School of Sorcery

Chandagnac said:

On sixday morning, you had planned to take your crocuses to market and sell them. However, the Gardening Club's handcarts are all in use, so you would need to hire one from elsewhere. Coupled with the need to buy pots for your crocuses, that will cost you two silver shards. You hope to sell your crocuses for a lot more than that, but it's something you need to bear in mind.

Also, as Fenella said, your crocuses are "not looking their best just yet". You'd be able to get a much better price for them in a few weeks, when they come into bloom. For now, they're pleasant and healthy-looking plants, but they're not the sort of pretty thing that a lovesick swain might buy for his sweetheart, which greatly reduces their potential for profit. Unless… maybe you're going about this the wrong way? Would it be better to sell your crocuses to an expert, someone who will care that in a few months they will be able to produce saffron from them? Where could you find someone like that?

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You decide not to take your crocuses to market today. In fact, you're not sure if you want to sell them at all. From what Fen just told you, it seems that saffron has the potential to be very useful to you in a number of ways. As you have a fairly large number of saffron-producing crocus plants which will be ready to be harvested in only a couple of months, you might as well keep them. For now, at least.

Spending your time productively, you uproot any weeds which you can see have secreted themselves in amongst your new growing plants, get rid of any slugs or snails which have entered your garden and started munching on the young seedlings – you might need to come up with some kind of trap or barrier to prevent them from becoming a serious problem – and clear away any debris which other garden pests might be sheltering behind.


After lunch, you take your team to the outbuilding in which the school's Bladderwrack arena is situated. One of the students from the university is refereeing today; although Wing Commander Vancien takes a keen interest in the sport, he is a busy man and can't attend every game. You arrange for your team to be added to the schedule later in the afternoon, to play against another first-year team: an all-girls team started by two members of Cadre 1C who were angered when they found out that Athamas Cardos had started his own team without asking them to join (and that he'd blamed them by saying that it was because they didn't want to play).

'I don't really like Bladderwrack,' admits Janira Saliente, a tiny sharp-featured girl. Even when she's standing on tiptoe, the top of her head is barely level with your shoulder. 'But he could at least have asked us! We're supposed to be teammates! Hah, I'll show him! I've got my own team, with Lyzandra and Myrelle here.' She puts her arms around both of them at once. 'And Allyris, of course. Come on, Al, group hug!'

Her teammate, a tall brunette with a dark complexion and a long-suffering air about her, comes over to join them.

As usual, Lyzandra Helidor is beautifully dressed and immaculately made-up. Next to you, Phil gives her a sidelong glance and says teasingly, 'You're playing Bladderwrack today, huh? I wouldn't have thought that you'd want to risk getting your hair mussed, or ripping your dress, or chipping a nail.'

'Normally, I wouldn't,' she admits. 'But Jani is a friend and she asked for my help. That's important.'

You settle down to watch until it is your turn to play. In the intervening time, you see Athamas Cardos and his handpicked team take on a group of second-year pupils and lose heavily. Janira cheers and claps her hands, rejoicing in his defeat. 'Yah-boo, sucks to be you!' she jeers.

'What is your problem?' Athamas asks her, after the game is finished.

'My problem is you ignoring and excluding me, going off and doing things with your friends and telling them that I didn't want to join in,' she replies, scowling at him. 'I'm gonna get you back. Me and the girls, someday, we'll be the best Bladderwrack team anyone has ever seen.'

He looks bewildered. 'But… you don't even like Bladderwrack. I'm sorry, I assumed–'

'Well, you know what they say about assumptions!' she flares back at him. 'They make an ass out of you and…' She hesitates. 'No, it's just you. You big ass!'

'That's very immature of you.'

'I'm eleven years old. Got the rest of my life to be mature in. Right now, I reserve the right to act like an oversized baby.' She sticks out her tongue at him. 'So there!'

He sighs, rubbing his forehead as though he feels a migraine coming on.

At last, when it's your turn to play, you gather the other members of Cadre 1F together for a last-minute pep talk and to remind them of what they should be doing during the game: Venta will defend your team's goal; Philander will distract the opposition as much as he can; you and Isolia will attempt to score goals.

In the arena, your plan goes well, but not perfectly. Venta makes an excellent goalkeeper, always ready to intercept the ball, either by blocking it with her own body or with the Barrier spell which she seems to have quickly mastered. Similarly, Philander is very good at his assigned role, making extensive use of the Telekinetic Push spell to disrupt the other team's plays. He is too canny to do anything which might injure the other team, but he is subtle and persistent in finding little ways to irritate them: loosening hair ties, tugging on belts and buckles, and causing the ball to move in unexpected ways whenever they try to pass it to each other. The problem is that you and Isolia are poorly coordinated: early on, you run for the ball at the same time as she does. Crashing into each other, you bump heads and she is knocked sprawling on the ground. This shatters her confidence and renders her all-but-useless for the rest of the game, even after she gets up and dusts herself off.

On the other side of the arena, you can see strained patience, tempers beginning to fray, and four girls who are getting increasingly sweaty and harassed-looking. They can't seem to do anything to penetrate Venta's iron defence. However, you're not doing much better. While Philander and Venta are busy doing what you've told them to do, Isolia seems to have shrunk into herself like a frightened little mouse, and you are left to score goals on your own. Fortunately, your Quickness spell is a definite advantage; you use it to outmanoeuvre the other team, moving faster than they can follow. After you score your first goal, they switch to playing very defensively. The pace of the game slows to a crawl. Try as you might, you only manage to score one more goal before the final whistle blows.

Sweating profusely, Janira waggles a finger in Phil's face and says, 'You… you're annoying.' Turning to Venta, she continues, 'If I'd known you were that skilled, I'd have invited you to be on my team.' Finally, she comes over to you and offers you a handshake. 'Good game. Whew!'

After the game, Phil goes over to Athamas and says, 'Pretty good, huh? You've got to admit that was an improvement on last week.'

'I don't see why.' Athamas yawns. 'All you did was grind out a win over four girls who've never played this game before.'

'Oh, you think that because we're girls it should've been easy to beat us?!' Janira rages at him.

'Uhh… no, but you've never played Bladderwrack before,' says Athamas, hastily backing out of the trap. 'You can't expect to be any good at something you have no experience of. That's what I meant.'

Phil backs away, leaving the two of them to argue. However, Venta is displeased with him. 'Honestly, why do you care what he thinks?' she asks. 'He doesn't like you. So what?'

'Well, um…'

In fact, Philander has no satisfactory answer to that question.

'Some people will always hate you for things that aren't your fault, that you can't change, or that're nothing to do with you. Any excuse,' Venta says sadly. 'That's life, I'm afraid. There isn't anything you can do about it. You've just got to learn to live with it.'

'That's terrible advice, Venta,' you say, with a hollow laugh.

'Well, what would you suggest? Demand to be treated with dignity and respect, as an equal?' She echoes your laughter, then shakes her head. 'If you need to ask for fair treatment, you won't get it. You'll be laughed at. Or lynched.'

'I don't think Athamas hates me,' says Phil, changing the subject back to its original alignment. 'He thinks I'm full of crap, but I suppose that's fair enough. Anyway, a bit of friendly rivalry never hurt anyone.'

'Friendly rivalry, huh?' Venta gives a cynical eyeroll. 'Sure. Whatever.'

Nearby, you see Philander's brother, Simony, wheeling a small cart laden with various wares. 'Lucky seaweed!' he cries. 'Get your lucky seaweed! Trust me, you don't wanna be playing Bladderwrack without your very own lucky sprig of bladderwrack.' When he notices you, he grins and says, 'How about it, Dorian? Only a single silver shard for this vital piece of safety equipment. Cheap at twice the price!'

'That seems expensive,' you say doubtfully. 'It's a lot of money for such a tiny amount of seaweed.'

'Hah! You think so? We're hundreds of miles away from the coastline, here.' He chuckles. 'You try getting seaweed for a better price than that. Go on, I'll wait.'

'Why would we need a lucky sprig of seaweed at any price?' asks Isolia.

'Well, it's symbolism, isn't it? Having a lucky sprig of bladderwrack makes you better at the game. Or something.' Simony shrugs. 'Look, I just sell this stuff. Don't ask me how it works.'

What will you do? (Choose one)
[] Buy a lucky sprig of Bladderwrack. (It will cost you 1 silver shard.)
[] Try to persuade Simony to lower the price.
[] Refuse to fall for such an obvious con trick.



Later that afternoon, you manage to persuade your team to come with you to the Astronomy Club, which is based in yet another of the school's cluster of outbuildings. You are surprised and curious that this club's regular meeting takes place in the early evening, before sunset, when it won't be dark enough for you to see the stars. At this meeting, you expect to see a few telescopes, star charts, and young people gathered together to talk earnestly about celestial objects and events. You didn't expect the fierce heat which rolls over you like a wave as soon as you open the door, nor the clanging of metal being shaped, nor the flickering orange light of the forges which are currently in use, and certainly not the bustle of industry which seems to be going on everywhere in this large smoky room.

'It looks like a smithy in here,' says Philander, frowning quizzically.

'That's part of it,' says a young goblin man who gets up to greet you. Wiry and well-muscled, he looks old enough to be a student at the college, but judging by what he says next you assume he must be a fifth-year pupil. 'I'm Jaqari Pruyte, club president, by the way. I expect you're wondering what's going on here.'

'Well, yes,' you admit.

'This is our grand project. We're building a machine that will…' He hesitates. 'Do you know what a gonne is? Basically a tube, filled with black powder at one end, which you then ignite and use to shoot a metal ball at something. It's a weapon, usually.'

'Noisy, inaccurate, fills battlefields with clouds of black smoke, and only about as effective as a crossbow,' says Venta, who has a surprising breadth of knowledge about a range of different things.

'Well, yes, but we're going to make it better,' says Jaqari, his eyes burning with zeal. 'Using black powder infused with magical energy, safer and much more powerful, we're making a kind of – I suppose you might call it a cannon – which will fire a projectile at the moon. You've heard that the goddess Zora Alishanda is trapped on the moon, haven't you? It won't be a cannonball we'll be firing, no… it will be a sort of vehicle, carrying a group of bold explorers on a journey through the void. We'll land on the moon, dismantle the spells which keep the goddess imprisoned, and then… uh, if we're successful, Zora Alishanda will be able to instantly teleport us back here. That's the plan.'

'That's amazing,' says Venta, starry-eyed.

'I can see a few problems with it,' Philander says doubtfully. 'All of the cannons I've ever heard of were as much a danger to their crewmembers as they were to the enemy. Wasn't there a king of Aspitolm who blew himself up trying to fire a cannon? I dunno, how have you accounted for that?'

'Every part of the cannon itself will be studded with protective enchantments to prevent it from backfiring or blowing itself up. We only need it to fire once, but… that one time, we're going to make sure it works perfectly.'

'What about the people inside the cannonball?' asks Isolia, speaking up for the first time. 'Won't they be instantly pulverized when the cannon fires?'

'Protective enchantments,' says Jaqari. 'Layers and layers of protective enchantments.'

'It sounds like you're going to need a tremendous amount of magic,' you say.

'Oh yes,' he agrees. 'It's not something that can be done quickly. It'll take years.'

'How are you going to make sure that the projectile hits the target?' asks Venta. 'What'll happen if your explorers find themselves shooting past the moon, into the great beyond?'

'We'll need to be very careful when aiming the cannon. We'll do it with as much mathematical precision as possible, but there are a few variables which will be out of our control,' Jaqari admits. 'For that reason, we're planning to put some kind of propulsion device inside the vehicle which will enable the passengers to make corrections if they find themselves drifting off course. Although, we haven't worked out all of the details yet.'

'Hey, I just had an idea! If you can build a big gonne to shoot things at the moon, I reckon you could build one to destroy cities here on Oath. I mean, if you can calculate the precise angles you'd need to shoot something thousands of miles away, I'm sure it'd be relatively easy for you to shoot something that's only just over the horizon,' Phil says brightly. 'Just think of the possibilities! No doubt the Imperial Legion will shower you with gold if you agree to make weapons for them. You'll be rich and famous!'

Jaqari looks horrified. 'No! I wanted the space gonne to be used for good, to free our benevolent mother goddess, not to destroy cities!' You see him trembling slightly, his fists clenching and unclenching as though he's tempted to use them to break something. Then, he looks back at you, gulps, and says, 'Eh-heh… why don't you take a look around? See what we do here. Try not to get in anybody's way, but… I hope it'll be an education for you.'


On Sevenday, you ask Simony Bidwell to take you and the other members of Cadre 1F to the ancient Wranni burial mound which serves as the Explorers and Archaeologists Club's obstacle course. He leads you to a small and perfectly round hill, covered in grass and small bushes, just outside of the city. Under an old tree stump, concealed among the roots, there is a hole which leads down into a series of underground tunnels.

'Have fun,' says Simony. 'l'll wait out here until you come out.'

Isolia looks anxious. 'What if we don't come out?' she asks.

'I'll be sure to tell your parents the sad news.'

'I don't have any parents,' says Isolia.

'Lucky for you,' says Simony, smirking unpleasantly.

'You prat, don't scare her like that,' says Philander, shoving him.

You enter first, ducking under the mass of tree roots, into the dark, damp tunnels and deeper underground. With the warm light of the glowstone in your hand, you can see a rusted iron door blocking the passageway up ahead. It appears to be locked. You try it, just to make sure, and can't get it to budge.

To either side, there are smaller tunnels. To the left, you glimpse a small, vaguely humanoid creature with faintly glowing eyes. It snarls at you and runs away, disappearing into the shadows.

'That's a kobold,' says Venta, gazing after it. 'Some call them "buccas". They're lesser earth spirits. You'd normally find them in mines or deep caves.'

On the other side, to the right, you see only a long drop: a fall down into distant darkness.

What will you do?
[] Attempt to push, or kick, or shove the door open.
[] Use your rudimentary knowledge of Ritual Magic to come up with your own spell to unlock the door.
[] Ask one of your teammates to pick the lock. (Write in: who will you ask?)
[] Search for the key to the door.

[] Enter the left tunnel.
-[] Chase the kobolds away. When they're gone, search for the key to the locked door.
-[] Fight the kobolds! Get rid of them and steal their stuff.
-[] Attempt to converse with the kobolds. Ask them if they know where you can find the key. What do they want in exchange for their help?

[] Enter the right tunnel.
-[] Climb down into the abyss.
-[] It's time for a leap of faith: jump into the abyss!

[] Do something else (write in).

Chandagnac said:

You enter first, ducking under the mass of tree roots, into the dark, damp tunnels and deeper underground. With the warm light of the glowstone in your hand, you can see a rusted iron door blocking the passageway up ahead. It appears to be locked. You try it, just to make sure, and can't get it to budge.

To either side, there are smaller tunnels. To the left, you glimpse a small, vaguely humanoid creature with faintly glowing eyes. It snarls at you and runs away, disappearing into the shadows.

'That's a kobold,' says Venta, gazing after it. 'Some call them "buccas". They're lesser earth spirits. You'd normally find them in mines or deep caves.'

On the other side, to the right, you see only a long drop: a fall down into distant darkness.

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Click to shrink...

Encrusted with rust, the door is a thick slab of iron blocking the passageway, which doesn't move even a fraction of a centimetre when you push against it. The lock is unusual, of a variety you haven't seen before, which presumably indicates that its key will be similarly non-standard.

'Could you pick this lock, Isolia?' you ask. 'Or you, Phil?'

'I don't know anything about lockpicking. It's not a skill I've ever had opportunity to learn,' Isolia admits. 'I've been a pickpocket, at times, but…' She shifts uncomfortably. 'Well, you know, I did what I had to do. In the name of survival.'

Philander leans over to examine the lock. 'I could probably open it. Eventually, at least,' he says, frowning. 'But it's not any kind of lock I'm familiar with. And I doubt that the Explorers and Archaeologists Club would have made their obstacle course completely inaccessible to anyone who wasn't already a master of lockpicking. Which means that there must be some other way to open this door.'

You glance over to the side tunnel where you saw the kobold. 'Venta, what do you know about kobolds?' you ask. 'Are they likely to attack us? Can they be reasoned with?'

'Uhh… I've read that they're territorial and unfriendly, but they don't attack people without a lot of provocation,' she says.

'What do you mean by "a lot"? What exactly would they consider to be provocation?' asks Phil. 'Are we putting ourselves in danger just by coming down here? All of this is their territory, isn't it?'

Venta gives a helpless shrug. 'I don't really know,' she admits. 'But I've never read anything to suggest that kobolds are very dangerous.'

'I'm sure your brother wouldn't have brought us here if he thought there was any chance that we might die or be seriously injured,' you say, trying to reassure Philander.

'Well, I dunno.' He grimaces. 'Simony's got a nasty sense of humour, sometimes.'

'I'm going to talk to the kobolds,' you say, holding your glowstone out in front of you like a torch. 'Back me up, all right?'

As you enter the side tunnel, your teammates fall into step behind you. The walls are slimy, there is squelching wet mud underfoot, and there are roots hanging down from the ceiling above like a thick tangle of shaggy hair. Soon, the tunnel opens out into a small rounded cave, which seems to have been deliberately dug out of the soil of this artificial hill, as though a gigantic hand took a scoop out of it, long ago.

The kobolds are nowhere to be seen. At the back of the cave, there is a pile of rat skeletons, pottery shards, twigs, egg-shaped pebbles, and various other oddments which someone has gathered and stored here. Most of it seems to be worthless rubbish, but you see a glint of metal winking at you from somewhere underneath. Could that be the key you need to open the iron door? You reach for it.

'Thievesss,' a voice hisses at you. 'Little thievesss.'

A creature emerges from the wall, as though its body had melded with the wet earth. There is something reptilian about it, and also ratlike, but most of all it resembles the figure of man moulded from clay by inexpert hands. It is lumpy and clumsy-looking, with a fanged mouth and eyes that glow with cold luminescence.

'Oursss,' it says, waving a blocky hand in a gesture which encompasses the cave and its contents. 'Why you come here? Why you need to sssteal?'

Two more kobolds come out of the wall, standing beside the one who spoke. You are reminded of your teammates moving to back you up.

'We need a key to open a locked door,' you say. 'I think you've got it in your pile of… uh… treasures. Would you mind letting us borrow it? We'll bring it back straight away when we've finished with it.'

The lead kobold turns to look at his fellows. Some kind of wordless communication seems to pass between them. After a moment, they come to a decision.

'Take it,' says their leader in a voice like a heavy sigh. 'Take it and be gone.'

'Well, thank you,' you say, reaching into the pile, sifting through rat skeletons, pebbles and other odds and ends, searching for the key. You are intrigued to discover that some of the skeletons at the bottom of the pile have turned into stone, either partially or fully. 'Did you make these into fossils?'

'Yesss.'

'Why?' you ask, fascinated.

'Memoriesss. Wanted to presss…' The kobold hesitates, stumbling over the word. 'Keep them. To remember them.'

'But why?' you ask again.

The lead kobold gives an expansive shrug. 'They were our friendsss.'

Near the bottom of the pile, you find an iron key with a peculiar cross-shaped bit, specially shaped and grooved to fit an unusual lock. That must be the one you need. Also, there are three large and oddly-coloured pebbles. They seem to glitter in the light from your glowstone. You get the feeling that if you cut into them, you'd find crystals, or a high metal content, or something like that.

'Don't touch them,' says the lead kobold with a wince. 'Pleassse.'

'Um, that's fine,' you say, backing away. 'All I need is this key.' You turn around and show it to your teammates.

As you are about to leave, a few questions occur to you. You turn back to the kobolds. 'How long have you been here, anyway?' you ask. 'Can you tell me anything about the tomb?'

'Not long. A few yearsss. Monthsss, maybe.' The lead kobold utters a gurgling sigh. 'Who knowsss when they'll let usss go home?'

'Wait… this isn't your home?' you ask, astounded. 'Where did you come from and how did you get here?'

'Our home… up in the mountainsss and hillsss, with many other kobolds. They brought usss here. They call themselves ark… archi… arkay…' He gives up, shaking his bulbous head. 'Thievesss. Little thievesss.'

'The Explorers and Archaeologists Club did this? They took you from your home and brought you here to be part of their obstacle course?'

'Yesss.'

'How did they do that?' you ask.

Hesitantly, with great misgivings, the lead kobold indicates the three shiny pebbles you saw before. 'Our heartsss. Can't be without them.'

'Oh, I understand now!' Venta exclaims. Edging closer to you, she whispers in your ear, 'This world is teeming with gods. Sometimes, it seems like there's a god – or spirit – for everything you could possibly think of. Basically, kobolds are the gods of little pebbles.'

'I thought you said they were spirits, not gods,' says Phil, looking puzzled.

'There's no real functional difference between gods and spirits,' says Venta. 'It's just a matter of scale.'

Is there anything else you want to say to the kobolds?
[] Repeat the question: "Can you tell me anything about the tomb?"
[] Ask them if they have seen any other pupils attempt to complete the Explorers and Archaeologists Club's obstacle course.
[] Ask them why they consider a group of rats to have been their friends.
[] Ask them if they know where their real home is.
[] Ask them about the other kobolds they shared their home with.
[] Offer to take their heartstones and carry them back home.
[] Ask them if there is likely to be a reward for taking them home.
[] Say something else (write in).
OR
[] Thank them for lending you the key. Leave as quickly as possible.