CH. 12: Testing Grounds

[Chris1234]

Shima looks at a couple of his wounds and then at the high priestess and waits for her to comment.

[TristenC]

Grubnick thanks the waitress and heads to the trade guild. Blonde... so it could be this Kendra person... not a good sign...

[HorizonsDream]

"For the time being, you aren't a burden," Kendra says. "And I kind of like having the company. I'm not really sure I could do what I'm doing if I was all alone." She was slowly starting to open up to Norris, but he was completely against the idea of what she was doing. After some convincing, he was willing to help her out a little bit when it came to the party they went to. Though, that was something that was up his alley.

[BishGada]

Tulbas shudders at Daxia words. His fair skin turns paler if that is even possible. His eyes tore wide and he finds himself speechless. A storm of emotions runs over his face, surprise, fear, anger and eventually grave sadness. He looks at Magnus enjoying watching Tulbas squirms under the awkward situation. Eventually he lowers his head and says, "He died. Without Magnus protection the Red Army that occupied Haven would have executed me. Now he is my Master."
Tulbas loses all concentration he could have mustered. That must be the worst way to start the day of The Test any apprentice mage should avoid.

[djhyland]

Unable to find the gnome, Arulia looks about the common room to assess her options. Not many people were here, but she supposes that it's still too early for a crowd. To her slight relief, the teenage girl that was interested in the old gods isn't here...her insistence on meeting actual followers of the gods instead of learning about the gods themselves had made Arulia wary. Maybe her intentions were good, but her evasiveness in answering why she was looking for worshippers made Arulia think otherwise.

Without the innkeeper around, Arulia supposes that Cassandra is the most likely to know of Haahqae's whereabouts. Nodding to Bear as she passes by, she steps up to the counter to speak with her. "Good morning, Mistress Cassandra. I am looking for the gnome Haahqae. Do you know if he's here?"

[JadedDM]

Haahqae (Grand Market)
Haahqae begins his search. Nobody is selling strips of cloth, not in those dimensions, at least. But he does find someone selling linen cloth at 5 coppers for each square yard. He could buy as much as he deems necessary, then cut it up into pieces himself easily enough. That might be optimal anyway, because even if he could find strips of cloth for sale, that they would match the dimensions of his small feet would be unlikely anyway. This way he can make sure they are the perfect size himself.

Kendra Synclair (2527 Market Street, Greylock's Gorgeous Gems)
Sadron seems to accept this and nods in understanding, not really knowing how much coin it would cost to continue to feed and clothe him. The two finish breakfast and Sadron offers to take care of the clean up, so he can at least feel useful in some way.

Tulbas Erogund (Tower of Wayreth, Waiting Room)
"I see," Daxia says, a little subdued. "I'm sorry for your loss. I had heard the rumors that Haven had fallen, as did Qualinesti and the Dwarflands. But I wasn't sure... My own homeland was taken, as well."

Clearing her throat, she adds, "Well, the other students are waiting in the lounge already. I will take you there." As they begin walking, she asks, "Did you have some idea of what kind of challenge level you wanted for your Test?"

Arulia Seroth (Steel Tankard Inn, Common room)
"He's not in right now," Cassandra replies. "But he was here this morning. And he'll likely be back later in the afternoon to put on one of his juggling shows. If you want, I can leave a message for him when he returns."

Grubnick (Trade Guild)
It's around Third Watch by the time Grubnick arrives at the Trade Guild Hall. It is one of the larger buildings in the district, if you don't include the warehouses on the docks and the Old Keep to the south. It's certainly better maintained than most of the buildings in the area. As it's open to the public, there is nothing stopping the goblin from entering at his leisure.

The hall is spacious with a high ceiling. On the far end is a raised platform for speeches to be given. There are also a number of tables and chairs for merchants and craftsmen to discuss business. The place can double as a town hall for important meetings, as well.

However, today it is not terribly crowded. There are maybe half a dozen people here currently. They are all at the same table, speaking with each other. One of them, Grubnick notes, looks like a trapper. He's a big, burly man wearing animal furs and he looks (and smells) like he hasn't bathed in awhile.

Shima Longfoot (Temple of Takhisis)
The priestess begins praying a second spell. This time, when she is finished, Shima feels a cold numbness spread through his body. His wounds begin to shrink, then vanish altogether. They leave no trace behind, not even scars. He can't even tell he was ever injured in the first place. The numbness passes after a few seconds, and he feels as good as new again. He had never experienced anything like it before. He had heard stories of magical healing from hundreds of years ago, but it seems the rumors that it had returned to this world were true after all.

=========

Shima is healed 14 HP. He is now fully healed.

[Chris1234]

Shima nods, "Thanks. Now, what's the job?"

[BishGada]

Tulbas nods his thanks to Daxia. Later he considers his answer for a moment, "Yes. I gave it a lot of thought. I hope you won't think I'm arrogant. I considered trying the grave and high risks. Not that I'm not aware it might mean my death, but if I wouldn't try it at least I'd regret it all my life."

[HorizonsDream]

"Thanks," Kendra says. "I'll be home later on tonight," she adds. She really didn't want to leave. Sadron was starting to get better, and it was a nice little dream to just spend some time with him. Sadly, her reality is that she that she has to work. She sighs a bit, as of trying to steel herself for the upcoming day, and leaves for the prefect's mansion.

[Haahque]

Haahqae will buy the linen. 1 square yard is more then enough for his needs, and they likely have a cutting implement so that they can section off as much as people want to buy (1 yard 3 yards etc). If they should happen to not have a cutting implement that he can borrow, he'll look around to buy/borrow a knife or scissors from any of the other merchants.

[TristenC]

Grubnick heads over near the trapper and waits so he is not interrupting. Once the man is free he asks about the female trappers he heard about and where he might find them.

[djhyland]

Arulia nods. "Thank you. Please let him know that Arulia Seroth is looking for him. I worked with him a few weeks back, uh...underground, so he should remember me. I can check back for him before curfew tonight, or tomorrow morning if he's not back before then."

After leaving the Steel Tankard, Arulia considers her options. Eventually she decides to see if Kendra is home, if for no other reason than to put off difficult decisions a little bit longer.

[JadedDM]

Haahqae (Grand Market)
Haahqae asks that the merchant cut the cloth up for him into strips. A little puzzled by the request, the merchant obliges and uses their scissors to cut the square yard as he requested.

(Haahqae spends 5 copper on 1 sq yd of colorless linen which is then cut up into strips for him.)

Kendra Synclair (2527 Market Street, Greylock's Gorgeous Gems)
After putting on her uniform and armor, Kendra prepares to head to work. She steps outside, locking the place behind her. While she is doing so, Arulia approaches and waves to her.

Tulbas Erogund (Tower of Wayreth, Waiting Room)
Daxia chuckles. "We'll see if you're as good as you think you are then." They pass by many rooms along the way, most of them with the door closed. But some are open and Tulbas catches glimpses inside. He spots a massive library in one room, a handful of dormitories, and even a couple of labs. One lab is empty, but another has a White Robe and Black Robe conducting some kind of experiment on a flat stone disc that is floating a foot over the table.

Eventually they arrive at some kind of lounge. There are comfortable looking chairs and couches to sit in, a handful of bookshelves with reading material, and even a dart board and a khas set. Already present are three mages and their apprentices.

The mages include an elven man (Qualinesti) wearing the white robes, a human woman wearing the red robes and a figure (their hood is up, obscuring their face so Tulbas cannot determine race or gender, but based on build he'd guess male) wearing the black robes.

The apprentices include two young women (a half-elf and a Qualinesti) and a human male. They all look older than Tulbas, but the human in particular is especially so. He appears to be in his mid-thirties.

Arulia Seroth (Market Street)
Cassandra writes down the message. Arulia then heads out again, this time heading for Kendra's house. Just as she arrives, Kendra steps out wearing her elite uniform, and closes the door behind her, locking it. It appears she is just stepping out.

Grubnick (Trade Guild)
"Ha!" the trapper replies. "I'm the only trapper in the city. But it's strange you ask, because someone was asking about two lady trappers earlier. But there aren't any other trappers in the city than me, much less two female ones. Maybe they're imposters, although why anyone would impersonate a trapper is beyond me."

Shima Longfoot (Temple of Takhisis)
The high priestess frowns at Shima's complete lack of a reaction. She is likely used to people being more astounded or awed by a divine miracle. Shrugging it off, she says, "The target is a young woman. Her name is Cassilda Costen and she currently works as an apprentice at Una's weaponsmithy in the harbor district. She's 14 with blonde hair, blue eyes and fair skin. She is reportedly wearing a bandage on one of her arms after being severely burned. Now as I said, I'd like to avoid this being messy. If you can make it look like an accident, all the better. But failing that, try using something that won't leave any obvious wounds like poison. When the job is done, return to me. I'll see that you get what you asked for. Oh, and if you are caught, we will officially disavow any knowledge of you, so don't expect help."

[Chris1234]

"Right. Well, have you got any poison spare?" asks Shima. "Me going round town asking for some is going to be a bit obvious. Or any preferred suppliers? I s'pose they could have an accident too."

[BishGada]

"I truly don't know if I'm good at all. But I feel I must try." Tulbas answers. Didn't he specifically said he wouldn't want her to consider him arrogant? Shouldn't that made it obvious he didn't think highly of himself, he wonders while going after Magnus. Seeing the library and laboratory he considers returning there if he survives The Test. He should remember to ask what are the conditions to use them by the mages. Should he pay for the materials? What about loaning books? Eventually when they arrive the lounge he looks at the others, lingers a little bit on the Black mage wondering if Magnus would know him, but then he looks at the Qualinesti Elves for a while. Although the Silvanesti and Qualinesti where not friends he felt for them as their country was recently destroyed, the same as his own years back. He waits quietly to see if the others speak between them or will address him.