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In the last thread you escaped slavery, found your father was murdered and your city under occupation by unknown assailants, and to make matters worse, the empire isn't helping reclaim your city. So, you left town with a trader named Samuel and eventually found yourself at the capitol city of the Illithan Empire hoping to learn magic.
You now stand before the walls to the city, a blue aura pouring off of them. Your escort, a city guard, produces a small stone inscribed with a rune from a pocket on his side. He presses the rock against the surface of the wall and it shimmers with a blue light. Suddenly, a portion of the wall slides out from its position and raises itself up above you both, creating a large passageway into the city. The guard walks through and motions for you to follow.
You emerge from the tunnel and are taken aback by what you see. The sprawling city is covered with dancing lights that seem to move of their own volition. Buildings higher than you could ever imagine reach up over the walls, each one made up of beautifully shining marble. The people too are like nothing you've seen before. They seem elegant, more refined. Each clad in flowing silk or other expensive materials. You even see some in spun gold. Not even the nobles at your father's court match even the most common person here in regards to style nor mannerisms. "Welcome to your new home, brother!" The guard cheers before leading you through the crowd.
You stop at a guard station. Your escort tells you that you will need citizenship papers before you do anything in the city. It was a quick process and before long you were back out on the street. The guard gives you a small map with location of the diviner he knows marked on it. "Good luck with your schooling kid." the man calls to you before returning to his post. What would you like to do?
> Explore the city
> Find the diviner
> Find Orsomere on your own
> Write in
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>>1238702
>Set yourself on fire.
>>
>>1238702
>explore the city
butnot for gasolin
>>
>>1238702
>Explore the city
>>
You decide to explore the city. It is a massive place, at least twice the size of Umbertesk, and you realize that exploring the whole thing will take well over a day. However, you decide to start in the area you are in and work your way towards the center.
As you walk through the city, you can't help but feel small in comparison to the massive buildings that flank the streets. It seems that the city has an issue with crowding as everywhere you go, there seems to be people packed into every corner. Every store has a line and every restaurant seems to be filled.
You also feel a bit out of place with your clothing. It is simple cotton and light furs which don't hold a candle to the regal attire of the other people in the city, but you decide to ignore this feeling for now.
You spend the rest of the day exploring. It seems that magic has been integrated into every part of the city's culture. Constructs work in stores and animated appliances cook and clean for the people. You've even seen some people walking with magical creatures as pets. All construction seems to be done through magic and is incredibly quick to complete. One man was able to construct an entire building in a few minutes using some sort of telekinesis.'
As night begins to fall, you make it to the center. There is a second, larger wall separating the city into two parts. Over it, you can see more buildings, but no lights. Your attention, however is drawn elsewhere as you see the schools the guard was referring to. They are... smaller than you thought they would be, but they are numerous. Each one boasts some sort of prestigious award on a small plaque on their steps. What would you like to do next?
> Find a place to stay for the night
> Keep exploring
> Go into a school
> Find Orsomere (with diviner or on your own)
> Write in
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>>1241435
>Burn the schools down.
>>
>>1241435
>Find a place to stay for the night
>>
Finding a spot to sleep was a challenge all on its own. Seems that, with not many outsiders coming in, the only inns available were for very prestigious nobles from other provinces. "Look, even if you could afford our rates, there is absolutely no way that we would allow a lowborn like yourself to stay at our establishment." Says a very upset innkeeper as you are unceremoniously dumped back onto the street. "Now find someone else to bother, urchin, before I have the authorities throw you out of the city!" He slams the doors behind him. Seems you'll have to settle for a nice bench... Eventually, you find a secluded spot to rest in and fall asleep.
You wake up early. Hardly anyone is on the streets yet. What would you like to do?
> Explore more
> Find Orsomere
> Write in
>>
>>1241618
>Burn the city.
>>
>>1241618
>Find Orsomere
But first make a small fire to warm yourself and appease our pyromaniac thoughts.
>>
After making a small fire because why not, you set out to find Orsomere. But how?
> Look on my own
> Diviner
>>
>>1241746
>Diviner
>>
>>1241746
>By burning his family to death and waiting for him to show up at the funeral.
>>
>>1241754
And how do you suggest we find his family (if he has one)?
>>
>>1241760
idk look in the phone book
>>
You decide to look for this diviner. He is across the city, but with you so close to the center and not wandering around, it should only take a few hours to get there.
When you finally arrive, you find yourself in front of a small building wedged between its neighbors. You step inside and are a bit disappointed. When you heard diviner you immediately thought of crystal balls, magic mirrors, and other scrying tools, but this place seems more like an average department than the workplace of a mage of their ability. You hear a shuffling from behind a door set into the wall and a woman calls out, "Just a moment, I wasn't expecting anyone."
After a few moments of waiting, she steps out. The diviner is a middle aged woman in fairly simple clothes and seems all around ordinary.
"Greetings friend, my name is Laura. How may I be of service?" "Well I was hoping you could find a friend of mine. I'm new to the city and would like to find him." The woman thinks for a moment, staring at you intently. It was a subtle feeling, but you feel a slight... pressence in your mind, but only for a moment. The woman lets out a breath before gesturing to your small map. You hand it to her and she marks a location on it. "That is where you will find Orsomere, he usually is working now, but should be back at nightfall if what I saw is correct. That will be 2 gold pieces, please." You pay her leaving you with 208 gold pieces. Any other questions?
> Write in
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>>1241899
No if it costs us money.I'm going to sleep.
>>
>>1241899
>Burn the diviner to death to get those 2 gold pieces back.
>>
Hey guys, so this sporadic updating thing is kind of getting annoying (at least for me it is). So, rather than just randomly posting whenever I can, I'm gonna just say that I'll be on here every Friday and Saturday for more posts. So check back then, and I will be happy to continue from here.
_______________________
You walk out of the diviner's home, satisfied with her directions, and set out to find Orsomere. It seems he is relatively close by, only a few blocks away.
The sun has set by the time you arrive. Knocking on the door, you find no one answers and the door is locked. He must still be out. What would you like to do until he gets back?
> Wander around this area
> Look for him
> Wait at the home
> Write in
>>
>>1245560
>> Wait at the home
>>
You decide to sit down on the stoop of the home and wait for Orsomere to arrive. You sit there for a few hours and it is now getting late in the night. People are quickly leaving the streets for their homes. Soon, it was just you and the empty street. Finally, you see a figure moving down towards the home. As he approaches, you can see that it is Orsomere. Standing up you move to meet him in the street. "I-Ignatius? Is that you? I wasn't expecting you so soon... none the less, do you have somewhere you are staying?" You shake your head, "No, no one would take me." you respond. Orsomere sighs, "Typical... well it's past curfew, so we can't be out here much longer, you'll have to spend the night here." Orsomere leads you inside.
It's a nice home, well, more of an apartment. Better than your old room, at least. It has all the typical amenities of a normal home, plus a few extras. There seems to be a work table of some kind at the side of the room with various tools and materials you don't recognize. "Well, welcome to my home, Ignatius. You'll have to sleep down here for now, but we'll figure out some better living arrangements when you get more situated in the city." What would you like to do?
> Write in
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>>1250954
What's the curfew for? Talk with him about what are we going to do from now on.
>>
"What's this about a curfew?" You ask him. "Well, remember when I told you about the Reclamation Administration? Well their job extends to more than just bringing back wayward citizens. They also work to make sure that we are safe within the city, hence the curfew and the guard patrols." You nod in response. "So what is next for me here?" you ask. "Well, you said you wanted to perfect your magic and I think I can help you. Now, my magical abilities for some reason aren't compatible with yours. We still have to figure that out before you can begin anything, but I know a man who can help us out. His name is Jon and he works with me as an Overseer for the capitol. He goes out and makes sure that the people of the different provinces are doing what they are supposed to and assists the heads of those provinces with governing in a way that best reflects the wishes of the empire. He also happens to be one of the better mages I know. So, I was thinking I could try to get you an apprenticeship with him, at least for a little while, and he can figure out what to do about your magic and then teach you." Any response?
> Write in
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>>1251190
Sounds like a good plan.
>>
"Sounds good!" you reply. "Fantastic, now you can stay on the couch here until tomorrow and I will introduce you tomorrow."
You are woken up early and get ready quickly. Orsomere leads you out into the street and down the road. People are just beginning to emerge from their homes as the sun just moves over the top of the walls. You are lead back towards the center of the city to the second, central wall, but this time you approach a small gate with a heavily armored man standing in front of it. "Hold it, identification please." he asks and holds out his hand. Orsomere reaches into a pocket and pulls out a slip of paper. The man glances down at it and stamps it with the crest of the empire before handing it back to Orsomere. "Now the boy." he states. "Well, he is a newcomer to the city and is looking to meet with Jon in one of the administration buildings." The guard looks down at you, a bored expression on his face, and then looks back to Orsomere. "If he doesn't have the clearance, he can't enter the district, no exceptions. Now move along." Orsomere looks like he is about to say something, but the guard moves his hand down to an odd looking weapon at his side, causing Orsomere to stop himself. The man glares at you both before opening the gate to let Orsomere through. "Look, you can't come in, but I will just be a few minutes. Maybe I can get Jon to come out and meet you here. Just wait here for me." Orsomere moves through the gate and, with one last look over his shoulder, quickly walks through into the inner part of the city. Would you like to do anything while you wait?
> Write in
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>>1251335
Just wait, it prbably won't long. Maybe make small talk with the guard.
>>
You sit down next to the wall. The guard gives you a sideways look, but other than that he says nothing. "So... um... arrest anyone lately?" You ask the guard. He chuckles before leaning back on the wall. "Maybe in a minute, if you keep bugging me kid." He cooly replies. You scooch away from him a bit, eliciting a laugh from the guard.
You spend half an hour waiting, looking over to the gateway every time you hear it open, but no one who passes is who you are looking for. Growing bored, you kill some time trying to make small patterns of fire on the ground, until you hear guard cough and see him glaring at you. You decide to just wait in silence.
Finally, you hear two voices from beyond the wall. "Please! Just do this for me, as a favor between friends!" "For the love of the divines, Orsomere, I don't have time for this. I'm behind by 2 weeks on my-" "I know you are behind, but he can help! Ignatius is a fast learner I'm sure he could help you as an apprentice!"
The two men open the gate and the man you've identified as Jon steps out and looks at you before turning to Orsomere. "Oh come on, not him?!" He asks. "What's wrong with him, he looks fine!" Orsomere protests. "He looks like he's homeless... or an outsider. Are you sure even he has magical ability?"
Orsomere pulls Jon back out onto the street and over to you. "Ignatius, show this idiot what you can do. Seems he won't believe his friend." "I never said he couldn't, I'm just skeptical... wait, are those scales? What the hell is this kid?!" Orsomere rolls his eyes before replying, "Just focus, Ignatius, please, show him your pyromancy." "Oh great, pyrpmancy, you're giving me an actual bomb for a student..." What will you do?
> Show off
> Just make a small flame
>>
>>1254938
>Show off
Fireworks.
>>
You decide to show off a bit. You send out long, tendrils of flames into the air and back, creating archs of fire across the sky. Jon seems impressed and the guard from before seems very nervous. "Well, you certainly are a mage." Jon admits. "But here's your first lesson, don't overextended yourself, this stuff isn't a joke and you can end up killing yourself if you don't rest between casting." Flashbacks of your previous overuse of magic enter your mind and you feel a slight headache. "Now, with training, you'll be able to use more and more magic at the one time, but as a relatively green mage, you're going to have to limit yourself." Jon turns to Orsomere, "Well he's got potential, that's for sure, but does he know anything other than fire magic?" You shake your head, "No, but we were hoping that you would be able to figure out why he can't use other spells." Jon looks you over before replying. "I'll have to examine him better, but in the meantime, come back to my office, this demonstration has put me even further behind and I need some help." "So you'll take him then?" Orsomere asks. "Yeah, I'll do it, but you owe me big time if he can't keep up." You internally celebrate as you are lead to the gate, this time allowed inside.
Within the inner walls, you find yourself in an odd part of the city. While they are still large, none of the buildings are as large as those outside. They also don't appear to have windows. Jon sees you looking around and taps you on the shoulder. "Eyes forward, don't look around to much and do not make eye contact with any of the guards here." You quickly move to a lone, black building towards the center of the inner city and step inside. Much like the outside of it, the inside of this building is made of a polished black material.
You move up a staircase to the second floor to a door with Jon's name on it. "Orsomere, get out of here, you know the rules." Orsomere pauses for a moment before mumbling a goodbye and going back outside. In the office, mounds of paperwork cover nearly every surface. "I uh... get distracted at work a lot. Anyway, I just need you to stamp any of the papers that are in that tray and then stack them over there." He says pointing to a different tray. "Once we do that, we can get to your examination."
You work diligently, keeping the papers moving. It's all boring nonsense. Orders for heads of provinces, warnings for misconduct, and a few requests for more money for the capitol.
Eventually you decide to try to get to know Jon. "So how long have you lived here?"
"All my life, was born here, raised here, and schooled here. The government took an interest in my speaking ability and gave me this job."
"I can't imagine anyone enjoying this..."
"I don't, and you won't either. But don't worry, this is only maybe... 10% of my job. A lot of the time I'm in different provinces checking up on things."
You think for a moment. "What about Umbertesk and its province?"
>>
Jon gets nervous at the mention of Umbertesk. "I... I honestly don't know much about the goings on in Umbertesk... They ceased all communication with the capitol and no one seems to care! It's like it just stopped existing all of a sudden. And to make matters worse, the last request that was made to the capitol was reinforcements to defend the city against some foreign army." Any response?
> Write in
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>>1255415
I was there not long ago and now some weird cult is in change of the city.
>>
"I was there not long ago and now some weird cult is in change of the city" you inform him. Jon thinks about this for a moment. "By the divines... well, glad you and Orsomere got out alright. Any chance you caught the name of the group?" "I don't think so..." you respond. Jon shakes his head, "Shame, well at least we know what happened to the city. I'll send a note to the higher ups and hopefully we can deal with it. It's just strange that no one has investigated this further, I mean, a hostile takeover inside the nation... we should have sent an entire army to take it back. Oh well, it's out of our hands, I just hope that the emperor knows what he's doing with this... Anyway, we've done enough work here, let's head out and we can figure out what is wrong with your magic."
Jon leads you to another area in the inner city. It seems much more inviting than where you were with less guards and more of the taller buildings from outside. He leads you to an area right next to one of the massive Needles of Illithan. You enter a large apartment building and enter what Jon tells you is his apartment. He has you sit on a chair and he sits across from you. "Right, I have an idea of what's wrong with you. If I am right... well, we'll just have to see. I'd like you to burn this piece of paper." He says, producing a slip of paper from his pocket. You focus on it and after a moment a small flame comes to life on it, burning it away. Jon flicks some of the burnt paper from his gloved hand and stands up, going into another room. "Now, you can't tell anyone about this, since it's not technically legal, but I'm going to do a bit of a test here." He returns with a new piece of paper and a small, blueish rock the size of his fist. "Now, take this rock in your hand and do the same thing you just did to this new piece of paper. And make sure you exert the same amount of energy on this page as you did the other." You comply and another small flame burns away this page as well, with nothing out of the ordinary occurring. "OK then, I believe I know what's going on here. The... scales on you, those are dragon scales, am I right?" You nod and he sighs a bit. "You don't have any connection to The Source, I'm afraid. If you did, that page you burnt just now would have been gone a lot quicker and the fire would have been a lot bigger." "So what does this mean?" you ask. "Well it means that our magic is different in that mine comes from The Source and yours, I believe, comes from your draconic ancestors. That's why you only can control fire, you're part dragon. Now, I can still teach you some things, pyromancy, after all, is still a very real form of magic, but you are never going to have the range of spells that a full mage might." What will you do?
> Write in
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>>1255957
train as hard and as much as you can with what you have. Our magic may be specialized but what we can learn would probably end up more powerful when we cast it compared to the average mage.
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