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Message: <blockquote data-quote="random user" data-source="post: 1593344" data-attributes="member: 16581">Chapter 1 - The Stolen SculptureChapter 1 - The Stolen SculptureFebruary 20All the students at the university were busy studying when 6 students, Blink, Errol, Kestral, Malit, Vaugner, and Vernon, each received a note: Please report to the Dean of Arts' office at 9:00 AM. The students pondered the meaning behind the note while they studied for their final exams.February 21At 9:00, the students arrived at the office."I hope she hasn't found out about some of my more creative study habits," Vaugner thought to himself.In the office were 3 belar. Tera, the dean, ushered them in. The students recognized Mortenser, their class liason, but the other belar was one they had never met."Please come in," Tera said, "Welcome all! This is Abbey, and is a researcher who creates new magic items. She has some information for you in a little bit."A delicate situation has come up. Someone has stolen one of my sculptures!" She pointed to a sculpture; it was a beautiful rendition of her interpretation of the goddess Keele. Not just a normal sculpture, this one had been painted with 50 layers of paint -- a special semi-transparent paint which interacted with the layers above and below it to create a sculpture with amazing colors and textures. Each of the 50 layers lent a hue or shade to each spot."This is the forgery they left behind. I'm not sure why it was stolen, as it is not very valuable nor does it have any magical properties; nonetheless, it is very sentimental to me." Of course, value was relative, the students quickly realized, as Tera estimated the value to be around 10,000 gold -- much more than any of the students had ever seen.Tera went on to explain that she thought the switch may have taken place two days ago when Jacob the Trader was in the inner city. Jacob had been a trader for over 25 years, and she doubted that Jacob would risk his career by personally stealing it. It would be more likely someone employed by him did it.She offered a deal. In exchange for not having to take the grueling finals, they would ride after Jacob to try and uncover what really happened and whether anyone in Jacob's caravan was involved.The students quickly realized they were being asked to go because Tera was probably too embarrassed and reluctant to get involved in affairs that dealt with humans. To admit a human was able to take something out of the inner city would be something the belar would not want.Tera said, "Jacob was heading towards Asterin, and you should be able to catch up to him in under a week. To help you along, I have 100 gold for expenses as well as horses for those who need them. Abbey has graciously agreed to provide you with a few experimental magic items."Abbey explained what the items were and what they did, and then wished the students good luck, saying she had to get back to work.Tera again thanked them, and then rose. Mortenser nodded and left her office. As the students were filing out, Tera pulled them aside. "Be careful, the outside world is not like here. People don't always have your best intentions at heart." She pulled out a small opal. "If you find yourselves in a dire emergency, use this gem and I will try to help as best I can. I'm sorry to have to ask you for this. I wouldn't have even considered it had it not been... such a delicate situation."The party got their horses from the inner city stables and went to the outer city to do some research. They visited the store where Jacob bought his feed and food supplies. Rina, a mid-aged woman, affirmed that Jacob had been planning on traveling to Asterin, while a young lad, Pippy, advised them to beware of dragons!The party ventured forth. For many of them it was the first time out of the city. They more or less knew each other from school, so they chatted about inconsequential subjects as they rode. Privately, though, each of their minds were churning.Kestrel thought to himself, "There are some things that don't really make sense to me. Like, why would someone cross the belar like that? Everyone knows that they are powerful and good, why would you cross them? And the really weird thing is that someone angered a powerful belar just to get a statue that isn't important or all that valuable. And if you're going to steal a piece of artwork, why would you leave behind something almost as valuable as a replacement? It doesn't make any sense."Malif's thoughts turned to why this particular party was chosen. "Why Tera did not include any of the girls, I do not know. Maybe she thinks Vaugner and I would be too much for any one of them out here alone! He, too crass, and I, too charming! Ha! Too bad she didn't include Kendra, though. She's as quick as any of us and silver-tongued to boot!"Vernon's thoughts were inwards, "My days in long studies are almost completed but I do not feel that they have answered any of my real life questions. I am still an outsider within these stone walls. Perhaps there is a greater reason for getting us to go outside of the city. Time will only tell here."While the rest of the party seemed enthused, Errol traveled reluctantly. "Given that I have been practicing for my final recital for the last three months and studying at least that long I am pretty unimpressed with how wonderful a deal this is, but they need me so I will go. It's not easy to refuse the belar," he thought to himself.Seeing the unpaved road and horse dung alongside the road, he commented, "This road sure isn't well kept. The belar do a much better job of running the inside of the city than whoever is in charge here."No one saw fit to directly comment, but he was prety sure he heard the words "whining" and "complainer" muttered under various people's breaths.</blockquote>

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