Chosen by the Dragon God

Chandagnac said:

Raef turns to you. "The Tyrepheum Academy is that way," he says, pointing through a gap in the trees. Over the graveyard wall, past the intervening buildings, you can see a tall, domed building festooned with gargoyles, grotesques, and other architectural flourishes. "How do you propose that we go about this?"

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

"When Mishrak rescued me, he had to break through several wards," you say. "Would those same wards prevent you from using portal magic to get into or out of the school?"

"Wards need to be quite specific, they need regular maintenance, and they require large amounts of magical energy. Portal magic is very rare, so I doubt that anyone would bother to erect wards against it unless they had reason to believe that they were going to be attacked or burgled by someone like me," says Raef.

"Or Kelamon Dumar," Jana points out. "He used to be a pupil at this school, many years ago, didn't he? So, he probably knows the current headmaster and a few of the teachers. So, they may have set up a ward against portal magic – not enough to stop him, just enough to warn them of his arrival – in case he ever drops by for a surprise visit."

Raef pauses, considering her words. A shadow passes over his face. "I doubt it," he says at last. "For one thing, Dumar would probably take it as an insult. Also, I think it's unlikely that he would have taught them anything about portal magic, so they'd have had to invent an entirely new type of ward from the very beginning. Even if they'd succeeded, they'd still need to maintain it, and I can't imagine that it would ever have been worth the effort.

"Still, they could have done it," says Jana, stubbornly.

"It's possible, but extremely unlikely," says Raef. Turning to one side, he glances at you and asks, "What do you think?"

"I think it's worth the risk," you say. "I want to open a portal to Green Flame's office room and go there straight away. It would save a lot of time."

"She's a teacher, isn't she? What if she's meeting someone in her office?" Jana asks, determinedly pointing out the flaws in your plans: it appears that she's taking her role as your handmaiden seriously, trying to protect you from any dangers you may not have considered.

"If she's meeting anyone, she's probably meeting with Cadre 1F," you point out. "She's their tutor. I don't think she'd be meeting with anyone else, not this late in the evening. As far as I could tell, it didn't seem like the other teachers and students respected her very much."

"What makes you think that?" asks Raef, frowning.

You shrug your shoulders. "Well, they gave her a tiny, poky little office, barely larger than a broom closet."

"I think you're exaggerating," he says, though his eyes flash dangerously. "Still, if that's the worst they've done to her… well, it could have been a lot worse, I suppose."

"I can use my telepathy to show you my memories of her office," you say, eager for the chance to impress Raef by showing off your magical powers. "With your permission…?"

He raises an eyebrow. "Very well, let's try it."

It's a peculiar experience for both of you: while you are carefully constructing images out of half-forgotten memories and passing them on to Raef, you catch a glimpse of his past and the long, long life he has lived: you see places that no longer exist, people who have been dead for thousands of years, and a huge figure clad from head to foot in armour that shines like white light. Meanwhile, Raef tentatively licks his lips and asks, "Why do your thoughts taste like fish?"

"I'm the Chosen of Mishrak, remember? He's a god of the sea. I turn into a leggy mermaid whenever I get dunked in water," you inform him. "That's probably why."

"How do your thoughts taste like fish?" asks Jana, raising an eyebrow. "They're thoughts: they shouldn't taste like anything."

"It's a form of synaesthesia," Raef mutters. He closes his eyes for a moment. "Right, well… I'm familiar with the layout of the Tyrepheum Academy. Thanks to you, I know where Green Flame's office is; back when I was headmaster, it was a storeroom."

"They have plenty of other storerooms now. It seems like large parts of the school building were crumbling, almost derelict, and only being used for storage," you say, pensively. "Isn't that strange? The Tyrepheum Academy is the most prestigious school for mages in the Sambian Empire, rich people send their children there from all over, and yet there are parts of it that look like they're on the verge of falling to pieces. Why is that, do you think?"

"It's a symptom of the fact that the Sambian Empire itself is cracking apart," says Raef, with a grim smile. "Once, it was great and mighty, one of the most advanced civilisations in the world. Now, it can barely afford to maintain itself. Its glory days are long gone."

"Why did you decide to teach there?" you ask. "You could have been a teacher anywhere – I'm sure Quellonia's magic schools would have gladly accepted you – so why did you decide to teach Sambians about portal magic? Didn't you care about their slave-trading and empire-building?"

"When I first decided to become a teacher, Quellonia was a war-torn morass ruled over by dozens of petty kings who all claimed to be Entar Queldrake's true heir," Raef replies. "There were many things I disliked about the Sambian Empire, but it was a powerful, prosperous and stable nation with influence that stretched across the entire world. I thought that it would be a good place to find apprentices who would carry on my work." He sighs dismally. "Of course, I was wrong. About a great many things."

There is an uncomfortable silence. You glance around the deserted graveyard, suddenly feeling anxious: has anyone arrived since you last looked? Are you being observed? Is anyone listening in to your conversation? Fortunately, the answer to all of those questions appears to be 'no'.

"I suppose we might as well get on with it," says Raef, opening another portal.

You gaze through it, recognize Green Flame's office, and give Raef a nod. "Yes, that's it. Good job!"

"Is there anyone there?" asks Jana, craning her neck to try to get a good look.

"It appears to be deserted," says Raef.

"Well… she's a teacher. She probably has meetings with the other teachers, study sessions with Cadre 1F, detentions to oversee, and so on," you say. "I suppose we can wait for her, right?"

Raef gives you a nod, then steps through the portal. You follow him. Jana is barely a moment behind you.

"Very minimalistic," says Raef, glancing around the room: the walls are covered in old, faded, flaking paint; there is only one window, with blurred glass that lets in barely any light; there are five chairs around a desk laid out with various writing implements; there is a wastepaper basket, a bookshelf with only four books sitting on it, and nothing else. "Is this the room where she spends most of her time?"

"I have no idea," you admit. "But I doubt she has a bedroom or anywhere else. Elves don't need to sleep, right?"

"Not usually," he confirms. "Although, recently… I've met a few orcs who seem to enjoy it. They said it helps to keep them sane."

"Orcs are a type of elf, right?"

"Created by the Betrurian Empire, yes. Most of them were fully-grown adults – trained soldiers, usually – who were accused of various crimes. The Betruri wanted fearsome-looking, superhumanly-strong slave warriors, you see," says Raef, distractedly, still looking around.

"What are we going to do now?" asks Jana, practically. "Wait here, assuming that she's going to come back soon? Or head out there?" She indicates the door. "We could try to blend in with the student population, I suppose."

"There are hundreds of pupils here," you say, giving her a nod. "I doubt that everyone knows everyone else, so we shouldn't arouse too much suspicion."

"So long as I shapeshift to match you," says Raef.

"Exactly." You nod again.

What will you do now? (Choose one)
[] Wait in the office until Green Flame gets back.

[] Head out into the corridor, pretend to be pupils at the Tyrepheum Academy, and search for Green Flame or Cadre 1F.

[] Head out into the corridor, pretend to be pupils at the Tyrepheum Academy, and take this opportunity to explore the school.

[] Head out into the corridor, pretend to be pupils at the Tyrepheum Academy, and ask someone for help in finding Green Flame or Cadre 1F.

[] Do something else (write in).

Chandagnac said:

"What are we going to do now?" asks Jana, practically. "Wait here, assuming that she's going to come back soon? Or head out there?" She indicates the door. "We could try to blend in with the student population, I suppose."

"There are hundreds of pupils here," you say, giving her a nod. "I doubt that everyone knows everyone else, so we shouldn't arouse too much suspicion."

"So long as I shapeshift to match you," says Raef.

"Exactly." You nod again.

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

Despite suggesting that he would be willing to shapeshift a new disguise so that you could blend in with the Tyrepheum Academy's student population, Raef seems content to sit and wait, for as long as necessary, until Green Flame comes back to her office. By contrast, you start to get antsy almost immediately.

"What if she doesn't come back tonight?" you wonder aloud. "What if she's gone somewhere else, for whatever reason, and won't be back until morning? We could be waiting for hours!"

"There's no way to know if that is the case," says Raef, not-very-reassuringly. "Still, we've only been waiting for a few minutes. Waiting a little while longer won't do us any harm."

"It won't do us any good, either," you assert.

"No?" Raef's face is expressionless, but you suspect that he is amused nonetheless. "What if Green Flame comes back within the next five minutes? Or the next half an hour? Wouldn't that be worth the wait?"

"Well, what if she doesn't?" you ask, raising an eyebrow at him.

"I think we can stand to wait for a few minutes, don't you?" he replies.

"Oh, very well." With a heavy sigh, you sit down on one of the rickety wooden chairs, which for a moment you are afraid will collapse underneath you. Not because you're fat – you're not fat – you're just tall for your age! And those chairs are old and poorly made!

Jana scoots over to the bookshelf, examining the meagre collection of tomes. "These are all very basic spellbooks," she says, sounding disappointed. "Green Flame is thousands of years old, isn't she? And she's been using her magical powers all that time? So why would she need so many books that are basically just 'spellcasting for beginners'?"

"Most elves never had to learn how to use magic: they were given it by their creators," Raef explain. "Because it comes to them as easily as breathing – even easier, in fact since elves don't necessarily need to breathe – they never have to think about how they are able to use it. However, because Green Flame is a teacher, I am sure she has spent a great deal of time thinking about how she can teach her young pupils to use their magic, since they won't be able to use it as instinctively as she does."

"When you talk about elves and say 'them', are you including yourself?" you ask, looking curiously at him.

"Hmm… no," he says, after a moment's pause. "Nymandor gave me great power, it is true, but I have spent centuries learning about magic and developing my abilities in ways that my creator never foresaw. When I was Galadan the Mystic, I acquired a reputation as a master of the arcane arts – and not just because of my knowledge of portal magic – I was renowned as a mighty wizard, a master of many different masteries!"

"But still, you find it easier to learn magic because of what Nymandor did to you. And you wouldn't have had centuries to learn magic if you weren't an elf," you point out.

"You're right," he says, giving you a nod and looking thoughtful. "I am proud of my accomplishments, but they would not have been possible if not for my… unusual advantages."

"Anyway, if you were such a mighty wizard, how did Dumar manage to defeat you? Wasn't he a teenager at the time?"

"He was in his twenties. A young man, but he had plenty of experience by then," says Raef. "He took me by surprise. By the time I realised that I needed to fight back, I had already lost." A grim expression steals across his face. "That won't happen again."

"Hey, maybe this is a puzzle!" cries Jana, with a somewhat mischievous smirk on her lips, holding up one of Green Flame's books. "All four books have a coded message written in the same place on the inside covers! What do you make of that?"

Opening one of the books, she shows you the inside cover where someone has written, in a neat-but-slightly-childish hand, 'TLLI'. Then, she reveals that one of the other books has 'EHSO', another has 'AAIA', and the fourth has ' NIOR', apparently written by the same person, each of them in a very similar location, as if measured with a ruler.

"Perhaps it's part of the library's arcane filing system," says Raef sardonically.

Jana looks abashed. "Oh. I didn't think of that."

"I don't know that for sure," the ancient elf admits. "You could be right. Maybe it is a puzzle."

You sit in silence for another few minutes, idly drumming your feet on the floor.

"Hey, Elys, come over here and help me solve this puzzle," says Jana, in a transparent attempt to distract you. "You're incredibly clever, aren't you? I mean, you solved Professor Elthonar's secret code in only a few minutes. So, I'm sure whatever code Green Flame came up with won't be much of a challenge for you!" She gives you a slow, deliberate wink. "Isn't that right?"

"Give me the books, please," you say, rising to her challenge.

Can you solve the puzzle?
[] Write in.