Erasmas
2014-04-30, 03:31 PM
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The fire burns warmly, but casts little light into Lord Ackramon's study. Truthfully, the study was used as a library for almost all of the students here at the Adventurers’ Academy, of which Lord Ackramon was owner and chief instructor. The flickering shadows only hint at the vast number of books and scrolls that fill the many shelves. Slowly your mentor walks over to the fire.
"My friends, your training is complete. There is not much more that the trainers here can teach you, myself included. But you are not yet true Heroes, for you have yet to prove yourselves in the field. And we will get to that soon enough. But first, by way of warning, let me tell you of Caddlebron...”
He jostled the burning logs as if lancing a mighty dragon, or perhaps this Caddlebron, who seemed to draw no small amount of ire from the level-headed Lord that you had come to know quite well during your time here.
"Decades ago, Caddlebron was an apprentice here at the Academy, much like yourselves. He worked hard and learned quickly. But impatience devoured him. As a student of the arcane, he wanted to learn more powerful magic. He was warned of the dangers, tempered towards patience; for in time he would become a great Wizard. But Caddlebron could not wait; each night he broke into the Vault Arcana and read the spell books collected there. The secrets that were held within them are great indeed. And once he had learned his fill of these secrets, Caddlebron fled.”, Lord Ackramon walked among the books here as he mentioned these spell tomes, absentmindedly straightening their arrangements and stroking the spines of particular ones.
He made his way to the window, shuttering it against the encroaching night chill and darkness without. Limping slightly on his bad knee, an old injury that you have been told he acquired while battling a league of undead as they pressed upon the city walls, he returned to his favorite chair near the hearth. Lowering himself into the worn maroon leather cushions, he sighed meaningfully. "Several others and I tracked him for months; chasing rumors and half-truths like ghost through the fog. When we finally caught up with him, we found him greatly changed. He had sworn his fealty to the goddess of Chaos, Jadeera. Damn fool! He saw magic only as a short-cut to power and paid no heed to the terrible price he would have to pay. I tried to reason with him, but to no avail. He laughed in my face and then attacked us. We fought, but he had discovered magic that we were hard-pressed to even defend against. For hours we battled, but Caddlebron had forged allies with his new pact that proved to be stronger than I could have imagined, and I could not defeat him. In the end, several of my compatriots lay dead and those of us that remained were weakened. He fled, seeking refuge beyond the Northern Wastes.”
Lost in memories for several long moments, it isn’t until one of you stirs that he rouses from his lapse.
"I tell you this now so that you may be made aware of how serious the dangers out there are. There will be times when you judge a situation easy or beneath you entirely; do not be so foolish. Tread carefully with magics that you encounter, for although they can provide you with enormous boon… they too can devour your very soul. Adventure is a young man’s trade, I am afraid. And I am no longer a young man. So it is, I must watch you, and others like you, march away with only the teachings and the meager armaments that we can provide.”
His gaze shifts from the flickering firelight to each of your faces in turn. "If you stay the course, one day you will earn your place as a Champion of the Realm, as well as a place here among my staff of instructors, should you wish it. Each of you must now be tested as your first trial. In the morning, you are to set out to the catacombs which contain the Tomb of Fellmarg, who was once a great Orcish Priest and a hero of this land. We have reason to believe that a Gargoyle named Verag has taken up residence there. You must seek out and destroy him. This Quest is not easy and you must work together in order to survive. This is your first step on the road to becoming true Heroes. Tread carefully my friends. I shall speak with you again on your return – if you return..."
And with these words, you are dismissed. Sleep is difficult to come by as you lay in bed that night – equal parts excitement and anxiety causing your mind to reel and flit about from thought to thought. Eventually, however, the Dreammaker finds you and the next thing you comprehend is the sound of the roosters of the nearby farmsteads crowing at the sun’s morning rays. You awaken and dress, eager to get on the road. After a hardy breakfast and packing your gear carefully, you meet with the others that would accompany you on this, your first quest.
The fire burns warmly, but casts little light into Lord Ackramon's study. Truthfully, the study was used as a library for almost all of the students here at the Adventurers’ Academy, of which Lord Ackramon was owner and chief instructor. The flickering shadows only hint at the vast number of books and scrolls that fill the many shelves. Slowly your mentor walks over to the fire.
"My friends, your training is complete. There is not much more that the trainers here can teach you, myself included. But you are not yet true Heroes, for you have yet to prove yourselves in the field. And we will get to that soon enough. But first, by way of warning, let me tell you of Caddlebron...”
He jostled the burning logs as if lancing a mighty dragon, or perhaps this Caddlebron, who seemed to draw no small amount of ire from the level-headed Lord that you had come to know quite well during your time here.
"Decades ago, Caddlebron was an apprentice here at the Academy, much like yourselves. He worked hard and learned quickly. But impatience devoured him. As a student of the arcane, he wanted to learn more powerful magic. He was warned of the dangers, tempered towards patience; for in time he would become a great Wizard. But Caddlebron could not wait; each night he broke into the Vault Arcana and read the spell books collected there. The secrets that were held within them are great indeed. And once he had learned his fill of these secrets, Caddlebron fled.”, Lord Ackramon walked among the books here as he mentioned these spell tomes, absentmindedly straightening their arrangements and stroking the spines of particular ones.
He made his way to the window, shuttering it against the encroaching night chill and darkness without. Limping slightly on his bad knee, an old injury that you have been told he acquired while battling a league of undead as they pressed upon the city walls, he returned to his favorite chair near the hearth. Lowering himself into the worn maroon leather cushions, he sighed meaningfully. "Several others and I tracked him for months; chasing rumors and half-truths like ghost through the fog. When we finally caught up with him, we found him greatly changed. He had sworn his fealty to the goddess of Chaos, Jadeera. Damn fool! He saw magic only as a short-cut to power and paid no heed to the terrible price he would have to pay. I tried to reason with him, but to no avail. He laughed in my face and then attacked us. We fought, but he had discovered magic that we were hard-pressed to even defend against. For hours we battled, but Caddlebron had forged allies with his new pact that proved to be stronger than I could have imagined, and I could not defeat him. In the end, several of my compatriots lay dead and those of us that remained were weakened. He fled, seeking refuge beyond the Northern Wastes.”
Lost in memories for several long moments, it isn’t until one of you stirs that he rouses from his lapse.
"I tell you this now so that you may be made aware of how serious the dangers out there are. There will be times when you judge a situation easy or beneath you entirely; do not be so foolish. Tread carefully with magics that you encounter, for although they can provide you with enormous boon… they too can devour your very soul. Adventure is a young man’s trade, I am afraid. And I am no longer a young man. So it is, I must watch you, and others like you, march away with only the teachings and the meager armaments that we can provide.”
His gaze shifts from the flickering firelight to each of your faces in turn. "If you stay the course, one day you will earn your place as a Champion of the Realm, as well as a place here among my staff of instructors, should you wish it. Each of you must now be tested as your first trial. In the morning, you are to set out to the catacombs which contain the Tomb of Fellmarg, who was once a great Orcish Priest and a hero of this land. We have reason to believe that a Gargoyle named Verag has taken up residence there. You must seek out and destroy him. This Quest is not easy and you must work together in order to survive. This is your first step on the road to becoming true Heroes. Tread carefully my friends. I shall speak with you again on your return – if you return..."
And with these words, you are dismissed. Sleep is difficult to come by as you lay in bed that night – equal parts excitement and anxiety causing your mind to reel and flit about from thought to thought. Eventually, however, the Dreammaker finds you and the next thing you comprehend is the sound of the roosters of the nearby farmsteads crowing at the sun’s morning rays. You awaken and dress, eager to get on the road. After a hardy breakfast and packing your gear carefully, you meet with the others that would accompany you on this, your first quest.