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31-Jul-2010 23:20:30

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Chapter8
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The outer gates of the Chantry’s tower loomed before Uthalion as he came to a stop at their base. Thinking back, he wondered why it never crossed his mind to make the magic school his first stop after the encounter with the old shopkeeper instead of wandering around aimlessly wondering the best way to handle his new…thing? Companion?....he didn't even know what the hell he was even carrying anymore, and that thought scared him more than anything he lived through in the past. Which, for an ex bounty hunter who's stalked many victims native to the Shadow Plane, was quite a lot.

He gripped the gate, and tugged on it. It did**t open, and Uthalion suddenly remembered that the thing was magical and couldn’t be opened by brute force. Such was the way of mages, he supposed. A sound came from a guardhouse he had missed which was situated to his left, and words entered his mind unbidden, speaking in a gruff tone.

*’Ello there. Speak yer name an* business an’ maybe I’ll be gettin’ you in ‘ere*

“It’* Uthalion,” he replied. “I’m here to see Archmage Romulus. It’s important.”

A brief moment passed before the voice came back. *Sorry m’lad, but Romulus says he aint be seein’ no visitors this day. Try tomorrow or the next day, aye? *

“Listen,” Uthalion spat. “I don’t give a damn if I’m expected or not. Tell Romulus that it’* extremely urgent. Tell him that Uthalion says ‘The Dragon Awakens’. He’ll know what it means!”

Another moment passed before the gates violently swung open with a resounding creak. *A’right, get yer ass in ‘ere. The big guy says somebody will be with ya shortly*

Uthalion did, and the gates closed behind him, making a clanging sound which was somehow much louder than the creaking it made when opening.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

03-Aug-2010 01:41:14 - Last edited on 20-Dec-2010 00:27:45 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

A purple haze filled Uthalion’s vision as the gates settled back and locked themselves, and soon he found himself in the center of an elegant courtyard. Looking around, he noticed several student mages lounging around the courtyard. Some of them wore the traditional black and red robes of the Chantry, while others wore robes that seemed flamboyant in comparison thanks to what he supposed was an enchantment that caused various bright colors to cycle through a pattern of sorts before repeating itself once again. All of them paid him no mind, which he was thankful for.

He turned to survey the courtyard in more detail as he waited, and found that he was in front of a fairly large fountain made of marble, and a dark colored stone he had never seen before. Where the fountains in Ukrosha and the Great Bazaar were often shaped like Dragons or Hippogriffs, the one he was staring at this very moment instead boasted floating orbs arranged around what looked like a single flame. The spheres bore arcane markings which glowed as they hovered in their positions, and the flame, as dark as the material it was made out of was, seemed to give off a warm, comforting glow. Uthalion found himself unable to tear his gaze from the fountain until a voice sounded from behind him.

“Umm…hi. Are…are you the guy who came through the gate earlier?”

Uthalion turned to address the speaker, whom he found was a girl who looked not long into her sixteenth winter yet. Her petite face was framed by shoulder length blonde hair, which contrasted with the traditional gray robes of the school that she wore as well as her natural shadows. Uthalion wasn’t exactly sure who she was, but he had time to kill.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

03-Aug-2010 01:41:52

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

He bowed to the girl and replied, “Yes. I need to speak to the Archmage immediately. I’m afraid I can't say more. Who might you be, exactly?”

The girl seemed intimidated by the purple armored man speaking to her, but managed a faint answer. “I’m…my name’s Mori. I was sent by the Archmage to…to bring you to his study. So if you please…follow me.”

She started off towards the tower, and as Uthalion began to follow her, he wondered how the hell it still stood after all it went through. Recalling his knowledge, he knew that the tower itself was made of some kind of magical liquid material that was invented by a mage who went insane a few hundred years ago, back when the Emperor was a man only known as ‘Kamiah’. Apparently the mage had wanted to redecorate the entire Royal Palace with the stuff in order to make it safer, but before Kamiah would allow it, he had to be sure that it was safe, so he challenged the mage to put it to the test.

The mage had constructed the tower nearly overnight as proof of his genius and confidence in the material, but in doing so had missed a few critical design flaws which would eventually be used against it nearly a week later when dragon-like beings from another realm had invaded the shadow plane with some of their darker creations.

The tower played a major role in repelling the invaders, however, it was severely damaged in the ensuing battle, and was abandoned for a few hundred years as its walls literally began to melt thanks to the lack of mundane support for the stuff…whatever ‘the stuff’ actually was, he didn't know, but he did know that in the intervening years, the former Emperor Ix had commissioned a team of mages to rebuild and fortify the thing so they can use it to train their students to use their magical talents.

Luckily for them, the mages also had the sense to put in extra security measures, such as the wards that began to glow as Mori approached the door leading into the tower.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

03-Aug-2010 01:43:06 - Last edited on 20-Dec-2010 00:30:12 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

She made a motion with her left hand, and they died down. The door slid open as she made another motion with her hand, then she turned to Uthalion. “Please stay close, sir. This place has…I really don’t know all of them, but there are some rather nasty security measures that might take an interest in you should you go alone.”

“Alright,” he replied. “Lead the way then. I have to admit, I have no clue where I’m going anyway.”

The girl merely nodded, and entered the tower with him in tow. Uthalion found that the interior contrasted greatly with the outside of the tower, for where the material gave viewers on the outside the impression that the thing was about to fall over any minute, the interior was made of limestone bricks which were expertly arranged in a pattern he knew from past experience would prove to keep the structure standing for centuries in the worst case scenario.

There was also the fact that anyone looking at the tower from the outside would be hard pressed to stare at it for long, for the liquid material gave off a sort of sheen in the sunlight. However, the only light that was present inside came from candles which were somehow floating close to the walls.

The duo walked down twisting stone corridors for what seemed like an eternity, all while passing wooden doors which emitted the muffled chants of the mages-in-training which lived and studied in the tower. Eventually, the girl stopped, and Uthalion almost ran into her. He managed to glimpse over her shoulder, and found that they were just outside of a big circular room. It had various couches, chairs, and even some kind of floating rugs which were occupied by mages doing what he presumed was some sort of meditative chant, all of which were arranged around a small hole in the floor from where a warm and inviting glow issued.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

03-Aug-2010 01:44:03 - Last edited on 20-Dec-2010 00:31:08 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

“I’m sorry, sir, but we’ll need to move quietly here,” Mori whispered. Before Uthalion could ask why, she added, “We’re about to walk through one of the student meditation rooms. Since this one is reserved for third year students, chances are they could easily kill us by accident if we wake them from their trances since some rather large amounts of magical energy are being channeled here.”

He nodded in understanding. In truth, he had forgotten that the school used such rooms for practicing their meditation techniques. Mori began to make her way into the room, and Uthalion followed. He glanced around the room, and saw that it was much bigger than he had first anticipated. Not only were there stone columns dotted around the room which blocked what he presumed was the most convenient route to take to the other end, on top of that it seemed that a lot of the seats were arranged in a pattern designed to specifically block any attempt to navigate it. At first they managed to weave around the scattered seating arrangements with ease, but as they neared a doorway which was on the opposite end of the room, Uthalion heard a small growling noise. Looking down, he saw that Mori was moving closer to some kind of animal, which looked like a small orange cat with bat wings on its shoulders. She seemed oblivious to it, and the creature had its teeth bared.

He was about to warn the girl about the creature, but before he could the thing skittered out of her way and began heading towards an unoccupied couch, its claws making small clicking noises as it ran. They reached the doorway without further incident, and for that Uthalion was visibly relieved.

“Well,” she turned to him and said. “That went well, don’t you think? Usually most visitors think that the danger is fake or something!”

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

03-Aug-2010 01:44:42 - Last edited on 20-Dec-2010 00:32:10 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

“Yeah,” he answered grimly. “For a second there I seriously thought that…thing…was going to make some noise or something.”

“Thing?” Mori looked puzzled, and then her expression changed to that of a child who just understood a joke for the first time. She began to giggle before saying, “Oh, you mean the Kibbi? Don’t worry, Rufio wouldn’t wake up anyone in there.”

“I get the feeling I should know this, but….what the hell’s a Kibbi?”

Mori looked at him, shrugged, and turned as she began walking down the hall they had just entered a mere moment before. “A Kibbi is a familiar of sorts. Where most witches are fond of having cats because of their intelligence, some prefer weird things such as bats or owls for their flying ability. So, one of the students a few years back created spell that would somehow summon the best of both worlds…the Kibbi!”

“So why weren’t we in danger then?”

Mori kept walking, but had spared him a single glance before saying, “Because Kibbis are big cowards. Anything bigger than them is something they usually avoid, unless the thing in question is their owner.”

“I….see." In truth, he was confused as to why anyone would want to own something like that, but he figured the ways of mages were a bit complicated to understand in the first place.

The pair continued on in silence for a few moments before the walls of the hallway began to seemingly change from their brick-like surface to that of a smooth, metallic gray material. Mori seemed to sense his surprise, and mentioned, “What we just passed through was the rebuilt portion of the tower. Where we are now is the portion that was built with the stuff the original builder had invented.”

“I thought as much,” he admitted. “Speaking of which, does this stuff even have a name?”

“You know, I’m not sure. I’ve heard some names mentioned before, but I don’t think any were ever made official out of respect to the original builder.”

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

03-Aug-2010 01:46:18 - Last edited on 20-Dec-2010 00:33:26 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

With that, the girl kept moving forward. Uthalion noted that the material seemed familiar to him somehow, but he decided the reason why is a mystery that would have to wait for another time. Right now he had more important matters to worry about. For some reason, he found it was getting harder and harder to keep up with her. Either his guide was moving too fast for some reason, or he was beginning to feel the effects of the past few days catch up with him. Whatever the reason was, he couldn’t say, but he was happy to find that he didn't have to suffer for long, as they stopped at the top of a flight of stairs soon enough.

The stairs were seemingly made with the effect that if one would look hard enough, they would appear as if they were literally melded seamlessly into the surface of both the floor and walls. He guessed it might be because of the strange properties of the even stranger material that was lining the hall they had just trekked through, and in his mind he thought he was finally beginning to understand the reason the mage from ages past had decided on making a building from this odd invention.

“We’ll have to be careful again,” Mori cautioned. “This time we have to step into the Arena. Master Romulus should be there at this time of day, but if he isn’t then we can just use the portal glyph he keeps in his private viewing box to go straight to him.”

Uthalion questioned the wisdom of going into any place referred to as an Arena, let alone the Archmage’s private quarters, uninvited, but he saw little alternative. He had no clue where he was going, and he got the feeling that if he were to turn back then he wouldn’t make it far without getting seriously injured-if not outright killed. It would be better to trust that his guide knew where she was going.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

03-Aug-2010 01:48:03 - Last edited on 20-Dec-2010 00:35:04 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

They descended the stairs, and followed the hall until they came upon a large metal door. Where the hall they were standing in had a somewhat new and flawless sheen to it, this door looked old and rusted. Uthalion didn't need to use his power to know that the door was cold iron, and he shivered at the thought of why an arena door would need such a cover for an entrance in the first place.

Mori put her hand on the door handle, and gave it a tug. Even though it appeared that she had put little in the way of effort in pulling, the door silently swung open, showing a tiny slit which the girl promptly peered through. A small shaft of light filtered through the slightly open door, and Uthalion couldn’t resist the urge to look in on the area with his guide despite the fact he had the feeling he wouldn’t like what he found.

Surprisingly, what he saw seemed normal in a strange way. The Arena consisted of what one might come to expect of something named as such. He saw a somewhat large, circular dirt patch which was surrounded by a few feet of bricks which served as a barrier between the patch and the stands. He even saw a small box like structure in the highest corner of the room, which he assumed where Romulus would be sitting in if he was there at this moment.

Oddly enough, he didn't see any stairs that led from the patch of dirt to the stands, and he didn't see anything that would give anyone else access to the stands by a different route either, not even a teleportation glyph, which seemed odd to him. Even stranger was the ceiling, for it looked like there wasn’t one even built over the Arena. Instead, he saw a pitch black sky dotted with stars, which seemed odd to him since he recalled coming into the tower during the day.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

03-Aug-2010 01:48:32 - Last edited on 20-Dec-2010 00:36:10 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

He was about to open the door further until he felt Mori’s hand on his shoulder as she whispered, “Not yet. Look.” She pointed. Uthalion followed her hand, and saw that the Arena was occupied by two figures.

The one standing closest to their position wore loose black and red robes, which had a skull design on the sleeves. The mage also wore a black hood, which covered any chance of the hunter determining whether or not the mage was male or female.

The combatant standing across from the mage didn't seem to be a mage at all, but rather a warrior of sorts. This one was clearly a man, who sported silver hair done in a crew cut. He wore black leathers, with various spikes and knives situated in random areas around his chest. They also showed off his arms, which had strange tattoos on them. Uthalion then realized that they weren’t necessarily tattoos, but rather the man’s natural shadows held in such a position. Why they were that way, he didn't know, but he knew that anyone capable of such a feat would be best left undisturbed, especially if they were about to start a duel.

He watched as the mage moved first. It drew a wand from its robes, and muttered a word of power. The tip of the wand glowed, and released a stream of purple energy at the man. The man dodged as it was about to connect with him, and let a knife loose, which glowed an orange hue as it zeroed in on the mage.

The mage waved a hand in the air, and the knife stopped before clattering uselessly to the ground. The mage made a strange motion with its wand again, and this time a burst of purple energy engulfed the man. He screamed in agony, but managed to compose himself shortly after as his armor seemed to shimmer. The energy sizzled out, and he seemed unharmed from the ordeal.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

03-Aug-2010 01:50:05 - Last edited on 20-Dec-2010 00:37:17 by A Mad Hatter

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^+^ The Age of Nhur ^+^