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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rae ArdGaoth" data-source="post: 2129087" data-attributes="member: 21064">After a short wait, the apprentice emerges from the tower alone.  He seems far more at ease now, more at home in this environment.  Also, judging by his expression, his master is just fine.When he reaches the party, he says, "Phew...  I was really worried there, I mean, real!ly worried, what would you sirs think if you came home and... and... and this- this was here to greet you?!  I near fainted just seeing it, oh my...  Well, it seems, eh, yes, my master, he's quite alright, just fine, he is." Staring back at the broken tower he adds, "I know just what you're all thinking- well, not to say you're predictable!  No, no!  'Course not that, I'd never- I jus-  Well, er, why'd the tower blow up, you'd like to know, for sure, definitely for sure." "Well, y'see, it's like I said, my master, he's a good wizard he is, powerful, always doing his crazy experiments, right?  But this one, the one he's going to hire you sirs for, see that one is a big one, really important, and it went sort of wrong, see?  A little drop, he said, a little drop of the wrong stuff into the wrong solution and BAM!!!" Tracing the trajectory of the roof top with his finger, the boy makes a little whistling sound and finishes his presentation with another BAM!!!"Well, anyway, he's up there, doing what he can to fix it, y'know, he's got a lot invested in that experiment, a lot of time and money and wizard... stuff.  So he said for me to, y'know, to give the sirs their test.  And then he'll be able to talk to you."Becoming excited again, the boy shifts his weight from foot to foot again.  "This'll be exciting, oh boy, I almost want to go with you, sirs, but my master, he says I have to stay here and help him, and well... you know him, he's not... well, yes.  So... er... here's your test.""All those signs we passed, y'know, the 'Beware of beasts' ones, right?  Well, see, this land here is infested with baddies, not just dangerous animals, either.  My master, he says... what does he say?  He says that... 'Evil...  corrupted...' yeah, 'Evil corrupted the creatures of the forest.'  So yeah, the woods here, they're real dangerous for normal folk.  Not my master, oh no, he just blasts 'em away with... fire... and ice and... stuff.  Y'know, wizard stuff?  They don't come into this clearing, he's so strong.  But he isn't one to leave his tower, too many investments, he says."He pauses and then turns slowly about, he points at the woods surrounding the clearing.  "See all around here?  That's where they live.  There are other clearings, like this one, y'know, only smaller, there are trails and things, but y'know, it's a forest so they're not cobbled roads or anything.  But yes, there are creatures out there, natural and unnatural, I've seen both, more than once, I can tell you that, oh boy, they're scary.  And, well, your task is to... well... kill them.  Hunt them and kill them.  Or drive them away and make them never come back."He looks down.  "And you have to bring back... proof.  Proof that you completed the test.  Not that I think you're lying or anything, it's just that, my master... he... doesn't trust people, y'know how wizards are sometimes?  Anyway, you just kill the evil creatures and that way he can tell if you're prepared enough to go all the way to the... the grave, er, crypt thing.  Right?  Sounds fair, right?  I think so, I sure do.  Can't just go sending people off to die, right?  Have to make sure they're prepared, right?  I'm sure you sirs are, oh yes, quite sure, but better safe than dead, right?  So, that's it.  You have three days, he says.  Three days to clear them all out, or at least, most of them, so they aren't so annoying or... threatening, and dangerous, okay?"He looks up, hoping of course for affirmative nods and assurances.OOC to Enkhidu:  Since Malen is a dwarf, his stonecunning tells him some about the tower:[sblock]The stone tower, from your current vantage point, seems very old, at least a few centuries.  The stone is covered in ivy and moss and weathered like no other.  You doubt that this wizard had the tower built for him, he can't possibly be as old as that stone structure.  He must have taken up residence in it after it had been abandoned for some time, perhaps because of the infestation of the evil creatures.[/sblock]OOC to All: I don't actually expect you to not read what's in the spoiler blocks, but don't act on any information contained within unless they're directed to you or the person they are directed to decides to share the information with the party.OOC to Certain PCs: I glanced at your character sheets and some of your formatting is awful.  It's very hard to read.  You know who you are, go fix your sheets!   <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />   If you didn't know already, Notepad is good for editing these things because you can keep all the formatting and the EZBoard tags "[ ]".  Just remember that the tags can skew the formatting in Notepad, too.  They disappear, obviously, when you post them, so your formatting might be 3 - 6 spaces off when you actually submit it.  This would be why.  Anyway, I ramble.  You're computer savvy, format your sheets so I can read them.   <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/paranoid.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":uhoh:" title="Paranoid    :uhoh:" data-shortname=":uhoh:" />  </blockquote>

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