be ground up and then used in the distillation process of making a potion. In order for the old Alchemist to grind up the flower it first needed to be dried. There were two ways to dry an object, naturally or to provide an artificial heating source, most accomplished alchemists had their ways to dry their ingredients. Some alchemists who practiced other schools of magic could dry it that way, but Aurelius was not magical, he was only an alchemist. So, to dry his ingredients, he had used an artifact from a past civilization he had acquired in past travels. It looked like a short cylinder with small knobs on the sides. If you pull the brass top off of it you can see the inner workings of the artifact. It showed an orange crystal with gears surrounding that, the inner workings were not entirely understood by Aurelius even after numerous studies enacted by him. The best he could figure out is that the crystal emanates a raw power that is amplified the gears and the metal around It to create heat. He turned the knob to lowest possible setting and placed a metal plate with raised edges in on it. Inside the plate he place the flowers and left the room, determined to explore the tower with his trusty staff.

Aurelius made his way down to the ground floor and saw a Fenneca, a bestial race that he once studied in their wooded homelands. That however led to an attempt on his life and forced him to run like the wind to escape e the bi-pedal deer people. That actually led to a dislike and small fear of the creatures. It also left Aurelius with a strong wish to never be attacked by one and its dark magic.

Aurelius had views on all of the schools of magic. Telepathy seemed like a very strong magic and could be very useful to the most manipulative of people. Alteration was like alchemy in ways and involved the changing of the physical matter, it appealed to him, but sadly he didn’t have the spark that was needed for magic. Destruction magic was a very broad magic and can have impressive, violent uses. However what some do not know is that in very small doses it can be used to heal. Combat magic was a very resourceful magic using basically two schools of magic to augment yourself. Alchemy was another school of magic, but not like the others. It used the physical traits of regents and formulae to create numerous things. A carefully guarded secret of all alchemists is the basic changing of states that certain potions can enact, which includes lead into gold. A lesser known secret is the ability of alchemists to inhibit changes in biological matter, like taking away the aches or pains from an old man such as Aurelius. The dark occult magic was evil and legend says it was taught to man by a great arch-demon to create strife upon man, the powers within occultism frankly frightens him. Mysticism was an intriguing concept to Aurelius seeing as it involved a fixed fate which Aurelius never believed in. Planar magic was something that he has never understood, but always wanted to explore more into the theory of, but that was hard seeing as the complex magic didn’t allow many mistakes. Finally was rune magic, which was something seemed easy enough to Aurelius, but deep down he knew without proper training it was a deadly art.

While off in his thinking the Alchemist walked into a sparkling clean marble corridor that led to a set of hallways. Choosing one at random he went through and found himself in the same exact spot again. Confused he took a different passage again and the result was the same. As he tried the last hallway he felt a sort of beating while he walked slowly through. The sound befuddled him, as well as the magical transport. Not everything is as it seems. A thought resounded in his head. He wondered if something was trying to corral him. To avoid making some being angry and turned around to find himself in the library in front of another copy of his one of his books. He turned around to see a troll reading a small book and looking back at another, translating the words. Why is he here? Are there troll servants? Well none the less Aurelius said hello and began to look for alchemic books published by other authors than himself. Seeing as alchemy emerged as a major field only fifty years earlier he had contributed knowledge to the others in the last thirty odd years as he made breaks and began to understand more and more. He found work published by a renown elfin alchemist and fell into the small world he was holding, impervious to the troll reading under his breath.