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Into the Moral Darkness: (Now a Completed Story!)
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<blockquote data-quote="Nonlethal Force" data-source="post: 3588545" data-attributes="member: 35788"><p>In many cases, the party returned to Master Searthu’s office only moments after leaving. The meetings that resulted in individual battles took the least amount of time. Semeion, Ischarus, and Brandt returned to the office first. Fortunately, Master Searthu had arranged for a significant number of acolytes and even a few city guards to be waiting for the party’s return.</p><p></p><p>Semeion returned first, and Master Searthu had heard Semeion’s warning after his battle with Barra in the town of Classo. The guards and acolytes were ready to handle the large woman well before Semeion’s magical hypnotic trance wore off. Barra was able to be taken into custody and transported to a holding cell in the city jail without much use of force.</p><p></p><p>The same was true of Jerome. By the time Brandt had finished with the most formidable of the wizard’s servants, there was little remaining of his mind. As Brandt and Jerome returned, the acolytes and the city guard were faced with handling a man who barely had the mental prowess to regulate his own body functions. However, this didn’t stop Brandt from offering up a few words of caution to the acolytes and the guards. <span style="color: Lime">“Be extra careful with Jerome, for a couple of reasons. First of all, his mind has been made so feeble that he really is a danger to himself. Until the spell wears off, I would recommend making sure that you are diligent about keeping him safe. However, make sure that he gets into a magically warded cell as soon as possible. Because once the spell does wear off, he’ll be quite a terror in the jail without prevention of his arcane powers.”</span></p><p></p><p>Unlike the others who returned at the very least conscious, Darr returned with Ischarus as a comatose lump on the floor. Ischarus had been forced to push Darr’s body to the brink of death so that he could be transported. Upon their return to Fingerdale, the remaining city guard made sure that he was secure before allowing the temple acolytes access to revive him. Once he was healed enough that his body no longer felt imminent danger, Darr regained consciousness and became even more hostile than when he had been confronted by Ischarus. The city guard had to forcibly get him to his feet and transport him out of the temple to the city jail.</p><p></p><p>Returning with the wizard’s three servants who had been more receptive to the party’s mission took a considerable amount of time more than the servants who had simply desired a contest of power. Charis was the first to return with one of these three largely because her experience with Haroth had begun as a contest of might and only ended by coming to terms. Semeion was pleased to see her return so quickly.</p><p></p><p>Haroth was greeted by Master Searthu as he and Charis returned. <span style="color: Lime">“Welcome to Fingerdale, Haroth. You’ve chosen to lay down your weapons and come peacefully. So long as you honor that decision no harm will come to you here. A few of my acolytes would like to take you to an examination room, where they will discover if the Arum Dracunculus has been used on you for brainwashing. Once the examination has been completed, they will heal any wounds that remain from your conflict with Charis.”</span></p><p></p><p>Haroth looked upon the agreement with a certain amount of displeasure. He hadn’t been fully convinced that what Charis had told him was true, but he was certainly in no position to argue and offer up resistance. He left the room with several well armed acolytes and headed towards an examination room.</p><p></p><p>Rhema was the next to return, leaving Ophee as last. Master Searthu gave the same greeting to Ehre that he had offered to Haroth. Ehre looked as though she were above the need for any kind of examination, but when several acolytes approached her she realized that it wasn’t so much of a choice as a compulsion. She did have a choice, but not the one she thought a person of her position should be offered. She desired to not be examined. Her choice was whether she would be examined honorably in the temple or as a prisoner in the city jail. Quickly recognizing her options, Ehre capitulated without argument and chose to be examined in the temple.</p><p></p><p>Like Semeion before him, Ischarus greeted his wife with a giant hug. Rhema returned the embrace, but showed much more concern for Ischarus’ wounds. <span style="color: PaleGreen">“You’ve been hurt, Ischarus!”</span></p><p></p><p>Ischarus nodded, but brushed off the comment. <span style="color: LightBlue">“I’ve had worse. Darr wasn’t too much of a difficulty once I made him mad. He quickly moved from being a good tactician to simply being a brute. Once he became a brute, he was easy to defeat.”</span> Rhema decided to say nothing more about the injuries. Instead, she simply returned his embrace and held onto him for several seconds.</p><p></p><p>Ophee took the longest time before signaling to Master Searthu that she and Eliah were truly ready to be transported back to Fingerdale. She had tried to move Eliah to a cooperative stance as quickly as possible for fear that the wizard in Eberdeen would begin to catch on to the party’s collective assaults on his servants. She understood that she needed the safety of the Temple of Reah to shield herself and Eliah from the wizard’s ability to seek them out. However, Eliah asked so many questions that she ended up staying with Eliah in Partuss far longer than she desired.</p><p></p><p>With each passing moment after the rest of the party had returned safely and their marks had been dealt with, Master Searthu and Master Brandt watched the arcane sight through the crystal ball that had been attuned to Eliah. They watched for any sign that Ophee and Eliah might be in trouble. Fortunately, there was no indication that the wizard in Eberdeen had become aware of the party’s efforts and soon enough Ophee and Eliah were returned to Fignerdale by Master Searthu’s magic. Upon their return, Eliah was escorted to an examination room to determine if the Arum Dracunculus had been used on him as well.</p><p></p><p>Once they were inside the temple, Master Searthu dismissed his arcane spying spells. The crystal balls each lost their image and faded into the picture of a swirling cloud. The crystal balls looked as though each of them were filled with smoke as Master Searthu picked them up from the ground. </p><p></p><p>Semeion was eager to follow behind him and collect the heavy black iron stands upon which the crystal balls had rested. He marveled at the intricate carving along the each of the legs and supports of the stands. He had a deep appreciation for the symbolic imagery and care for the arcane that Master Searthu demonstrated.</p><p></p><p>All of the stands had three legs, but some of the stands came together in the center before separating once more to provide prongs to support the crystal ball. Each of these stands where carved to look like a hydra. The legs of the iron stand were carved to look like the legs of the hydra. The place where the legs came together was the hydra’s thick body. Finally, the prongs separating from the body in order to hold the ball were carved into the shape of the various heads of the hydra. Thus, the crystal ball seemed to rest upon the back of each of the hydra’s skulls.</p><p></p><p>Regarding the stands that did not come together in the center, these were designed so that the three legs actually rose straight into the air and became the supports for the crystal ball. Each leg was carved to look like a gargoyle that was facing outward and supporting the weight of the ball upon its back between its shoulders. The legs of the stand were connected together by iron that had been carved to look as though the wings of each gargoyle were spread out and touching the tips of the other two gargoyles’ wings.</p><p></p><p>Once the crystals had been collected, Master Searthu invited the party, Ophee, and Brandt to sit down so that they could plan the next stage of their quest against the wizard of Eberdeen. Master Searthu’s office contained little furniture, so the group ended up sitting upon the plush carpet where Master Searthu had first placed the iron stands for the crystal balls. By the thickness of the carpet, it was clear that Master Searthu had this carpet placed in his room to encourage sitting and meditation.</p><p></p><p>Brandt waited until everyone was seated before speaking. <span style="color: Lime">“I think we should move against the wizard of Eberdeen before our advantage has been lost.”</span></p><p></p><p>Most of the party nodded in agreement, but Semeion shook his head from side to side. <span style="color: Plum">“The wizard in Eberdeen has not been challenged today, and he is likely at a full state of preparedness. Unless we strike at this very moment, he will likely have time to prepare himself for a strike which he can only assume will come quickly. That window of opportunity is closing quickly. We’d only have about an hour to act after he discovers that his servants have gone missing. If we take longer than an hour, he’ll have time to prepare for our coming.”</span></p><p></p><p>Ischarus turned to Charis and grinned. Her expression matched his own thoughts. <span style="color: LightBlue">“Well, then let’s go get him.”</span></p><p></p><p>Rhema held up a cautious hand. <span style="color: PaleGreen">“Wait a minute. We can’t go in there without some kind of plan.”</span></p><p></p><p>Semeion nodded in agreement. <span style="color: Plum">“Besides, much of my magic is already spent. I can feel the drain on my body already. If we leave now, I’ll be all but useless.”</span></p><p></p><p>Brandt chuckled at Semeion’s assertion. <span style="color: Lime">“That’s one of the reasons why I enjoy worshipping a goddess and studying the arcane arts. It gives me a sense of being able to have the best of both worlds.”</span></p><p></p><p>Charis looked to Brandt with admiration regarding his assertion. <span style="color: Orange">“And a good bit of versatility, I’d imagine.”</span></p><p></p><p>Master Searthu spoke for the first time since inviting the group to sit upon his carpet. <span style="color: Lime">“Well, I did a bit of research while I was preparing for this moment. The wizard’s college is warded against long range teleportation. Only a person who is faculty at the wizard’s college can use a long range teleportation spell to gain access to the higher levels. But, I believe there is a way that we can gain access if we use a short range teleport. You see, the wizard’s college assumes that they’ll be able to deal with any threat that walks through its front door. All we need to do is get inside the building and I think we can teleport anywhere we’d like.”</span></p><p></p><p>Rhema nodded along as Master Searthu spoke. <span style="color: PaleGreen">“So, we teleport to the surrounding area and walk in the front door. That shouldn’t be too much of a difficult task, surely.”</span></p><p></p><p>Semeion again shook his head in disapproval. <span style="color: Plum">“The only problem is that there is only one person here who has even been in to see the wizard’s office. In order for us to be able to use teleportation magic and guarantee that we arrive precisely where we want to be, we must have visited the place so that we can give specific parameters to the spell. Otherwise, some kind of grave mishap might occur.”</span></p><p></p><p>Brandt agreed with Semeion. <span style="color: Lime">“Or, as the best case scenario we spend too much time teleporting to precisely the right place that someone in the wizard’s college picks up on our presence before we can get to the wizard that we seek.”</span></p><p></p><p>Charis spoke next. She offered up what she hoped would be a solution. <span style="color: Orange">“So, we give one of these rings to Ophee. She can use the ring from inside the wizard’s college to teleport outside her old master’s office. If she is holding onto Brandt of Master Searthu, then they could teleport back and pick up the rest of us.”</span></p><p></p><p>Master Searthu nodded slowly. <span style="color: Lime">“That’s still a fair amount of time involved, and a fair amount of spell casting. However, I have an alteration that I think might just work. If I cast a magical spying sensor on Ophee and have her teleport, the sensor will find her in a second or two at the most at that short of a distance. If I tie that sensor to a crystal ball, we can use the rings like before and teleport directly to where we want to go. All that would matter is that I hold onto the crystal ball and make sure you all use the rings to teleport first.”</span></p><p></p><p>Brandt nodded firmly. <span style="color: Lime">“That plan will work. Can we be ready within the hour? I think Semeion is right in that if we let the wizard in Eberdeen have more than an hour then we might as well wait until a new day has come and we are all fresh. But if we can leave within the hour, we might be able to catch him off-guard.”</span></p><p></p><p>Everyone nodded except Semeion. <span style="color: Plum">“As I said, my magic is all but spent. I’ll be of little use to you.”</span></p><p></p><p>Brandt smirked at Semeion’s comment. <span style="color: Lime">“No, I do believe that in the end you’ll prove to be quite useful. Trust me.”</span></p><p></p><p>[Sblock=Color-Free Speech Section]</p><p>In many cases, the party returned to Master Searthu’s office only moments after leaving. The meetings that resulted in individual battles took the least amount of time. Semeion, Ischarus, and Brandt returned to the office first. Fortunately, Master Searthu had arranged for a significant number of acolytes and even a few city guards to be waiting for the party’s return.</p><p></p><p>Semeion returned first, and Master Searthu had heard Semeion’s warning after his battle with Barra in the town of Classo. The guards and acolytes were ready to handle the large woman well before Semeion’s magical hypnotic trance wore off. Barra was able to be taken into custody and transported to a holding cell in the city jail without much use of force.</p><p></p><p>The same was true of Jerome. By the time Brandt had finished with the most formidable of the wizard’s servants, there was little remaining of his mind. As Brandt and Jerome returned, the acolytes and the city guard were faced with handling a man who barely had the mental prowess to regulate his own body functions. However, this didn’t stop Brandt from offering up a few words of caution to the acolytes and the guards. “Be extra careful with Jerome, for a couple of reasons. First of all, his mind has been made so feeble that he really is a danger to himself. Until the spell wears off, I would recommend making sure that you are diligent about keeping him safe. However, make sure that he gets into a magically warded cell as soon as possible. Because once the spell does wear off, he’ll be quite a terror in the jail without prevention of his arcane powers.”</p><p></p><p>Unlike the others who returned at the very least conscious, Darr returned with Ischarus as a comatose lump on the floor. Ischarus had been forced to push Darr’s body to the brink of death so that he could be transported. Upon their return to Fingerdale, the remaining city guard made sure that he was secure before allowing the temple acolytes access to revive him. Once he was healed enough that his body no longer felt imminent danger, Darr regained consciousness and became even more hostile than when he had been confronted by Ischarus. The city guard had to forcibly get him to his feet and transport him out of the temple to the city jail.</p><p></p><p>Returning with the wizard’s three servants who had been more receptive to the party’s mission took a considerable amount of time more than the servants who had simply desired a contest of power. Charis was the first to return with one of these three largely because her experience with Haroth had begun as a contest of might and only ended by coming to terms. Semeion was pleased to see her return so quickly.</p><p></p><p>Haroth was greeted by Master Searthu as he and Charis returned. “Welcome to Fingerdale, Haroth. You’ve chosen to lay down your weapons and come peacefully. So long as you honor that decision no harm will come to you here. A few of my acolytes would like to take you to an examination room, where they will discover if the Arum Dracunculus has been used on you for brainwashing. Once the examination has been completed, they will heal any wounds that remain from your conflict with Charis.”</p><p></p><p>Haroth looked upon the agreement with a certain amount of displeasure. He hadn’t been fully convinced that what Charis had told him was true, but he was certainly in no position to argue and offer up resistance. He left the room with several well armed acolytes and headed towards an examination room.</p><p></p><p>Rhema was the next to return, leaving Ophee as last. Master Searthu gave the same greeting to Ehre that he had offered to Haroth. Ehre looked as though she were above the need for any kind of examination, but when several acolytes approached her she realized that it wasn’t so much of a choice as a compulsion. She did have a choice, but not the one she thought a person of her position should be offered. She desired to not be examined. Her choice was whether she would be examined honorably in the temple or as a prisoner in the city jail. Quickly recognizing her options, Ehre capitulated without argument and chose to be examined in the temple.</p><p></p><p>Like Semeion before him, Ischarus greeted his wife with a giant hug. Rhema returned the embrace, but showed much more concern for Ischarus’ wounds. “You’ve been hurt, Ischarus!”</p><p></p><p>Ischarus nodded, but brushed off the comment. “I’ve had worse. Darr wasn’t too much of a difficulty once I made him mad. He quickly moved from being a good tactician to simply being a brute. Once he became a brute, he was easy to defeat.” Rhema decided to say nothing more about the injuries. Instead, she simply returned his embrace and held onto him for several seconds.</p><p></p><p>Ophee took the longest time before signaling to Master Searthu that she and Eliah were truly ready to be transported back to Fingerdale. She had tried to move Eliah to a cooperative stance as quickly as possible for fear that the wizard in Eberdeen would begin to catch on to the party’s collective assaults on his servants. She understood that she needed the safety of the Temple of Reah to shield herself and Eliah from the wizard’s ability to seek them out. However, Eliah asked so many questions that she ended up staying with Eliah in Partuss far longer than she desired.</p><p></p><p>With each passing moment after the rest of the party had returned safely and their marks had been dealt with, Master Searthu and Master Brandt watched the arcane sight through the crystal ball that had been attuned to Eliah. They watched for any sign that Ophee and Eliah might be in trouble. Fortunately, there was no indication that the wizard in Eberdeen had become aware of the party’s efforts and soon enough Ophee and Eliah were returned to Fignerdale by Master Searthu’s magic. Upon their return, Eliah was escorted to an examination room to determine if the Arum Dracunculus had been used on him as well.</p><p></p><p>Once they were inside the temple, Master Searthu dismissed his arcane spying spells. The crystal balls each lost their image and faded into the picture of a swirling cloud. The crystal balls looked as though each of them were filled with smoke as Master Searthu picked them up from the ground. </p><p></p><p>Semeion was eager to follow behind him and collect the heavy black iron stands upon which the crystal balls had rested. He marveled at the intricate carving along the each of the legs and supports of the stands. He had a deep appreciation for the symbolic imagery and care for the arcane that Master Searthu demonstrated.</p><p></p><p>All of the stands had three legs, but some of the stands came together in the center before separating once more to provide prongs to support the crystal ball. Each of these stands where carved to look like a hydra. The legs of the iron stand were carved to look like the legs of the hydra. The place where the legs came together was the hydra’s thick body. Finally, the prongs separating from the body in order to hold the ball were carved into the shape of the various heads of the hydra. Thus, the crystal ball seemed to rest upon the back of each of the hydra’s skulls.</p><p></p><p>Regarding the stands that did not come together in the center, these were designed so that the three legs actually rose straight into the air and became the supports for the crystal ball. Each leg was carved to look like a gargoyle that was facing outward and supporting the weight of the ball upon its back between its shoulders. The legs of the stand were connected together by iron that had been carved to look as though the wings of each gargoyle were spread out and touching the tips of the other two gargoyles’ wings.</p><p></p><p>Once the crystals had been collected, Master Searthu invited the party, Ophee, and Brandt to sit down so that they could plan the next stage of their quest against the wizard of Eberdeen. Master Searthu’s office contained little furniture, so the group ended up sitting upon the plush carpet where Master Searthu had first placed the iron stands for the crystal balls. By the thickness of the carpet, it was clear that Master Searthu had this carpet placed in his room to encourage sitting and meditation.</p><p></p><p>Brandt waited until everyone was seated before speaking. “I think we should move against the wizard of Eberdeen before our advantage has been lost.”</p><p></p><p>Most of the party nodded in agreement, but Semeion shook his head from side to side. “The wizard in Eberdeen has not been challenged today, and he is likely at a full state of preparedness. Unless we strike at this very moment, he will likely have time to prepare himself for a strike which he can only assume will come quickly. That window of opportunity is closing quickly. We’d only have about an hour to act after he discovers that his servants have gone missing. If we take longer than an hour, he’ll have time to prepare for our coming.”</p><p></p><p>Ischarus turned to Charis and grinned. Her expression matched his own thoughts. “Well, then let’s go get him.”</p><p></p><p>Rhema held up a cautious hand. “Wait a minute. We can’t go in there without some kind of plan.”</p><p></p><p>Semeion nodded in agreement. “Besides, much of my magic is already spent. I can feel the drain on my body already. If we leave now, I’ll be all but useless.”</p><p></p><p>Brandt chuckled at Semeion’s assertion. “That’s one of the reasons why I enjoy worshipping a goddess and studying the arcane arts. It gives me a sense of being able to have the best of both worlds.”</p><p></p><p>Charis looked to Brandt with admiration regarding his assertion. “And a good bit of versatility, I’d imagine.”</p><p></p><p>Master Searthu spoke for the first time since inviting the group to sit upon his carpet. “Well, I did a bit of research while I was preparing for this moment. The wizard’s college is warded against long range teleportation. Only a person who is faculty at the wizard’s college can use a long range teleportation spell to gain access to the higher levels. But, I believe there is a way that we can gain access if we use a short range teleport. You see, the wizard’s college assumes that they’ll be able to deal with any threat that walks through its front door. All we need to do is get inside the building and I think we can teleport anywhere we’d like.”</p><p></p><p>Rhema nodded along as Master Searthu spoke. “So, we teleport to the surrounding area and walk in the front door. That shouldn’t be too much of a difficult task, surely.”</p><p></p><p>Semeion again shook his head in disapproval. “The only problem is that there is only one person here who has even been in to see the wizard’s office. In order for us to be able to use teleportation magic and guarantee that we arrive precisely where we want to be, we must have visited the place so that we can give specific parameters to the spell. Otherwise, some kind of grave mishap might occur.”</p><p></p><p>Brandt agreed with Semeion. “Or, as the best case scenario we spend too much time teleporting to precisely the right place that someone in the wizard’s college picks up on our presence before we can get to the wizard that we seek.”</p><p></p><p>Charis spoke next. She offered up what she hoped would be a solution. “So, we give one of these rings to Ophee. She can use the ring from inside the wizard’s college to teleport outside her old master’s office. If she is holding onto Brandt of Master Searthu, then they could teleport back and pick up the rest of us.”</p><p></p><p>Master Searthu nodded slowly. “That’s still a fair amount of time involved, and a fair amount of spell casting. However, I have an alteration that I think might just work. If I cast a magical spying sensor on Ophee and have her teleport, the sensor will find her in a second or two at the most at that short of a distance. If I tie that sensor to a crystal ball, we can use the rings like before and teleport directly to where we want to go. All that would matter is that I hold onto the crystal ball and make sure you all use the rings to teleport first.”</p><p></p><p>Brandt nodded firmly. “That plan will work. Can we be ready within the hour? I think Semeion is right in that if we let the wizard in Eberdeen have more than an hour then we might as well wait until a new day has come and we are all fresh. But if we can leave within the hour, we might be able to catch him off-guard.”</p><p></p><p>Everyone nodded except Semeion. “As I said, my magic is all but spent. I’ll be of little use to you.”</p><p></p><p>Brandt smirked at Semeion’s comment. “No, I do believe that in the end you’ll prove to be quite useful. Trust me.”</p><p>[/Sblock]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Nonlethal Force, post: 3588545, member: 35788"] In many cases, the party returned to Master Searthu’s office only moments after leaving. The meetings that resulted in individual battles took the least amount of time. Semeion, Ischarus, and Brandt returned to the office first. Fortunately, Master Searthu had arranged for a significant number of acolytes and even a few city guards to be waiting for the party’s return. Semeion returned first, and Master Searthu had heard Semeion’s warning after his battle with Barra in the town of Classo. The guards and acolytes were ready to handle the large woman well before Semeion’s magical hypnotic trance wore off. Barra was able to be taken into custody and transported to a holding cell in the city jail without much use of force. The same was true of Jerome. By the time Brandt had finished with the most formidable of the wizard’s servants, there was little remaining of his mind. As Brandt and Jerome returned, the acolytes and the city guard were faced with handling a man who barely had the mental prowess to regulate his own body functions. However, this didn’t stop Brandt from offering up a few words of caution to the acolytes and the guards. [Color=Lime]“Be extra careful with Jerome, for a couple of reasons. First of all, his mind has been made so feeble that he really is a danger to himself. Until the spell wears off, I would recommend making sure that you are diligent about keeping him safe. However, make sure that he gets into a magically warded cell as soon as possible. Because once the spell does wear off, he’ll be quite a terror in the jail without prevention of his arcane powers.”[/Color] Unlike the others who returned at the very least conscious, Darr returned with Ischarus as a comatose lump on the floor. Ischarus had been forced to push Darr’s body to the brink of death so that he could be transported. Upon their return to Fingerdale, the remaining city guard made sure that he was secure before allowing the temple acolytes access to revive him. Once he was healed enough that his body no longer felt imminent danger, Darr regained consciousness and became even more hostile than when he had been confronted by Ischarus. The city guard had to forcibly get him to his feet and transport him out of the temple to the city jail. Returning with the wizard’s three servants who had been more receptive to the party’s mission took a considerable amount of time more than the servants who had simply desired a contest of power. Charis was the first to return with one of these three largely because her experience with Haroth had begun as a contest of might and only ended by coming to terms. Semeion was pleased to see her return so quickly. Haroth was greeted by Master Searthu as he and Charis returned. [Color=Lime]“Welcome to Fingerdale, Haroth. You’ve chosen to lay down your weapons and come peacefully. So long as you honor that decision no harm will come to you here. A few of my acolytes would like to take you to an examination room, where they will discover if the Arum Dracunculus has been used on you for brainwashing. Once the examination has been completed, they will heal any wounds that remain from your conflict with Charis.”[/Color] Haroth looked upon the agreement with a certain amount of displeasure. He hadn’t been fully convinced that what Charis had told him was true, but he was certainly in no position to argue and offer up resistance. He left the room with several well armed acolytes and headed towards an examination room. Rhema was the next to return, leaving Ophee as last. Master Searthu gave the same greeting to Ehre that he had offered to Haroth. Ehre looked as though she were above the need for any kind of examination, but when several acolytes approached her she realized that it wasn’t so much of a choice as a compulsion. She did have a choice, but not the one she thought a person of her position should be offered. She desired to not be examined. Her choice was whether she would be examined honorably in the temple or as a prisoner in the city jail. Quickly recognizing her options, Ehre capitulated without argument and chose to be examined in the temple. Like Semeion before him, Ischarus greeted his wife with a giant hug. Rhema returned the embrace, but showed much more concern for Ischarus’ wounds. [Color=PaleGreen]“You’ve been hurt, Ischarus!”[/Color] Ischarus nodded, but brushed off the comment. [Color=LightBlue]“I’ve had worse. Darr wasn’t too much of a difficulty once I made him mad. He quickly moved from being a good tactician to simply being a brute. Once he became a brute, he was easy to defeat.”[/Color] Rhema decided to say nothing more about the injuries. Instead, she simply returned his embrace and held onto him for several seconds. Ophee took the longest time before signaling to Master Searthu that she and Eliah were truly ready to be transported back to Fingerdale. She had tried to move Eliah to a cooperative stance as quickly as possible for fear that the wizard in Eberdeen would begin to catch on to the party’s collective assaults on his servants. She understood that she needed the safety of the Temple of Reah to shield herself and Eliah from the wizard’s ability to seek them out. However, Eliah asked so many questions that she ended up staying with Eliah in Partuss far longer than she desired. With each passing moment after the rest of the party had returned safely and their marks had been dealt with, Master Searthu and Master Brandt watched the arcane sight through the crystal ball that had been attuned to Eliah. They watched for any sign that Ophee and Eliah might be in trouble. Fortunately, there was no indication that the wizard in Eberdeen had become aware of the party’s efforts and soon enough Ophee and Eliah were returned to Fignerdale by Master Searthu’s magic. Upon their return, Eliah was escorted to an examination room to determine if the Arum Dracunculus had been used on him as well. Once they were inside the temple, Master Searthu dismissed his arcane spying spells. The crystal balls each lost their image and faded into the picture of a swirling cloud. The crystal balls looked as though each of them were filled with smoke as Master Searthu picked them up from the ground. Semeion was eager to follow behind him and collect the heavy black iron stands upon which the crystal balls had rested. He marveled at the intricate carving along the each of the legs and supports of the stands. He had a deep appreciation for the symbolic imagery and care for the arcane that Master Searthu demonstrated. All of the stands had three legs, but some of the stands came together in the center before separating once more to provide prongs to support the crystal ball. Each of these stands where carved to look like a hydra. The legs of the iron stand were carved to look like the legs of the hydra. The place where the legs came together was the hydra’s thick body. Finally, the prongs separating from the body in order to hold the ball were carved into the shape of the various heads of the hydra. Thus, the crystal ball seemed to rest upon the back of each of the hydra’s skulls. Regarding the stands that did not come together in the center, these were designed so that the three legs actually rose straight into the air and became the supports for the crystal ball. Each leg was carved to look like a gargoyle that was facing outward and supporting the weight of the ball upon its back between its shoulders. The legs of the stand were connected together by iron that had been carved to look as though the wings of each gargoyle were spread out and touching the tips of the other two gargoyles’ wings. Once the crystals had been collected, Master Searthu invited the party, Ophee, and Brandt to sit down so that they could plan the next stage of their quest against the wizard of Eberdeen. Master Searthu’s office contained little furniture, so the group ended up sitting upon the plush carpet where Master Searthu had first placed the iron stands for the crystal balls. By the thickness of the carpet, it was clear that Master Searthu had this carpet placed in his room to encourage sitting and meditation. Brandt waited until everyone was seated before speaking. [Color=Lime]“I think we should move against the wizard of Eberdeen before our advantage has been lost.”[/Color] Most of the party nodded in agreement, but Semeion shook his head from side to side. [Color=Plum]“The wizard in Eberdeen has not been challenged today, and he is likely at a full state of preparedness. Unless we strike at this very moment, he will likely have time to prepare himself for a strike which he can only assume will come quickly. That window of opportunity is closing quickly. We’d only have about an hour to act after he discovers that his servants have gone missing. If we take longer than an hour, he’ll have time to prepare for our coming.”[/Color] Ischarus turned to Charis and grinned. Her expression matched his own thoughts. [Color=LightBlue]“Well, then let’s go get him.”[/Color] Rhema held up a cautious hand. [Color=PaleGreen]“Wait a minute. We can’t go in there without some kind of plan.”[/Color] Semeion nodded in agreement. [Color=Plum]“Besides, much of my magic is already spent. I can feel the drain on my body already. If we leave now, I’ll be all but useless.”[/Color] Brandt chuckled at Semeion’s assertion. [Color=Lime]“That’s one of the reasons why I enjoy worshipping a goddess and studying the arcane arts. It gives me a sense of being able to have the best of both worlds.”[/Color] Charis looked to Brandt with admiration regarding his assertion. [Color=Orange]“And a good bit of versatility, I’d imagine.”[/Color] Master Searthu spoke for the first time since inviting the group to sit upon his carpet. [Color=Lime]“Well, I did a bit of research while I was preparing for this moment. The wizard’s college is warded against long range teleportation. Only a person who is faculty at the wizard’s college can use a long range teleportation spell to gain access to the higher levels. But, I believe there is a way that we can gain access if we use a short range teleport. You see, the wizard’s college assumes that they’ll be able to deal with any threat that walks through its front door. All we need to do is get inside the building and I think we can teleport anywhere we’d like.”[/Color] Rhema nodded along as Master Searthu spoke. [Color=PaleGreen]“So, we teleport to the surrounding area and walk in the front door. That shouldn’t be too much of a difficult task, surely.”[/Color] Semeion again shook his head in disapproval. [Color=Plum]“The only problem is that there is only one person here who has even been in to see the wizard’s office. In order for us to be able to use teleportation magic and guarantee that we arrive precisely where we want to be, we must have visited the place so that we can give specific parameters to the spell. Otherwise, some kind of grave mishap might occur.”[/Color] Brandt agreed with Semeion. [Color=Lime]“Or, as the best case scenario we spend too much time teleporting to precisely the right place that someone in the wizard’s college picks up on our presence before we can get to the wizard that we seek.”[/Color] Charis spoke next. She offered up what she hoped would be a solution. [Color=Orange]“So, we give one of these rings to Ophee. She can use the ring from inside the wizard’s college to teleport outside her old master’s office. If she is holding onto Brandt of Master Searthu, then they could teleport back and pick up the rest of us.”[/Color] Master Searthu nodded slowly. [Color=Lime]“That’s still a fair amount of time involved, and a fair amount of spell casting. However, I have an alteration that I think might just work. If I cast a magical spying sensor on Ophee and have her teleport, the sensor will find her in a second or two at the most at that short of a distance. If I tie that sensor to a crystal ball, we can use the rings like before and teleport directly to where we want to go. All that would matter is that I hold onto the crystal ball and make sure you all use the rings to teleport first.”[/Color] Brandt nodded firmly. [Color=Lime]“That plan will work. Can we be ready within the hour? I think Semeion is right in that if we let the wizard in Eberdeen have more than an hour then we might as well wait until a new day has come and we are all fresh. But if we can leave within the hour, we might be able to catch him off-guard.”[/Color] Everyone nodded except Semeion. [Color=Plum]“As I said, my magic is all but spent. I’ll be of little use to you.”[/Color] Brandt smirked at Semeion’s comment. [Color=Lime]“No, I do believe that in the end you’ll prove to be quite useful. Trust me.”[/Color] [Sblock=Color-Free Speech Section] In many cases, the party returned to Master Searthu’s office only moments after leaving. The meetings that resulted in individual battles took the least amount of time. Semeion, Ischarus, and Brandt returned to the office first. Fortunately, Master Searthu had arranged for a significant number of acolytes and even a few city guards to be waiting for the party’s return. Semeion returned first, and Master Searthu had heard Semeion’s warning after his battle with Barra in the town of Classo. The guards and acolytes were ready to handle the large woman well before Semeion’s magical hypnotic trance wore off. Barra was able to be taken into custody and transported to a holding cell in the city jail without much use of force. The same was true of Jerome. By the time Brandt had finished with the most formidable of the wizard’s servants, there was little remaining of his mind. As Brandt and Jerome returned, the acolytes and the city guard were faced with handling a man who barely had the mental prowess to regulate his own body functions. However, this didn’t stop Brandt from offering up a few words of caution to the acolytes and the guards. “Be extra careful with Jerome, for a couple of reasons. First of all, his mind has been made so feeble that he really is a danger to himself. Until the spell wears off, I would recommend making sure that you are diligent about keeping him safe. However, make sure that he gets into a magically warded cell as soon as possible. Because once the spell does wear off, he’ll be quite a terror in the jail without prevention of his arcane powers.” Unlike the others who returned at the very least conscious, Darr returned with Ischarus as a comatose lump on the floor. Ischarus had been forced to push Darr’s body to the brink of death so that he could be transported. Upon their return to Fingerdale, the remaining city guard made sure that he was secure before allowing the temple acolytes access to revive him. Once he was healed enough that his body no longer felt imminent danger, Darr regained consciousness and became even more hostile than when he had been confronted by Ischarus. The city guard had to forcibly get him to his feet and transport him out of the temple to the city jail. Returning with the wizard’s three servants who had been more receptive to the party’s mission took a considerable amount of time more than the servants who had simply desired a contest of power. Charis was the first to return with one of these three largely because her experience with Haroth had begun as a contest of might and only ended by coming to terms. Semeion was pleased to see her return so quickly. Haroth was greeted by Master Searthu as he and Charis returned. “Welcome to Fingerdale, Haroth. You’ve chosen to lay down your weapons and come peacefully. So long as you honor that decision no harm will come to you here. A few of my acolytes would like to take you to an examination room, where they will discover if the Arum Dracunculus has been used on you for brainwashing. Once the examination has been completed, they will heal any wounds that remain from your conflict with Charis.” Haroth looked upon the agreement with a certain amount of displeasure. He hadn’t been fully convinced that what Charis had told him was true, but he was certainly in no position to argue and offer up resistance. He left the room with several well armed acolytes and headed towards an examination room. Rhema was the next to return, leaving Ophee as last. Master Searthu gave the same greeting to Ehre that he had offered to Haroth. Ehre looked as though she were above the need for any kind of examination, but when several acolytes approached her she realized that it wasn’t so much of a choice as a compulsion. She did have a choice, but not the one she thought a person of her position should be offered. She desired to not be examined. Her choice was whether she would be examined honorably in the temple or as a prisoner in the city jail. Quickly recognizing her options, Ehre capitulated without argument and chose to be examined in the temple. Like Semeion before him, Ischarus greeted his wife with a giant hug. Rhema returned the embrace, but showed much more concern for Ischarus’ wounds. “You’ve been hurt, Ischarus!” Ischarus nodded, but brushed off the comment. “I’ve had worse. Darr wasn’t too much of a difficulty once I made him mad. He quickly moved from being a good tactician to simply being a brute. Once he became a brute, he was easy to defeat.” Rhema decided to say nothing more about the injuries. Instead, she simply returned his embrace and held onto him for several seconds. Ophee took the longest time before signaling to Master Searthu that she and Eliah were truly ready to be transported back to Fingerdale. She had tried to move Eliah to a cooperative stance as quickly as possible for fear that the wizard in Eberdeen would begin to catch on to the party’s collective assaults on his servants. She understood that she needed the safety of the Temple of Reah to shield herself and Eliah from the wizard’s ability to seek them out. However, Eliah asked so many questions that she ended up staying with Eliah in Partuss far longer than she desired. With each passing moment after the rest of the party had returned safely and their marks had been dealt with, Master Searthu and Master Brandt watched the arcane sight through the crystal ball that had been attuned to Eliah. They watched for any sign that Ophee and Eliah might be in trouble. Fortunately, there was no indication that the wizard in Eberdeen had become aware of the party’s efforts and soon enough Ophee and Eliah were returned to Fignerdale by Master Searthu’s magic. Upon their return, Eliah was escorted to an examination room to determine if the Arum Dracunculus had been used on him as well. Once they were inside the temple, Master Searthu dismissed his arcane spying spells. The crystal balls each lost their image and faded into the picture of a swirling cloud. The crystal balls looked as though each of them were filled with smoke as Master Searthu picked them up from the ground. Semeion was eager to follow behind him and collect the heavy black iron stands upon which the crystal balls had rested. He marveled at the intricate carving along the each of the legs and supports of the stands. He had a deep appreciation for the symbolic imagery and care for the arcane that Master Searthu demonstrated. All of the stands had three legs, but some of the stands came together in the center before separating once more to provide prongs to support the crystal ball. Each of these stands where carved to look like a hydra. The legs of the iron stand were carved to look like the legs of the hydra. The place where the legs came together was the hydra’s thick body. Finally, the prongs separating from the body in order to hold the ball were carved into the shape of the various heads of the hydra. Thus, the crystal ball seemed to rest upon the back of each of the hydra’s skulls. Regarding the stands that did not come together in the center, these were designed so that the three legs actually rose straight into the air and became the supports for the crystal ball. Each leg was carved to look like a gargoyle that was facing outward and supporting the weight of the ball upon its back between its shoulders. The legs of the stand were connected together by iron that had been carved to look as though the wings of each gargoyle were spread out and touching the tips of the other two gargoyles’ wings. Once the crystals had been collected, Master Searthu invited the party, Ophee, and Brandt to sit down so that they could plan the next stage of their quest against the wizard of Eberdeen. Master Searthu’s office contained little furniture, so the group ended up sitting upon the plush carpet where Master Searthu had first placed the iron stands for the crystal balls. By the thickness of the carpet, it was clear that Master Searthu had this carpet placed in his room to encourage sitting and meditation. Brandt waited until everyone was seated before speaking. “I think we should move against the wizard of Eberdeen before our advantage has been lost.” Most of the party nodded in agreement, but Semeion shook his head from side to side. “The wizard in Eberdeen has not been challenged today, and he is likely at a full state of preparedness. Unless we strike at this very moment, he will likely have time to prepare himself for a strike which he can only assume will come quickly. That window of opportunity is closing quickly. We’d only have about an hour to act after he discovers that his servants have gone missing. If we take longer than an hour, he’ll have time to prepare for our coming.” Ischarus turned to Charis and grinned. Her expression matched his own thoughts. “Well, then let’s go get him.” Rhema held up a cautious hand. “Wait a minute. We can’t go in there without some kind of plan.” Semeion nodded in agreement. “Besides, much of my magic is already spent. I can feel the drain on my body already. If we leave now, I’ll be all but useless.” Brandt chuckled at Semeion’s assertion. “That’s one of the reasons why I enjoy worshipping a goddess and studying the arcane arts. It gives me a sense of being able to have the best of both worlds.” Charis looked to Brandt with admiration regarding his assertion. “And a good bit of versatility, I’d imagine.” Master Searthu spoke for the first time since inviting the group to sit upon his carpet. “Well, I did a bit of research while I was preparing for this moment. The wizard’s college is warded against long range teleportation. Only a person who is faculty at the wizard’s college can use a long range teleportation spell to gain access to the higher levels. But, I believe there is a way that we can gain access if we use a short range teleport. You see, the wizard’s college assumes that they’ll be able to deal with any threat that walks through its front door. All we need to do is get inside the building and I think we can teleport anywhere we’d like.” Rhema nodded along as Master Searthu spoke. “So, we teleport to the surrounding area and walk in the front door. That shouldn’t be too much of a difficult task, surely.” Semeion again shook his head in disapproval. “The only problem is that there is only one person here who has even been in to see the wizard’s office. In order for us to be able to use teleportation magic and guarantee that we arrive precisely where we want to be, we must have visited the place so that we can give specific parameters to the spell. Otherwise, some kind of grave mishap might occur.” Brandt agreed with Semeion. “Or, as the best case scenario we spend too much time teleporting to precisely the right place that someone in the wizard’s college picks up on our presence before we can get to the wizard that we seek.” Charis spoke next. She offered up what she hoped would be a solution. “So, we give one of these rings to Ophee. She can use the ring from inside the wizard’s college to teleport outside her old master’s office. If she is holding onto Brandt of Master Searthu, then they could teleport back and pick up the rest of us.” Master Searthu nodded slowly. “That’s still a fair amount of time involved, and a fair amount of spell casting. However, I have an alteration that I think might just work. If I cast a magical spying sensor on Ophee and have her teleport, the sensor will find her in a second or two at the most at that short of a distance. If I tie that sensor to a crystal ball, we can use the rings like before and teleport directly to where we want to go. All that would matter is that I hold onto the crystal ball and make sure you all use the rings to teleport first.” Brandt nodded firmly. “That plan will work. Can we be ready within the hour? I think Semeion is right in that if we let the wizard in Eberdeen have more than an hour then we might as well wait until a new day has come and we are all fresh. But if we can leave within the hour, we might be able to catch him off-guard.” Everyone nodded except Semeion. “As I said, my magic is all but spent. I’ll be of little use to you.” Brandt smirked at Semeion’s comment. “No, I do believe that in the end you’ll prove to be quite useful. Trust me.” [/Sblock] [/QUOTE]
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