[Game Thread] A Wizarding Adventure

[syphiliticmind]

Just as Addison was starting to examine the painting in more depth—there really was a lot of effort put into it, it almost seemed like the waves could be moving in the corners of his eyes—some people on the stairs behind him made noise. He turns around to see three of them, including some guy he hasn’t seen before and two of his fellow students.

Wait, this dude, the one they were supposed to meet here? Sure didn’t look like it. He was busy playing at statues on the stairs. Addison briefly considers sitting before deciding he was way too antsy for any more of that today.

Well, this was exciting. He rolled his eyes and wandered over to the stairwell again, hands back through his hair. ‘The hell’s this guy? Wasn’t on the stairs when I came down. You guys in the habit of gorgon-ing people?”

Did he seriously just walk right by this weird guy? Addison takes a moment to size the guy up, looking in particular to see if he seems important or as though he’d be interested in messing with them. It’d be a good excuse for a good old brawl.

Dice Perception Check:

1d20

17

[gluckhf]

Prisca walks down the steps as the others had, coming up behind the crew on the stairway as Addison squints at the person in the doorway.

As he looks at the man, he notices that he isn't frozen, but is almost imperceptibly moving - his eyes are becoming a little wider, his mouth moving from a smile to a frown, his grip on the dark cloak relaxing. From the front Addison notices a glint of metal at his hip - most probably not a sundial like he had. From his greasy appearance he thinks the man most likely isn't a noble (not that he would know anything about nobility, anyway), but more like a sailor after a good scrubbing - muscles built for action, not for looks. Certainly an unusually strong wizard, if indeed he is one.

[Mesoplodont]

As Prisca crosses the threshold into the University she feels a strange sensation in her chest, as if her heart is attempting to stay outside in a sudden protest against her entrance into this weird school. She pauses briefly in uncertainty, but then notices the commotion at the bottom of the stairs. "What's this? A stairwell party?" she remarks jovially on her way down, though when she is behind Cera and Lydia on the steps she is able to see the odd, statuesque man and the others appraising him in puzzlement. Prisca wonders if the man has been cursed, perhaps by a paralyzing or slowing spell of some kind, but her Arcana knowledge is limited, so she says nothing. Instead she casts a Detect Magic spell at him in the hopes of revealing a clue that might help them all figure out what was going on.

[gluckhf]

Crashing the party with a waving of hands, Prisca begins to cast a spell at the man.

 

There is magic present in front of you.

[admiralducknips]

Lydia frowns and steps back again, nervous. She wonders how she could possibly tell the other students that the man at the bottom of the stairs may be dangerous without becoming a target herself. Before she can say anything two other students enter the room, one from downstairs and the other from another room. Unsure, she readies a vanish spell to cast on herself in case the man looks as if he’s going to hurt one of them.

“Does anyone know where we’re supposed to…” Lydia falls silent as the halfling newcomer casts a spell, stepping back towards the door in case she must defend herself.

[propheticblue]

The man in the stairwell is unnaturally still, and he didn't respond to Cera's questions or any of the thing happening around him. Cera frowns, and frowns more when a new guy appears from the other end of the stairwell and informs them that the man wasn't there when he came through. How, then?

"We didn't do this. I was right with her when we came down and he was already like this," Cera defends himself and Lydia. At which point another girl appears and casts something at the frozen man.

"Definitely a stairwell party," he agrees, watching the newcomer carefully. "Care to tell us what you just did to the creepy frozen guest of honor?"

[gluckhf]

 

There are multiple auras in the room - 127 in fact, if you had time to count them all, the strongest of which is an Overwhelming aura.

"They didn't do anything!" says the Dean, coming down the stairs behind the party. "The others were right.. always one or two sneaks at each entrance they said. Little buggers think they can just slip by and on their way into the University. Well then, off you go! " the Dean snaps his fingers and a portal appears around the frozen figure, envelops him, and vanishes, leaving no trace of him.

"Now now everyone, into the room. And stop that chanting Prisca, or you'll see something you wish you hadn't!"

[admiralducknips]

Lydia appears equal parts bewildered and embarrassed at the scene which unfolds in front of her. Bewildered due to the sudden appearance of the dean and the disappearance of the apparent stowaway; embarrassed at her and the rest of the students' reactions to the unfortunate man. Only the halfling had attempted to do anything about the situation.

She feels useless, but regardless she shuffles into the room, silent and mollified.
Frowning, she tries to figure out the nature of the spell the dean cast. It was quite frightening.

 

Dice Roll:

1d20+7

(15)+7

Total = 22

[syphiliticmind]

Addison was about to retort that they must have done something when the Dean came along and lay that theory to rest. He shuts his mouth pretty quickly, and cocks an eyebrow at the portal summoned by the dean. That, if his understanding of conjuration was at all passable, was pretty rad. He can't help but smile a little bit, somewhat pacified. The problem was dealt with and, as the old adage goes, out of sight, out of mind.

He steps back into the room behind him, making way for the other students. He also takes the opportunity to pace back and forth behind one of the couches, working out the knots in his bones. It's a long way from Magnimar to Riddleport, after all. While doing so, he opts to take a better look at the Dean, wary of what the man's presence might mean for the new students.

Dice Perception Check:

d20+3

(15)+3

Total = 18

[Mesoplodont]

"Wow, this place is completely rigged!", Prisca remarks after the Dean takes care of the uninvited guest. I suppose that's not really surprising, she thinks to herself while following the other students into what looks like some sort of common area, but she is nevertheless awed by the sheer number of auras her spell detected. Timidly, she moves to stand next to Cera and Lydia. "I'm Prisca, by the way", she says to them, "and I'm sorry if I startled you. I guess I'm just in the habit of doing before speaking, " and she pauses briefly before continuing, "speaking's never really gotten me that far, especially not with big... I mean, most people. Do you guys know who that strange man was?"

[propheticblue]

Cera was so startled by the sudden appearance of the Dean and his conjuration of the portal that he almost tried to dispel the magic, which would probably have been the worst decision of his young life. He stopped himself just in time, and the frozen man disappeared.

"I guess it makes sense that people would try to sneak in," he muses as he follows the Dean and the other students into the room. Does it really, though? From the rumors he's heard, learning at this school is not going to be all peaches and cream and bending the majesty of the arcane universe to their mortal wills. Sneaking in to a place with so many dark whispers about it just seems...unwise.

Well hey, at least one of the other new students is chatty. "Hi Prisca! I'm Cera, pleased to meet you. Nice casting back there."

[gluckhf]

 

(Spellcraft is used to identify a spell, lucky for you it has the same +7 modifier!) You had heard something about spells like this.. it seems like it was a Plane Shift, but the dean didn't go with the man as normally required... maybe this spell has been modified?

 

As you attempt to scrutinize the dean, you find your mind start to fog and your vision start to blur, as if he wards off your gaze. Nonetheless, you are able to make out a symbol on the inside of his wrist as he passes by. It glows softly in the shape of an owl. A ring around the owl is tattooed as well, but does not glow.

"All in? Very well!" exclaims the dean, "I'll just pop out to welcome the other groups. Feel free to relax a bit, it won't be but a minute for you!"

The dean walks out the door and hops up the stairs.

[gluckhf]

... and moments later comes back down. "Okay then, sorry about the wait... Hope you've been comfortable. Now, are there any questions before we go?"

[admiralducknips]

Relaxation is the last thing on Lydia's mind right now. She lingers by the door, moving only to give the dean ample space to move past her. She does not know what to make of the other students. The young man smells of the sea, a foul fishy smell almost foreign to her that she assumes the people of this region are accustomed to.

Lydia wonders if this is a test; she does not want to fail or touch the wrong thing in the room and be whisked away to another plane. She observes the conversation of her fellow students but does not chime in, instead preferring to watch them carefully. The reemergence of the dean frightens her and she starts and blurts out the first thing that comes to mind.

"Are the other groups waiting...elsewhere?"

[gluckhf]

"Oh yes, the stragglers finally made it and I've given them all the standard spiel - they're.. well I guess you could say waiting.. for you outside. It's a little more complex when you get into inter-planar manipulations, you see, time tends to do funny things."