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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Nonlethal Force" data-source="post: 3390454" data-attributes="member: 35788">The net result of the conversation with the commander was that the foursome entered Eberdeen in silence while Ophee managed to make small talk with the city guards.  The meeting seemed to have gone well enough, but the unexpected addition of the city guards as an escort was enough to put the adventurers on edge.  Ophee didn’t seem altogether pleased with the development either, but she wasn’t about to let silence give her unease away.The party headed directly for the twin spires that rose out of the city.  The towers of the wizard’s college reached up into the sky as if to defy the ultimate and irreversible power of gravity.  Normal buildings couldn’t be constructed past a second or third usable floor without running the risk of collapsing upon itself.  The twin peaks of the wizard’s college stretched this boundary by a full two dozen floors.  They were as permanent of a monument to the ability of magic to defy logic as any across the land of Tongra.Only the bottom four floors of the twin towers were accessible by stairs.  The rest of the towers were governed by the transportation abilities of the person desiring to ascend to higher levels.  In a sense, the top twenty three stories were a hard reminder of the separation between those who were already masters of magic and those who were still mastered by the magic.  The students who were still dependant upon both the physical world and stairs were prevented from joining in on the more advanced discussions of the upper level.The approaching group of horses slowed on the street outside the nearest spire.  Ophee turned slightly to her companions and smiled with a sense of deep relief and enjoyment.  “Now that we have  officially arrived, I will ask all of you to stay outside the wizard’s college until I have alerted the one who has been arranged to do the examination.”  Ophee turned to speak to Shaira.  “If the two of you don’t mind waiting until the appropriate wizard has been notified, I would be greatly appreciative.  I would hate for my long journey from Fingerdale to end tragically on the streets of Eberdeen.  There can be no doubt that our overseer would be greatly displeased, too.”The female guard nodded in reply and turned to look at the four companions.  They didn’t appear that they would be hard to guard.  For the sake of security, Shaira nodded to Auxis and pointed.  Her male counterpart drew the reigns of his horse over the left side of the horse’s neck and the trained beast slowly walked so that they were on the opposite side of the foursome as Shaira and her mount.Ophee slipped off of her mount and disappeared on foot into the wizard’s college.  She was gone for about ten minutes before she returned.  The party spent the time in complete silence.  They didn’t want to say anything to jeopardize what fragile sense of camaraderie seemed to be occurring between Ophee, the guards, and the party.Ophee’s return was considerably more dramatic that her departure.  The fact that she returned with one of the mages from the wizard’s college was not necessarily what made her return dramatic.  It wasn’t even the fact that the wizard appeared in the full robes of his teaching office or the fact that he was carrying a gnarled staff made from the wood of the tall and broad leafed mahogany tree.  What made Ophee’s return dramatic was the fact that the pair appeared out of thin air without any kind of warning at all.  They had used teleportation magic to arrive.The group of six riders waiting outside the wizard’s college was taken completely by surprise with the sudden appearance of Ophee and the wizard.  In an instant the guards, Ischarus, and Charis had their weapons drawn and had spun their horses to face the intruding pair.  Fortunately they each recognized Ophee before they took any action.The wizard smiled and held out an outstretched hand.  The staff stretched horizontally from the wizard’s hand as if to provide a simple defense from the steel weapons of the horsemen.  “Do you plan on using those?”  There was a distinct tone of amusement in his voice.Semeion cracked a smile as those who had drawn their weapons quickly stowed them.  Of course it had been a rational reaction, but Semeion enjoyed a further demonstration of the power that magic had over the world.  He longed for the day when he could hold a staff and be confident of his ability to be victorious against a mounted party coming against him.When the wizard had paused long enough to make it evident that nobody planned on speaking to him, he continued his discourse of directions.  “I am the wizard that you seek.  I have been planning on evaluating the abilities and testimony of the four.”  He turned to the guards and spoke to them directly.  “If you think it would please your commander at the guardhouse, you are welcome to observe a few of the tests so that you can be sure that what we say is true.  I understand from my associate that there was some doubt to the validity of her story upon your arrival to Eberdeen.”Shaira nodded.  “I believe my commander would appreciate knowing that the words were true.”  Auxis allowed a serious look to pass over his face before nodding in agreement.The wizard smiled.  “If you insist.  To prove that I have nothing to hide, why do we not perform the first of the tests out here in the open where there can be no doubt?  One of the tests suggested is geared to test their fighting prowess, and I am assuming we can trust the city guard to remain neutral knowing that a wizard from the wizard’s college has the situation under control?”The guards nodded and the wizard thumped the end of his staff hard against the ground before turning to the party.  “Dismount and prepare yourselves for combat.  You have as long as it takes for me to cast this spell to prepare for battle.”The party quickly dismounted and commanded their horses to a safe distance away.  In an instant their weapons were out and they formed a tight defensive square with their backs to one another since they didn’t know what threat the wizard would throw against them.  Semeion heard the wizard chanting and easily identified the spell being cast.  “He’s summoning a creature, and a powerful one at that.  Brace yourselves.”The wizard completed his gesturing and gave the final command word.  “Daancrah Pashor Diast Pahl.”  A scaly creature with claws for hands and feet suddenly popped into existence and cried in frenzy.  “You have summoned me again?  Feel my rage!”The creature only stood six feet tall, but its dark glowing red eyes which lacked pupils and green scaly skin made it clear that it was not native to the lands of Enigmatica – or anywhere in the known world for that matter.  As the creature spoke it revealed its razor sharp teeth.  The claws on its four-toed feet were blackened and the color of ebony.  The claws on the end of its three-fingered and one-thumbed hand matched in terms of absolute blackness.  The beast twirled a long pole in the air above its head so fast that the party did not immediately notice the voulge-guisarme end of the staff until the end shot towards Charis in the form of an attack.Fortunately, Charis was ready for the attack.  The metallic shaft of her pick blocked the first strike.  She prepared herself as the creature spun around and used the momentum of the spin to swipe once more before anyone could retaliate.  The hammer end of Charis’ pick met with the weapon midair and knocked it harmlessly to the side.  Ischarus leapt forward as the creature struck towards Charis.  As he did, the creature spun once more with the weapon and struck hard against the charging fighter.  This blow landed successfully and Ischarus winced in pain as a streak of dark blood appeared at his side.  Ischarus swung his blade in retaliation, but his strike was deflected away by the butt end of the creature’s weapon.Charis watched patiently as Ischarus approached the creature with great vigor.  She knew from Semeion’s warning that the creature was meant to challenge them and she knew that tactics would play an important role in their evaluation.  She moved into position so that she and Ischarus would attack from opposite sides and hopefully distract the creature.  Her pick stuck deep into the creature, but as she pulled the pointed end out of the creature’s body the wound seemed to almost completely heal on its own as she removed the weapon.Semeion saw the wound heal upon impact and knew that this was not a development in their favor.  Creatures that could heal weapon damage immediately after impact were often best brought down through pure magical effort.  “Rhema, we must show no mercy and give it a full onslaught.  Ischarus’ and Charis’ weapons have diminished effect!”  The young mage turned and snarled at the beast.  As he tried to cast a spell upon the creature he could feel the beast fighting in return.  In order to put up such a magical barrier it must have been formed from either magic or a type of other worldliness.  Semeion cried out in anger and the spell surged forward.  “Thin-tok!”  The typical blue energy flowed down his arm and collected upon his fingers before springing forward.  As had happened back at the villa, the missile was quickly followed by a second.  Both missiles struck the creature.Rhema watched as the creature’s weapon bit into Ischarus and she heard Semeion’s warning.  She only needed a minimal amount of prodding to unleash her full mental onslaught.  Her finger pointed in the general direction of the creature and she smiled.  Although no words left her mouth, the creature howled in severe pain as Rhema assaulted its mind.Ischarus and Semeion were now too close for the creature to use its staff with the voulge-guisarme end.  However, it could still use its claws.  The creature’s red eyes flared in intensity as it jammed the end of the rod onto the ground and used it as if it were a pole-vaulter’s stick.  The feet of the creature left the ground as its hands held onto the shaft of the weapon.  Each of the creature’s claws upon the scaly feet ripped towards Ischarus.  The left set of claws landed and Ischarus’ right shoulder was bloodied.Ischarus returned the strike with a blow of his own.  His sword sliced through the air with precision and landed a blow.  Although the creature’s wounds partially healed as Ischarus brought his sword back into a defensive position, damage had been done.  The fighter snarled as he noticed that the wizard, Ophee, and the guards were only watching this potentially lethal battle as interested observers.Charis again swung as Ischarus struck.  She had managed to use Ischarus’ attack as cover for her own and it worked.  Her blow landed solidly, although again the creature healed most of the damage from the blow immediately after Charis removed her weapon from the creature’s hide.Semeion tried to cast another spell while the creature was attacked by Ischarus and Charis, but this time his attack was defeated by the magical protection surrounding the red eyed creature.  The energy from the spell shot down his arm but refused to collect itself into a ball that could be thrown at the creature.  The wasted energy bounced to the ground like sparks from a smith’s anvil before vanishing into thin air.Rhema had better luck with her attack.  In spite of the creature’s ability to try and block her own magic, she was able to assault the creature with another mental attack.  Wordlessly her mind entered the thoughts of the creature and the beat howled again in pain.  Rhema’s face beat red with anger as she watched her husband’s defense be beaten down.The creature could not leave.  It had no choice but to stay and fight unless the wizard who summoned it desired to release it.  Again the creature attacked Ischarus with his claws, but this time Ischarus knew what to expect.  Ischarus dodged the assault from both claws and came through unharmed.  Unfortunately, because he had been focusing on preserving his own life he couldn’t afford much of an offensive strike, either.When the creature saw that Ischarus wasn’t putting up much of a fight at the moment, the beast turned and managed to get a hand on the shaft of Charis’ pick.  Her blow was knocked to the side before any damage could be done.  The shaft of the weapon was hot when Charis finally managed to wrestle the creature’s hands free.Again Semeion tried to beat the creature’s magical defenses, but again the magical energy faded from his hand like useless sparks.  Rhema was able to penetrate the creature’s mind once more, however.  She knew the creature was close to defeat from her last assault; and as she focused on the creature’s mind she clenched her fists tightly.  Her right palm began to bleed as her nails broke the surface of her skin.  The mental control she unleashed upon the creature was horrific and she knew that she had won.  The creature’s mind went blank and the beast vanished in a puff of black smoke.  All that remained was the stench of brimstone.  The smell attached itself to Ischarus’ and Charis’ clothing before wafting harmlessly into the air.  Semeion swallowed hard as he turned to look the wizard in the eye.  There was a deep emotional venom seething through his expression.[Sblock=Color-Free Speech Section]The net result of the conversation with the commander was that the foursome entered Eberdeen in silence while Ophee managed to make small talk with the city guards. The meeting seemed to have gone well enough, but the unexpected addition of the city guards as an escort was enough to put the adventurers on edge. Ophee didn’t seem altogether pleased with the development either, but she wasn’t about to let silence give her unease away.The party headed directly for the twin spires that rose out of the city. The towers of the wizard’s college reached up into the sky as if to defy the ultimate and irreversible power of gravity. Normal buildings couldn’t be constructed past a second or third usable floor without running the risk of collapsing upon itself. The twin peaks of the wizard’s college stretched this boundary by a full two dozen floors. They were as permanent of a monument to the ability of magic to defy logic as any across the land of Tongra.Only the bottom four floors of the twin towers were accessible by stairs. The rest of the towers were governed by the transportation abilities of the person desiring to ascend to higher levels. In a sense, the top twenty three stories were a hard reminder of the separation between those who were already masters of magic and those who were still mastered by the magic. The students who were still dependant upon both the physical world and stairs were prevented from joining in on the more advanced discussions of the upper level.The approaching group of horses slowed on the street outside the nearest spire. Ophee turned slightly to her companions and smiled with a sense of deep relief and enjoyment. “Now that we have officially arrived, I will ask all of you to stay outside the wizard’s college until I have alerted the one who has been arranged to do the examination.” Ophee turned to speak to Shaira. “If the two of you don’t mind waiting until the appropriate wizard has been notified, I would be greatly appreciative. I would hate for my long journey from Fingerdale to end tragically on the streets of Eberdeen. There can be no doubt that our overseer would be greatly displeased, too.”The female guard nodded in reply and turned to look at the four companions. They didn’t appear that they would be hard to guard. For the sake of security, Shaira nodded to Auxis and pointed. Her male counterpart drew the reigns of his horse over the left side of the horse’s neck and the trained beast slowly walked so that they were on the opposite side of the foursome as Shaira and her mount.Ophee slipped off of her mount and disappeared on foot into the wizard’s college. She was gone for about ten minutes before she returned. The party spent the time in complete silence. They didn’t want to say anything to jeopardize what fragile sense of camaraderie seemed to be occurring between Ophee, the guards, and the party.Ophee’s return was considerably more dramatic that her departure. The fact that she returned with one of the mages from the wizard’s college was not necessarily what made her return dramatic. It wasn’t even the fact that the wizard appeared in the full robes of his teaching office or the fact that he was carrying a gnarled staff made from the wood of the tall and broad leafed mahogany tree. What made Ophee’s return dramatic was the fact that the pair appeared out of thin air without any kind of warning at all. They had used teleportation magic to arrive.The group of six riders waiting outside the wizard’s college was taken completely by surprise with the sudden appearance of Ophee and the wizard. In an instant the guards, Ischarus, and Charis had their weapons drawn and had spun their horses to face the intruding pair. Fortunately they each recognized Ophee before they took any action.The wizard smiled and held out an outstretched hand. The staff stretched horizontally from the wizard’s hand as if to provide a simple defense from the steel weapons of the horsemen. “Do you plan on using those?” There was a distinct tone of amusement in his voice.Semeion cracked a smile as those who had drawn their weapons quickly stowed them. Of course it had been a rational reaction, but Semeion enjoyed a further demonstration of the power that magic had over the world. He longed for the day when he could hold a staff and be confident of his ability to be victorious against a mounted party coming against him.When the wizard had paused long enough to make it evident that nobody planned on speaking to him, he continued his discourse of directions. “I am the wizard that you seek. I have been planning on evaluating the abilities and testimony of the four.” He turned to the guards and spoke to them directly. “If you think it would please your commander at the guardhouse, you are welcome to observe a few of the tests so that you can be sure that what we say is true. I understand from my associate that there was some doubt to the validity of her story upon your arrival to Eberdeen.”Shaira nodded. “I believe my commander would appreciate knowing that the words were true.” Auxis allowed a serious look to pass over his face before nodding in agreement.The wizard smiled. “If you insist. To prove that I have nothing to hide, why do we not perform the first of the tests out here in the open where there can be no doubt? One of the tests suggested is geared to test their fighting prowess, and I am assuming we can trust the city guard to remain neutral knowing that a wizard from the wizard’s college has the situation under control?”The guards nodded and the wizard thumped the end of his staff hard against the ground before turning to the party. “Dismount and prepare yourselves for combat. You have as long as it takes for me to cast this spell to prepare for battle.”The party quickly dismounted and commanded their horses to a safe distance away. In an instant their weapons were out and they formed a tight defensive square with their backs to one another since they didn’t know what threat the wizard would throw against them. Semeion heard the wizard chanting and easily identified the spell being cast. “He’s summoning a creature, and a powerful one at that. Brace yourselves.”The wizard completed his gesturing and gave the final command word. “Daancrah Pashor Diast Pahl.” A scaly creature with claws for hands and feet suddenly popped into existence and cried in frenzy. “You have summoned me again? Feel my rage!”The creature only stood six feet tall, but its dark glowing red eyes which lacked pupils and green scaly skin made it clear that it was not native to the lands of Enigmatica – or anywhere in the known world for that matter. As the creature spoke it revealed its razor sharp teeth. The claws on its four-toed feet were blackened and the color of ebony. The claws on the end of its three-fingered and one-thumbed hand matched in terms of absolute blackness. The beast twirled a long pole in the air above its head so fast that the party did not immediately notice the voulge-guisarme end of the staff until the end shot towards Charis in the form of an attack.Fortunately, Charis was ready for the attack. The metallic shaft of her pick blocked the first strike. She prepared herself as the creature spun around and used the momentum of the spin to swipe once more before anyone could retaliate. The hammer end of Charis’ pick met with the weapon midair and knocked it harmlessly to the side. Ischarus leapt forward as the creature struck towards Charis. As he did, the creature spun once more with the weapon and struck hard against the charging fighter. This blow landed successfully and Ischarus winced in pain as a streak of dark blood appeared at his side. Ischarus swung his blade in retaliation, but his strike was deflected away by the butt end of the creature’s weapon.Charis watched patiently as Ischarus approached the creature with great vigor. She knew from Semeion’s warning that the creature was meant to challenge them and she knew that tactics would play an important role in their evaluation. She moved into position so that she and Ischarus would attack from opposite sides and hopefully distract the creature. Her pick stuck deep into the creature, but as she pulled the pointed end out of the creature’s body the wound seemed to almost completely heal on its own as she removed the weapon.Semeion saw the wound heal upon impact and knew that this was not a development in their favor. Creatures that could heal weapon damage immediately after impact were often best brought down through pure magical effort. “Rhema, we must show no mercy and give it a full onslaught. Ischarus’ and Charis’ weapons have diminished effect!” The young mage turned and snarled at the beast. As he tried to cast a spell upon the creature he could feel the beast fighting in return. In order to put up such a magical barrier it must have been formed from either magic or a type of other worldliness. Semeion cried out in anger and the spell surged forward. “Thin-tok!” The typical blue energy flowed down his arm and collected upon his fingers before springing forward. As had happened back at the villa, the missile was quickly followed by a second. Both missiles struck the creature.Rhema watched as the creature’s weapon bit into Ischarus and she heard Semeion’s warning. She only needed a minimal amount of prodding to unleash her full mental onslaught. Her finger pointed in the general direction of the creature and she smiled. Although no words left her mouth, the creature howled in severe pain as Rhema assaulted its mind.Ischarus and Semeion were now too close for the creature to use its staff with the voulge-guisarme end. However, it could still use its claws. The creature’s red eyes flared in intensity as it jammed the end of the rod onto the ground and used it as if it were a pole-vaulter’s stick. The feet of the creature left the ground as its hands held onto the shaft of the weapon. Each of the creature’s claws upon the scaly feet ripped towards Ischarus. The left set of claws landed and Ischarus’ right shoulder was bloodied.Ischarus returned the strike with a blow of his own. His sword sliced through the air with precision and landed a blow. Although the creature’s wounds partially healed as Ischarus brought his sword back into a defensive position, damage had been done. The fighter snarled as he noticed that the wizard, Ophee, and the guards were only watching this potentially lethal battle as interested observers.Charis again swung as Ischarus struck. She had managed to use Ischarus’ attack as cover for her own and it worked. Her blow landed solidly, although again the creature healed most of the damage from the blow immediately after Charis removed her weapon from the creature’s hide.Semeion tried to cast another spell while the creature was attacked by Ischarus and Charis, but this time his attack was defeated by the magical protection surrounding the red eyed creature. The energy from the spell shot down his arm but refused to collect itself into a ball that could be thrown at the creature. The wasted energy bounced to the ground like sparks from a smith’s anvil before vanishing into thin air.Rhema had better luck with her attack. In spite of the creature’s ability to try and block her own magic, she was able to assault the creature with another mental attack. Wordlessly her mind entered the thoughts of the creature and the beat howled again in pain. Rhema’s face beat red with anger as she watched her husband’s defense be beaten down.The creature could not leave. It had no choice but to stay and fight unless the wizard who summoned it desired to release it. Again the creature attacked Ischarus with his claws, but this time Ischarus knew what to expect. Ischarus dodged the assault from both claws and came through unharmed. Unfortunately, because he had been focusing on preserving his own life he couldn’t afford much of an offensive strike, either.When the creature saw that Ischarus wasn’t putting up much of a fight at the moment, the beast turned and managed to get a hand on the shaft of Charis’ pick. Her blow was knocked to the side before any damage could be done. The shaft of the weapon was hot when Charis finally managed to wrestle the creature’s hands free.Again Semeion tried to beat the creature’s magical defenses, but again the magical energy faded from his hand like useless sparks. Rhema was able to penetrate the creature’s mind once more, however. She knew the creature was close to defeat from her last assault; and as she focused on the creature’s mind she clenched her fists tightly. Her right palm began to bleed as her nails broke the surface of her skin. The mental control she unleashed upon the creature was horrific and she knew that she had won. The creature’s mind went blank and the beast vanished in a puff of black smoke. All that remained was the stench of brimstone. The smell attached itself to Ischarus’ and Charis’ clothing before wafting harmlessly into the air. Semeion swallowed hard as he turned to look the wizard in the eye. There was a deep emotional venom seething through his expression. [/Sblock]</blockquote>

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