Party
Konguq- Human Wizard Captain
Ace- Human Rouge, Quartermaster
Vodren-Human Cleric, Healer and Navigation
Bron- Dwarf Fighter, Master of Arms
Ryai-Elf Spellblade, Night Watch
The scene opens with the party facing down the large plague shark. It speaks, and everyone can hear it in their native tongue. Vodren tells the plague shark that this conflict can only end in blood. Before it could lunge at Vodren, Ace fired off a crossbow bolt and changed its attention to him. The shark bites into Ace, spreading its plague. The party struggles against the miasma it spreads, knocking Ace unconscious and Konguq suffering from the plague.
Ryai takes a shot at the shark, and it turns to the elf, telling him how he loves how frail elves are. It bites into him as well, infecting him with plague. With the wounds it acquired, the shark turns its tail and begins to flee with Gregor chasing after it. Vodren rushes to heal and stabilize the party, with Ryai managing to wake up. In the distance, the party hears Gregor wail and then cackle, indicating he killed the shark.
The air is tense as the party brushes with death. Ace is still unconscious from the encounter. Bron offers to raid the place while the party returns to ship. They take the Dimernesti with them as they leave the ruins. The scenery changes as they leave, with life springing into the tide pools. As they begin to walk, trees appear. For Vodren, it looks like the ones he grew up with in the goblin tribe; for Ryai, it's the trees of Qualinost, and for Konguq, it's the withering trees of Ice Reach. Two robed figures approach the group and welcome them to Wayreth. The party is slightly stunned to have traveled so far from their original location. The party follows the figures to the tower.
At the entrance, they are met by an elf named Ivelos wearing red robes. Ryai takes an interest in the elf, knowing that elves will outcast an elf if they choose any other robe other than white. Ivelos tells them that Konguq and Ryai were recommended to be ready for the Test of High Sorcery. Ryai asks who recommended them, to which the elf replies Rumblegut did. He sent a message to the tower that they had killed him, and now they were ready for it. Ryai recognizes the spell as a death curse cast by Rumblegut.
The party is taken into the tower and shown their rooms. Then, while counting out the rooms, they realized Bron didn't make it with them. The party requests a potion to help wake up their fallen allies. Ace wakes up extremely dazed and not too pleased with ending up in a wizard tower and retires for the night.
Konguq, Vodren, and Ryai go to check on the Dimernesti and wake him up. He, too, is not very happy to wake up in a wizard tower and demands to be taken home. The Dimernesti then drags Konguq to the nearest wizard, a white-robbed Silvanesti elf. They try to explain their situation to him, but he is extremely put off by the group, especially when they mention the death curse from Rumblegut. However, a black robbed dwarf named Beryl Runestone approaches the group. She tells them that an enemy of Rumblegut was a friend of hers and offers to help the Dimernesti get home. The Dimernesti, not pleased with waiting, storms off on his own. Konguq and he get into a disagreement, Konguq saying that he owes the party and should do as she says, and the Dimernesti pissed the party took him at all. Beryl casts a spell that freezes him in place, and she promises to get him home. Ryai notices the Rune symbol on her and recognizes it as a part of the Runestone clan. A clan of dwarves that is known to work with magic. Something uncommon for dwarves.
Ryai asks Beryl about Ivelos and wants to talk to him. Beryl tells him where he can be found and that the man is a bit of a suck-up, but Ryai wants to ask him a few things. Konguq and Ryai recount their stories from the past few days to Beryl. Their antics keep her entertained, after which the three go to bed.
Ace wakes up first and enters the common room. He meets Beryl first, and she offers him tea. He notes that it tastes like spicy mushrooms and enjoys it. Vodren wakes up next and tries to cast detect magic to see if he can locate Rumblegut's curse on the party. Unfortunately, he lacked the forethought to consider that he was in a wizard's tower and the whole place was covered in magic. He knocks on Ryai's door and asks if he can check him for the curse, which he obliges.
There is no evidence of the curse on the party. When he returns, Beryl mentions that the curse was probably just to send the party to the Tower and that Rumblegut probably didn't have enough time to come up with anything more clever. She offers Vodren the spicy mushroom tea, and he also enjoys it. Beryl talks of the dangers of the Test of High Sorcery and how Ryai and Konguq have about a 20% chance of survival. She tells them that they can bring helpers, but they only have a 5% chance of survival. Ace says he likes those chances since if they don't return with Konguq, there is a 100% chance Morris will kill both of them.
Konguq wakes up next, followed by Ryai. Both drink the tea, and Konguq likes it, but Ryai finds it unpleasant. The two fill the magic users in on having a helper for the test, and Ace chooses to go with Konguq While Vodren goes with Ryai.
Once they're ready, the party is taken to a room with 21 robed wizards sit.
On a chair of obsidian sits an older woman with black robes lined with silver named Ladonna.
On a chair of carmine sits a Human man in his 40s with a red robe and a red hat named, Justarius.
Finally on a chair of ivory sits a man in his 80s dressed in white named Par-Salian.
The Party explains what happened with Rumblegut and how he died. The Council, while not pleased with the way things occurred, understood that the world outside the tower was much more savage and warned the party not to kill any wizard in the tower.
The council then tells the party about the Test and what to expect. That it has a high fatality rate and that they will be forced to live through their worst nightmares. And that if they live and fail, their magic will be removed from them. Ryai and Konguq both accept despite the odds. They ask that they at least send a message back to their ship and crew to inform them, and they contact Bron. Bron has some very strong words in response.
Justinian, however, chastises Konguq for wearing chainmail and wielding a sword, questioning her trust in her magic. Ace shoots back that she can keep it, but they challenge him on Konguq's ability to keep it.
After the conversation with the wizard council, the party is taken to prepare for the test in the tower's library. Vodren decides to try and divine if what they need is in the library. Ryai lets him borrow his Shemesh Cards to use the Augury spell. He pulls as follows:
- Konguq- the magician upright
- Ace- the hanged man reverse
- Ryai- the fool upright
- Vodren- the Hierophant reverse
Through the reading, he divines that Konguq and Ryai will be perfectly fine in the library, but Ace and Vodren must look elsewhere.
Vodren starts by trying to find a place to commune with Habakkuk. In an attempt to commune with him, another wizard brings him to a room with all the constellations. He follows the King Fisher one on its path across the room and feels his connection deepen.
Ace struggles with what he can do to prepare for the trials in a way that can help Konguq. Doing what he normally does when he feels lost, he goes to the top of the highest point and reflects. He laments about feeling lost and wishing that either Tarth or Callum was there to help him. During his reflection, the white-robed wizard Par-Salian appears, floating before him. The two talk a bit about Ace feeling lost, and the old wizard gives him some advice, which helps Ace start to feel better and gives him some direction. He climbs down the tower and seeks someone who can repair his armor. He is pointed to a black robbed gnome wizard named Jabbie. Jabbie offers to enchant Ace's armor as a favor in exchange for an IOU. Ace is informed that Jabbie deals with animal splicing that creates creatures like owlbears. Ace, at first, turns down the offer and goes with just the armor repair. But Jabbie refuses and says he left all the normal repairs behind to become a wizard. Ace then agrees to his terms and gains +1 leather armor; after that, Ace looks for a way to practice with his cane sword.
Ryai's studying leads him back to the topic of the dragon orbs. He finds a little extra information about when they were first used in the second dragon war, where the wizards used them to lure the dragons to the ground and have the earth swallow the Dragons and their Bakali army whole. While there, he speaks with the librarian further about the dragon armies and how they wish they could get a hold of a live draconian to study. The librarian also tells Ryai about a new order of wizards not associated with the high council called the gray robes. Ryai also learns they work with the dragon armies.
The librarian also asks Ryai about his choice of robes, but he isn't certain and wants to ask Ivelos about his choice. The librarian directs Ryai to where he can be found.
Ryai finds Ivelos and tells him he wants to ask a few questions. Ivelos tells him he can't tell him about the trial, but Ryai didn't come for him about that. Ryai asks what led him to become a dark elf and why he chose the red robes. Ivelos tells him it was simply for love. He fell in love with a human woman named Andrea and figured since he was on his way out, he might as well don the red robes. He then asks if Ryai had thought about which robes he would wear, to which Ryai has.
He knows his family would prefer the white robes, but he, too, fears being close to an outcast and considers red as well. When Ivelos asks why, Ryai admits that he was not born a man, and Ivelos understands where some of the fear comes from. Ryai then also piles on the fact that he's the last of his line, running away from his fiance and the company he surrounds himself with. Ivelos tells him that being the last of his line, he might have some sway since, without him, the line ends. He does warn him about the trial again, but Ryai knows he will need stronger magic if he wants to find the dragon orbs. To which Ivelos gives him an incredulous look. Ryai tells him he found their locations in the tomb of Paaz-Sannon and has already discovered 4/5 of the locations. Ivelos tells Ryai that he needs to share the information with Justinian, knowing that the wizards, at some point, need to pick a side and will need the information if they're going to make a move. Ryai agrees, under the condition he gets credited for his contribution.
Konguq tries to find more information on her tribe's traditions and magic but unfortunately struggles to find anything else.
Konguq and Ryai are then interviewed about their magic, how they learned, and what spells they got.
Ryai starts saying that all he learned, he learned in the gardens of his home from his uncle, Aydrinel. His uncle, however, never took the test of High Sorcery. After leaving, Ryai began to learn from others on his journey until it led him here. He notes the greatest example of his magic use is when he used the Moonbeam spell against the Wereboar in Crossing. When asked how he felt about that, Ryai admits it was exhilarating.
Konguq's tribe hasn't had a wizard in over 100 years since the last one was killed. When Konguq began to show signs, they tried to educate her as best as possible, but where most of their information was kept was destroyed by the walrus men, and thus, they had very little. With the aid of one of the tribe elders, she did her best to teach herself and took off to learn more.
When asked how she felt about Ryai, who grew up and learned in the lap of luxury, she didn't seem to mind so much since the two were learning from each other.
When they asked Ryai about how he felt about Konguq being self-taught, Ryai admitted there was a sense of pride and infuriation when worked with her. He admired his uncle's skill and knew he was also self-taught. But he also uses the sense of infuriation as a motivator to do better in his own magic.
The two give them a list of their spells, and they are warned again about the trials and the risks to their companions. Ryai tells them he owes Vodren his life and won't throw him under. They doubt him on this.
After they were done, the party sat for a meal and discussed the upcoming trials. Ace reassures Konguq that he'll always have her back, and Vodren tells Ryai he'd never forgive himself if something happens to him. Konguq gives Vodren a pep talk, and Ryai asks if there are any more secrets anyone needs to say before they go into the trial. Everyone else said they had laid everything on the table previously and were going in with a clear mind.
Before they head to bed, Vodren tries to pray to Habakkuk to help the party in the coming trials. Habakkuk does not answer. Instead, he is shown the moon Solinari and feels Habakkuk can't help him here. However, the moon's blessing does fall over the party. Ace dreams of the night he challenged the Wereboar and stole his hammer from his hands. The next morning, the party wakes up, with Ace having a renewed sense of self, and they prepare for the trial.
Par-Salian tells them to trust their magic
Justinian tells them to trust themselves
Ladonna tells them to do whatever it takes to survive.
As the door opens before the four, there is a darkness that not even Ryai's vision can penetrate. Ryai grabs Vodren's hand, and he squeezes back in response. Ace slips something into Konguq's pack.
And they enter
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