You're surrounded by many men in masks, which resemble those of shamans that you've seen in old B-grade movies.  They all weild spears and poke at you with them, some of them stabbing into you.

You swing your sword, and the lot of them disappear.  You feel some sort of malignant smile past them, and see Ajax's sword, but it still disappears.  The people come back, and one pokes you in the chest.

It doesn't hurt-a man in a tunic covered in a short cloak is over you.  He's barely in his teens, and is carrying a shepherd's cane, which he just poked you in the chest with.  He is taken aback when you wake.

He looks back some, and shouts, "Pa!  Someone's over here sleeping!"

I roll over and get up, put my hand to my sword and take a look around as I readjust to the new surroundings..

This doesn't look like the last world...

"Who are you?"

"Pa, he's got the look of a bandit!"  The boy shouts again, and you see a middle-aged man come up, weilding his own staff.

"Aye, what's your business around here?  What're you doing in my fields?"  An older man, middle-aged, comes and stands between you and the young man.  He weilds a shepherd's staff of his own.  You smell the scent of fresh air and sheep in the area.

"My business?  I'm a a seeker of knowledge.  I seek to fully understand the body and the limits of the universe and to understand and manipulate my surroundings to the best of my abilities.  I am on a journey to discover all that I can.

Please accept my apologies for resting on your property unannounced.  I mean no harm, but if you'll allow it, I seek a place to stay, and perhaps in return I can teach you some of what I have learned in my travels?"

I take my hand away from my weapon and relax a bit, ready to call fire to my hands should the need arise.

With Ajax gone it looks like my plans have moved up a bit.  If things go well, I may be able to accomplish much here.

Now that Ajax is gone, you feel a lot better.  The air is fresher and you're more energized.  Less of your movement is strained or forced.  You even feel a little lighter.

The shepherd looks at your eyes and says slowly, "You can come back to the house, but know that you're not welcome yet.  I want to see this pay that you're talking about."

He looks to his boy and says, "Back to work, Nathaniel!"  The boy nods, dropping his head a little, and rushes over to a few sheep that you see are getting away from the flock.

"Very well, my belongings should be around here somewhere..."

I sense for my belongings, and other versers.

You find all of your things easy enough.

And you do sense a vector, but not in any direction.  It's in the ground some.  There's a verser, but clearly quite a distance away on this planet.

"Right, onwards we go, and I can perhaps show you a bit of what I might be able to teach you."

As we walk, I try to create a small flame in my hands to test the magical capabilities of the world.

The energy is very controlled in your hand-more than normal.  You can tell that magic comes easy in this world, but it's something more.  Your natural energies into it flow better.  Probably another side-effect, now that Ajax is gone.

The man drops his staff and jumps back when you summon fire.  "You're a magic man!  By the Spirits, I beg for my rudeness!"  He bows his head some, in deep respect.

The house is now in sight.

I raise an eyebrow, "A magic man, sir?  Are there more people that can do similar things around here?"

"Did you not learn your art from Haven?  All who possess talent and money enough go there to learn of the spirits and their arts.  I've never heard of one perform magic without presenting their totem first, though.  How strange..."

He looks around at you.  "My apologies, but my eldest son is at Haven now, and sends words about what he learns there."

"I learned magic from a friend of mine, one I met a couple years back... it was my intention to teach you some magic in return for giving me shelter.  All I require is shelter and somewhere where I can practice.  Can you describe this Haven to me?  What type of place is it, and what do you mean by a totem?"

He talks to you as he takes you to his home.  Immediatley, the man sits you down and shouts for his wife to make the two of you some food-the nice stuff.

"My son writes to me regularly-I have many letters that I keep in a pile here."  He grabs a few, and reads one part aloud.  "My son writes that the totems are 'magical rocks, taken after intense training and crafted by the users themselves.  They are clear to represent the magician in the highest aspect.  Totems are usually an animal, and I look foreward to recieving my own soon.  I won't be writing a letter about it-I want to suprise you when I visit in the coming weeks.'"  He smiles after reading the letter, clearly proud.

"He's due to visit in the next few days, and I'm sure he'd be more than happy to tell you all about Haven.  I wouldn't dare to say I'm worthy of performing magic, though.  I am a humble shepherd."

"Is it alright for me to take a look at a couple?"

If he agrees I levitate a few over to me and browse through them to see if I can discern anything of importance of how magic is done and such.

If he doesn't agree I remain calm and silent waiting for food or whatever.

Food is brought out, and the man lets you read; however, he does occasionally use this opportunity with you to boast about how talented the boy is.  From the letters and the father's boasting, you learn that the boy he's talking about is named Adrian.  A frequent comment the father says about him is that "he was so brilliant, he got his way all the way to Haven with but a shepherd's wage."

You find that noble-birthed people usually go there to learn their magic.  The magic is rather interesting, it seems.  In Haven, most of the time is spent learning about the world in general with basic classes, as well as those that are meant to challenge the mind to think.  After some years, the children there grow.

Once their magic is strong enough, the young magicians imbue a totem to use themselves, which is a focus for their magical energy.  Once they have a totem, they are taught spells that are mostly combative in nature, but there are some others created for convenience, it seems.  From the letters, you also get the feeling that Adrian does care for his brother, Nathaniel.  In a few letters, he complains that the father doesn't send word about his young brother enough to him.

"You must be proud to have a son that is so talented.  How far away is this Haven?  Just curious.. and sir, if you have such a gifted son, surely you could learn to use some magic as well.  If you'd be willing to let me stay here, I'd gladly teach you a few things."

"Aye, I may have a gifted one off at Haven, but I have another here that is but a simple shepherd as I.  He shall live close to the land, having not the intellect to profit elsewhere.  Haven isn't so far off-perhaps four days' journey on foot, with appropriate rest.  I expect my Adrian to have left by now and be on his way here-or a letter in his stead to arrive."

The man seems content to live mundane in life.  "With magic comes dangerous things.  I live a life happy here-if I were to learn magic, I might be taken into service of the country myself at Haven.  I couldn't bare to leave my land here.  You should probably go, though.  Perhaps with my son once he arrives.  The boy will know the way back, most definitely."

"Then perhaps but a simple spell that surely could assist you around here?  A simple spell that will create water.. surely your flock or yourself and your family could use some water to drink?  The manner in which I teach, requires you to have a fair amount of endurance, something I'm sure you sir, have an abundance of.

  You'll be slightly more tired upon using the magic in the manner I teach it, but if you're creating water, then surely you will be refreshed.  It is but a simple spell, and if you'll let me stay here for a few days, I wouldn't want to do so without at least teaching you something, for your hospitality."

"Only if you insist, but I cannot just call you guest while you're here.  What is your name?  I am Kendal, and my wife's name is Mildred."

He lets you stay in Adrian's room for the time being.  We can take this at a day-by-day speed at the moment.  What are you interested in doing during your first day here (this being using the rest of today, which is about half a day).

"My name is Avahur."

For the rest of the day I intend to go through all the spells I know and get use to how they feel on this world, and with Ajax gone.

You head out and start practicing your magic.  The family comes to watch, including Nathaniel later on during the day.  He seems enthralled with your magic, and very enthused to see you practice it.  You see the father treat him somewhat coldly, but it's nothing too bad to note.  Soon, the father and mother head inside, but Nathaniel is still there watching.

The young man doesn't take his eyes off of what you do the entire time, and approaches you when you're through, as it's getting dark.  "You're a magic man?  Where did you learn everything from if not from Haven?  And how do you do it without a totem?"

"I have traveled far, and many people can do magic.  But the manner in which they go about doing it is different.  Some I'm sure use totems so that is doesn't drain them much at all when they use magic.  Then there are those like myself, who use our stamina to power our magic.  The longer I use magic without resting the more tired I am.  But it would take a while of really strong spells, or constant use for me to get tired quickly.

I also, as I'm sure you can tell, wield a sword, and through training with that, it helps increase my stamina.  I train to increase my stamina, which then allows me to use magic longer before getting tired.  It also helps build concentration.

Some other people get their power from divine beings, and draw on that as a source to use magic.

It depends on the person and who their teacher was.  There are many ways to do something to still achieve the desired result.  For instance you can pick up a sheep and carry it over somewhere else, or you could use magic to do it.  But using magic, if you don't know your limits can be risky, you might end up dropping and injuring the sheep.  So, while all magic does have its risks there are multiple ways to do things.

Your brother uses a totem I'm sure, while I don't need to.  But if we wanted to use magic, I'm sure we could both do so and still create the desired effect but doing something entirely different.

Magic can be manipulated, the manners of doing so vary person to person, but if you understand the concepts, then through training, practice, and time and effort, eventually you can reach the desired effect.  But all users are the same at its core.  We manipulate magic to achieve a purpose."

I try the sleep spell before heading to bed, and then get some rest.

Nathaniel is still wide-eyed about the concept of magic, but he goes to sleep himself that night.

You rest through the night, but wake the next morning to a slight sound.  Your experience in stealth tells you that there's someone in the room, and you rouse.  Out of the corner of your eye, you see Nathaniel sneaking in the room, and he's almost made it to your pack.

He's not that good at sneaking, especially compared to you.

I calmly say to him...

"I wouldn't touch that if I were you.  Even if you are curious, it isn't good to be sneaking around.  And if you are trying to sneak around, doing it to take a look into my things isn't exactly something your father would approve of, right? I'd suggest you back away from it."

If he backs away I get up and stealthily move over to the door, as quietly as I can and see what is going on, and where he went.  If he just stands there, I levitate my pack over to me, say some garbled words that sound like it could be a spell, and put it next to me, then add, "I just activated a spell, if you try and touch it, well, things won't go well.  I understand your curious, but it'd be easier just to ask me about it."

Nathaniel gets up, slowly.  He is startled by you, and you see a small flame pop into his hands as he says the spell you know for fire.

Before you can levitate your stuff over to you, he gets rosy-cheeked and bolts for the door, immediately trying to escape.

Not bad..

I dart on over towards the door and if I can get a clear line of sight to him, I use levitate to lift him in the air and hold him as I move over towards him, and inspect him.

You easily beat him over there and get your spell off in time.

He's helplessly floating in the air and you approach him.  It seems as if he learned your spell overnight, but still only knew it well enough to have a lick of fire in his hand.  You can't help but remember Hector's attempt at water and how difficult it was for the Trojan hero to learn a simple spell like that.

"Please!  Please, don't kill me!  I w-was only curious, that's all!"

"Kill you?" I ask him curiously..  "Why would I do such a thing?  I simply want you to know not to try something of this sort again.  I understand you're curious, that's fine, but just ask, you'll get into a lot less trouble and it'd be a lot easier.  What is the worse thing that can happen?  I say no?  Then what?  Then you go back to being curious and hope that I'll eventually pull something from there, and if I do, you'll know what is in it, and if not then you'll never know.  Some things are better if you don't know much about it."

I think for a moment..

"Now, if I put you back on the ground, will you return from whence you came and leave me some peace, without trying to see what I carry around?"

<<How tired do I feel?  Do I feel rested enough to go on through the day? Or am I still tired a bit?>>

His face is relieved, but he turns back to you before exiting through the doorway.

"Please, don't tell my father about this.  He'd be angry with me."

He then leaves you to your own devices in the room.  You don't feel tired at all, and finally get a chance to admire the scenery that Adrian kept here.  The place seems well-organized, spartan if not for some interesting crystal and glass constructions on his desk.  They're of different animals, and all look beautiful in design.  You hadn't noticed them the night before.

You're well rested and ready to start your day, if you want.

I spend the day trying to teleport, concentrating on that spot in the back of my head that should make it go smoothly.  If it works well on this world, I spend the entire day trying to improve my mastery over it.  So that I can do it quickly, like pollux could, quicker if possible.  But anywhere quicker than having to concentrate for a minute would be good.

If I can't teleport, then I spend half of the day doing training with my sword, and the other half of the day doing endurance training.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:54, Wed 25 Feb 2009.

You manage to shave time for teleporting down by about half a minute, so it only takes roughly 30 seconds for you to do it now.

When you go jog for your endurance training, you see Nathaniel in the fields herding the sheep with his father.  The boy is doing the work of three men with how much he runs around to help the sheep, which are especially troublesome today.

You can tell that Nathaniel is tired, but he keeps on running for any hint of stray sheep.

You can decide to do something for the night or you can just go to sleep and tell me your plans for the next day.

I attempt the sleep spell again after I move my pack next to me and head to sleep for the night.

<<The next day I intend to work on teleporting again, but this time, I'm going to create some dirt to rub on the spot I need to concentrate on to make it easier, to try and cut the time down even more, since I will have something physically there representing where I need to concentrate at.  Then I'm going to go through my knowledge of the greek language, and my knowledge of spells in general, and attempt to create a spell for shooting ice instead of water.>>

The next day, you start training early in the morning, considering how little sleep you need with that spell.

The teleportation is MUCH easier with the clod of dirt on the ground.

When you reach out for your magic, modifying the words and purpose of your water spell, you create a ball of ice in your hand, which suprises you, the cold causing you to drop it.  The ice shatters on the ground.

Magic-Ice Spell: 0@1.

You don't get much more practice done, and it's noon.  What stops you is the sound of the father excited, coming to grab you by the arm and take you indoors.  He seems overjoyed.  Inside the home, you find a young man elegantly dressed in what looks like a comfortable silk outfit sitting down.

He's sipping on a drink in front of him.  You can't see any resemblence to the father.  Instead of innocent, ignorant eyes, his are full of natural intellect and confidence.  You see something around his neck that catches your eye-a chain with some sort of metal figure attached to it.  The figure is that of a kestrel.

He simply puts his cup down.  "Good evening."

"Good Evening.  My name is Avahur, are you Adrian?"

I look the man up and down and keep a firm gaze on him as we talk...

He looks you up and down, and returns his eyes to meet you.  His stoic gaze matches yours.

"My father has been telling me that you do magic, but haven't heard of haven.  Care to offer an explanation?  All citizens are required to report any and all rogue magicians, so that they might be included in the census.  Haven wants to know who all is out there."

He takes another sip, then you can sense magic being focused in the statuette on his neck.

"I assume that is your totem, seeing as it is gathering magic..  I haven't heard of Haven, because I'm a wanderer.   I journey to many places and I learned magic from a friend... well, combat magic I learned from him, my teacher at an academy taught me other forms of magic.  I attended an academy, one similar to Haven, and learned magic there.  I became a wanderer setting out to learn all that I can, it was only recently that I came to the area.  Perhaps you'd be willing to show me how you do magic?"

I also start gathering heat energy in my hands, should I need it...

"Are you challenging me, rogue?"  He gives a small smile.

The man rises to meet your height.  You see now how tall he actually is-he has a different bone structure than the father, a tall and thin structure.  His composure also wreaks of proper tutoring in ethical behavior.  He stands with his back straight, proudly.

"I am not as skilled as some in the totem arts, but I can hold my own against a rogue.  Let us make a pact-If I win I demand that you disclose the location of this academy and the one who taught you magic.  Also, you must come with me to Haven.  Oh, and of course you must give me your totem for the duration of our trip to Haven, until you're deemed worthy to weild it again.  What do you wish for if you best me?"

"First off,I don't enjoy being called a rogue, I'm a warrior, and a proud one at that. Second, I want to go to Haven with you anyway, so that point is moot. Third, I don't use a totem. Fourth, I don't want to duel you, I simply want to see how you use magic, since the concept of using totems is foreign to me.  Fifth, I don't even know where the Academy is in relation to here... my method of travel is a bit...different than most.  Will you agree to show me how you use magic?"

Adrian is taken aback when you mention your method of magic not involving a totem.  His mouth opens and closes a few times, but then his gaze returns to your eyes.  "It's good that you will come willingly to Haven."

He puts his hands up to his totem, and he says a spell in some off-shoot of latin.  The area around his hands begins to glow bright.  You could tell before he finished the spell that it would create light, and there his hands are, glowing.

"Before I can take you to Haven, I suppose I need to see your magic as well.  It will help me judge how to present you, and give me time to think on it myself as well.  If you're looking to be enrolled, I'll let you know that there's very little chance of that-at your age."

"I simply wish to speak to the headmaster...  but since you've shown me yours.. Well, snapping makes it easier, but it isn't necessary, and its one of the basics of spells..  ready?"

I wait for a moment, and snap my fingers to create fire, let it sit there a moment or two, then extinguish it.

"That's...strange to say the least.  I've known some that could cast without focusing on their totems, but to not even be touching one?  That is dangerous indeed...  We have to leave immediately for Haven.  I've got to get news of this back to them."

Adrian looks truly troubled by this, and addresses his father next.  "My apologies, but we have to be going NOW.  I know that the plan was to stay, but I have no choice in the matter."  He gestures to you.  "You have a few moments to get ready to leave, especially because you don't have a mount."  He leaves in the direction of his room, the one that you stayed in.

You see Nathaniel.  He seems to understand what's going on, and flinches when Adrian says that you have to leave.  His eyes are full of ambition now, not like when you first saw him.

I head up to his room, grab my pack, and tell him I'm ready.

The two of you set out on the road relatively quickly.  Nathaniel isn't there to see you two off.  You have an uncomfortable feeling in your gut.

After a day's walk, Adrian says that you two have gotten further than people normally do walking in a day, and he throws a bedroll out for himself.  It looks like he only brought one.

I first create a mound of dirt raised up from the ground, then cast the sleep spell, and proceed to fall asleep on the mound of dirt...waiting for Adrian to be asleep before I fall asleep.

"That's incredible magic that you do.  I don't know how you do it, but that might be your ticket to get into Haven if you want to.  Why do you want to meet with them, by the way?"

Adrian asks you, laying on his bedroll as he looks at the mound of dirt you rose up.

"Why do I want to meet them?  I am a sage in search of knowledge.  There is much I can teach, and much more I wish to learn, is there something wrong with wishing to learn?"

"I was just curious-You see, sometimes, people are cautious of coming to Haven with magical abilities.  You're required to work for the Empire the rest of your life.  It's hard to settle down and have children, unless it's with another magical person among the Haven."

You hear a rustling nearby, and smell something strange when the wind blows.  It's a faint scent of cooked meat and smoke, barely noticable.  Someone has a camp set up somewhere close.

"I've worked for some form of government, empire or however you wish to call it all my life.  I've led thousands of troops into battle and came out victorious, I've been given sections of the king's land for excellence in battle..  It is nothing new to me..  It seems there is another near by..."

I look around and sniff for what direction it may be...

It's up-wind of you, in the direction of the now-still bushes.  If there's anything behind them, it's stopped moving since you said that there was someone nearby.

Adrian gets up some, in his traveller's clothes (people don't wear silk on road trips around here) and puts a dagger strap on his hip.

I create a large gust of wind to shoot at the bushes, and if I can see anyone, I levitate them into the air.

Lo and behold, there was someone there, who tried to run after your gust of wind.

You easily lift him into the air, and his brown hood drops from his head, to reveal his face.  Adrian had been preparing a spell, but dropped his hands when he saw the person.  "Nathaniel."

The boy was trying to break free of your levitation, but couldn't move.  He stopped struggling so much sooner this time.

"Well, hello there.  I bet your glad I didn't use water..  I thought about it, but meh, wind is much easier, and it would scare but not annoy many animals..  Adrian.. thoughts on the matter?"

Something is strange about the levitation.  You feel a part of it break, but are secure that he can't move.

All of a sudden, you see him mutter the word, a fire in his yes, "FLAMMA!"  You see what part of him broke through your levitation-his pointer finger on his left hand.  It's pointed at Adrian, who grabs his totem and summons some sort of barrier in front of him just in time to stop the attack.  The shot of fire whips around it, but dies out.

"Well, that was a bit unexpected...  I see you picked something up when I was practicing.  I should congratulate you on learning the spell, but by attacking him, you probably just got yourself into a whole mess of trouble.."

I shift my focus to ground to our right and lower him over to it...

Then I create a shield of water in front of me.

"I'm going to let you go, but know that if you try anything...  regardless of how fast you run, I can catch up to you."

I release the spell.

Adrian looks almost heartbroken as he sees Nathaniel run off into the darkness.

He doesn't droop, doesn't even move.  It's as if he can't act.  No, it's that he doesn't know what to do at the moment, it seems.

"What's happened over the years?"  He looks down at his hands, shaking slightly.

As he runs, I focus on the ground in front of him, wait for him to pass it, then teleport over to him.

Should I end up right behind him, I grab him, put a hand around his mouth, and use the other hand to keep on tapping lightly on the side of his head to ruin concentration.

"Know that if you continue to struggle I can create fire in your mouth."

If he stops struggling, I bring him back over to Adrian.

Should I not be able to teleport or catch up to him in that manner, then I turn to Adrian.  "I assume something went on between you and your brother?"

You cut him off, and he runs straight into your arms.

He has rage in his eyes, but he calms down after your threat.  Immediately, he's compliant, though you can tell that he doesn't want to be.  He constantly looks side to side, trying to find a way to escape the situation in any way that he can.

When you make it back to Adrian, he looks so confused, as if he were hit by a bus.  "Whhy did you do that?  How did you do that, Nat!?"  The boy looks aside roughly, to you.  He's no longer facing his brother with his face.

I whisper to him so that his brother can't hear..

"Apologize now and head back to your home..  perhaps in the future I can train you in the way of doing magic my way, but at least face your brother, you have much to learn."

Then, a bit louder..

"So? Why did you attack him?"

Nathaniel grimaces at his brother, and sighes.  After a few moments, he submits to your request and says, "Fine.  I'm sorry."  You can tell the words are very forced.

He looks up to you again, "Well?  Are you going to let me go now?"

"Adrian? Anything more to ask before I let him go?"

If Adrian has nothing to say I let him go, if he does I keep him there.

"No, let him go.  I won't turn my own brother in."

Nathaniel looks back, but ultimately runs off.  You sense some tension with Adrian, but he goes over to his bedroll to sleep.

Do you want to to question him or just head to sleep for the night?  If you head to sleep, state what you plan on doing in the morning, please.

I cast the sleep spell and go to sleep.  When I get up in the morning, if he is still asleep, I take out my swords and do some training.  I intend to ask him about it in the morning on the road to Haven.

Adrian is still conked out in the morning.  He sleeps a little longer than normal, but wakes up and seems a little better than he did last night.

It looks like he's put it behind him, and he's ready to head out.

Did you want to deviate from the path at all on your way, or just head straight for Haven?  I can do some fast-forwarding.  You can also put any questions you have for Adrian on the way.

Meh, he's put it behind him, as will I...for now.  Fast forwarding works, I don't plan to deviate from the path.  While we walk I ask him simple questions about the history of the area, and Haven's history to pass the time, if he knows it.  If not, then just about Haven in general.

He describes Haven as an incredible place, a large academy that takes up the area of a city.  It has an outer perimeter stories tall, and farming area within the grounds, in case of a seige of the place.  He says it's as if it's a small kingdom surrounded by great walls, but it is a thriving city.

Many people in the urban section of the city have totems and work for the security of the Empire, which Haven is the capital of.  He explains that their worry of other magical uses is because they fear that there's another great mass of land in the world, and have heard rumors of magicians coming from there and wreaking havok, invoking people here to fight against the Empire.

Bandits raid supply lines, or try to, but they never come anywhere near Haven's shipments, fearing the seal too much.  When you arrive at the city finally, you see the Seal of Haven.  It looks familiar, but you can't quite put your finger on it.  You do know it's a magical symbol, and you've seen it before in your studies.  When you ask Adrian, he says that he doesn't know, and can't divulge where they got it-only that it has to do with the totems.

He stables the horse in town, which is glad to have a rest after the few days, and Adrian changes into a green, silk outfit.  Again, you feel a small envy for the comfort that it clearly gives him.  You see many people dressed like that in the city, the majority hurrying somewhere with totems around their necks-of many different animals.

"I'm slightly surprised you aren't sick from the outfit that I wear..  I'm thinking of washing it some time..  it's been a while since I've seen it's natural color..."

I look over the armor I'm wearing, recalling when it was given to me, and then feel the cloth beneath it, recalling the training I received, and take a short trip down memory lane...  (I'm currently wearing the armor from the world where I met Pollux, and the stealth armor I keep beneath it, it's black, skin tight, etc.)

"Though, if possible, I would like to speak to the Headmaster, if possible.  There are several topics I'd like to speak to him about... including the Seal.. I recall seeing something like it in my travels..."

Adrian smiles.

"I don't know about seeing any 'headmaster'.  Here, we call him The Pincale.  He's a master of totem use.  I can't pull the kind of strings to introduce you to him, but I can take you to the authorities here-which was my intention to begin with.  Through them, you might be able to apply for training here in Haven.  Are you ready to go?"

"Sure..  but please don't make me to be some form of rogue magician..  I'm merely a wandering sage, a scholar, in search of knowledge."

I walk with him to the Authorities.

"I will.  Just don't tell them anything about my brother."

He takes you to a place with about three men inside, all with elegant gowns and totems around their necks as well.  They are much older than Adrian, and address him, asking him what you are doing here.

He reports to them that you're a man who's recently discovered a use of magic, and claims that your memory is sketchy.  He implies that you've been to a source of magic, but don't recall it at all.  They buy it, and take you by the hand (figuratively speaking), kindly bringing you to a room with some comfortable couches to lounge on.

Soon, an aged man enters, spectacles on and sharp eyes.  "They tell me that you've recently discovered magical abilities.  Can you describe what you can do?  Do you talk to spirits, find yourself with abnormal reflexiveness?  Do you feel as if you lose control of yourself at times?"  His eyes are going over you while he asks these things, as if he's a doctor examining a patient.

"Greetings, I am merely a sage, a scholar in search of knowledge.  I have found that I can use magic, but it merely drains my energy a bit.  Spirits?  Abnormal reflexiveness or losing control? No... I haven't had any such symptoms.. You know what I can do, so I feel inclined to ask, what, good sir, do you do?"

"I'm here to examine those who seek to gain entrance into Haven's martial force, of course training is required first.  The young man who brought you here said that he believed you were of decent character and talented in magic.  Can you present a simple use of your magic at will?"

"Sure.."

I snap my fingers and create a flame.

"My apologies, but that won't suffice.  Here, this is an easier test-can you cause a flame to appear away from yourself, instead of coming from your hands, or perhaps another form of magic?  Can you move anything with your magical abilities?"

"Sure...  there is more I can do, but I wouldn't want to get this room dirty with it.."

I create a shield of flame in front of me and step away from it.

When he sees the shield of fire, he hops up and shouts a powerful spell of water.  The water pours from an an invisible source from all sides of the shield, and disappears once the fire has gone.

While you scared the hair off the old coot, he sits down calmly once he collects himself, and politely asks you to be seated back as well.  "Yes, yes.  I suppose that qualifies you to join, as well as the good word of one of our current members.  The magic you use is indeed incredible.  I believe you to be worthy to go and claim a totem now, if you wish.  Still, you should know that death is highly probable.  I'd like you to go through more trials before you go off.  Also...your clothing...is rather barbaric.  Do you have anything more elegant than battle armor to change into?"

"Death is highly probable?  Would you prefer I not use fire?  Here, how about this..."

I create a shield of Water.

"I have some questions of my own to ask you..  See, water is a bit less dangerous, but it can make a mess of things.."

If he agrees to answer some questions..

"First, I'd like to know more about totems, what do they do?  How are they used, is it safe to use totems?  Why are they in the forms of different animals?

Second,  What trials are you referring to?

Third, more elegant than battle armor?  Not at all..  but if you'll let me go outside.. or go to a room you don't mind being dirty.. I can certainly wash it, so that it looks a bit more presentable.. than now.."

If he doesn't want to answer then obviously I don't ask..

"First, introductions."  He rises, and raises his own hand after looking at your water shield.  You feel a breeze go into it, as water went into your fire before, and the water is quickly dried up.

"I am Magician Drefus.  The way things work in Haven are with patrons and clients.  At my rank, I'm allowed to take one client at a time, and help them develop skills and gain totems of their own.  Clients raise the popularity of their patrons mostly, which helps me gain advantages in Haven.  Totems are magical artifacts found in ruins.  They take the form of animals that the spirits chose to be represented as.  It's very dangerous to go hunting for totems, especially those that are powerful."

He laughs some when you ask if totems are dangerous.  "Of course not.  They are spirits, used as tools by us.  They can be sent out to do our bidding, or we can use their spiritual energy as to not drain ourselves when we perform powerful magics.  The spirits residing in totems are ancient and much better at gathering magical energy than we are.  Totems lie on alters in ruins, and control the ruins from those alters.  To gain the totem, all you have to do is reach it and the spirit submits to your will; however, a more immediate concern is your sponsorship from a patron..

..I'm willing to be that patron, and help you decide which ruins you wish to go to in order to find a totem for yourself.  You have more magical potential than I've ever seen before.  Room and board are just the start of how I can help you develop further."

"Sounds good.  Room and Board are always good.. It would be good it seems to have you as a patron, if of course you'd be willing to accept me.  Although, if you would be my patron.. I do believe you should be aware of ALL that I can do..or at least most of it...  in regards to magical means.."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:22, Sat 28 Feb 2009.

"Then my client you shall be!  Now, come with me-my home is outside of Haven.  I find it easier to live outside of this city.  Don't worry, though, it's not a long walk-a special spell that my totem assisted in crafting."  He gestures down at the rug on the ground, which you're standing on with him, and taps it with his foot three times.

You see a bright light fill the room, and Drefus smile.  Then, you...don't feel any different.  It's then that you notice some of your surroundings have changed.  There's a wide fireplace to your right, a staircase to the left, and you're in the middle of a decent-sized lounging room.  There are books covering an entire wall.

"Welcome to my humble abode.  Your room is upstairs, and I believe that you'll find the accomodations up there to be to your liking-don't worry, the towels are self-cleaning over time.  Come back down when you're cleaned up."

Tell me what you decide to wear when you come down, and what exactly you did to clean up when up stairs.

I go up stairs, then head to the bathroom.  I disrobe and completely wash and dry the armor.. the stuff I don't get wet of course, is the high tech gear.  I use nearby towels to dry it..  I also clean the stealth gear.  I use wind spells to dry the gear off..  Then I take out and clean a pair of modern sweatpants and a long sleeve shirt, (The gear I was wearing when I died the first time, it's comfortable, and easy to use in a dojo.)  I wash my hair a bit, and then when I'm done put my armor into the bag.  I take out my sash, tie it around my waist several times over, and put my sword in it.

After that I wet my hair and shake my head a bit to set it... and drop my gear in my room, then head back downstairs, being in comfortable clothing again.. the first in a long time..

When you are clean and comfortable in your outfit, you find yourself much lighter.  Through your worlds, you've become accustomed to carrying around heavy armor on yourself at all time.

Now, it's not that you feel naked without it, but rather less restrained.  You also feel your wind magic, when you dry your clothes, is easier to use, as you're more comfortable.

You get to the bottom of the stairs, and Magician Drefus greets you again, his sagely eyes looking you up and down.  "Much better.  Now, are you ready to look and see what totem you're interested in getting?"  He taps a large, brown book that is in his hand.  Then, you see more behind him on a sofa.

"I'm ready, let's see what there is.."

I go over and look through the books to see if anything strikes my eye..

"Well, what are you looking for exactly?  What do you want the spirit's qualities to be?  Every spirit is different, but occasionally the animal representations are the same.  Do you want strength, agility, power, mental quickness?  Tell me what all you're looking for and this will be quicker."

"I have plenty of strength, agility, and power..  One must be able to defend himself on the road, and I'm an accomplished swordsman,  I've gained the previously mentioned attributes from that... mental quickness however, while I find I possess a fair amount, more certainly can't hurt.  Are there any other attributes that you know of?  If not, mental quickness works."

"Well some common personalities include patience, stamina, creativity.  Some animals are associated with certain elements.  Some animals are blessed with certain prowess in powers, like transformation or regeneration.  They are as countless as the stars in the sky."

"Regeneration sounds good.  Battle seems to have a tendency to follow me, like I said, I'm an accomplished swordsman, regeneration seems like it could be useful..  but then again..  if you're hit, you're most likely dead..  but then again, with magic being dangerous..  and the process of creating spells being potentially lethal..  Yeah.. regeneration sounds good..  What options does that provide?"

"Then this is the book for you!"

He hands you a thick volume, but turns you to a section with regeneration-focused animals.

You see lists of them, including lizards, adders, bears, deer, and even cows.  The list is countless.  During your study of the book, you find one that pops out of the page to you.  It's called the Light of Eternity, and is supposed to be a spirit that no one has ever seen before, which lies in a dangerous ruin.

When Drefus sees you reading about the Light of Eternity, he gets wide-eyed.  "Well, I did say that I'd never seen anyone as talented as you are.  Do you think you can handle something like that, though?"

"I think so..  I doubt you'll meet someone as talented as myself often..  I'm quite skilled and I'd like to test my mettle in the ruin.  It sounds like an excellent test of my abilities.. Where is this ruin?"

"Well, if you're sure...  I suppose there's no trial that I can give you for this, since I have no idea what might be inside.  Tell me, do you have the endurance to keep fighting when surrounded by enemies that won't die?  My best guess is that there will be some sort of undead, or regenerating creatures inside, not to mention other challenges.  The spirit has had so long to prepare for anyone that might come inside."

"Sir, my endurance is legendary.  I've fought hordes of undead before, enemies that don't die?  Sounds like fun.  I look forward to it.  So, where is it?"

"Well, it's not that far away,"  There's a glint in his eye for  asecond, and he says, "you can borrow one of the horses in the stables."

You discover that he lives in a decent estate.  He's got stables, and even some servants in and out of the house.  Some work in a vineyard he has.  You're equipped with a horse soon as you're ready, and he gives you a map.  You see that it really isn't that far off-less than a day on horseback.

Actually..  I hang around the house for the day, use the sleep spell and leave in the morning after stretching.. knowing its going to require me to be at my fullest.

In the morning, I grab my recently cleaned armor, and set out towards the ruins..  so that I will fight in the day, and I won't have to worry about staring at the sun.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:06, Sat 28 Feb 2009.

You feel very well rested after a nice rest with the spell, and you get a chance to explore the house more thoroughly.  You get the gist of where everything is in there now.  It turns out he has another room with books covering three of the room's walls in it.

It doesn't take long to reach your destination, the sun at high noon by the time you see the ruins in the distance.  The stones are pale as ivory, clearly preserved by magic.  You can feel the magic flowing from down in the ground into the structure.

I get off the horse and slowly and carefully, keeping my guard up, enter the ruins.  I stay ready to draw my weapon to attack anything that comes at me...  I also keep ready to use fire if needed..

When you get closer to the ruins, you see a large, stone door with the sigil of Haven on it.  Once more, you get the feeling that you recognize it.

It doesn't appear to have any way of opening it, but you hear a voice in your head.  "I've been here for ages without a magician visiting me!  It seems like they're all too scared to visit me!  But finally I see one-I've been so lonely, but now it looks like I have a friend.  Tell me a story, and I'll let you into the ruins!"  The voice is genderless, but perky nonetheless.

Well, since you've been waiting for such a long time, I might as well tell you quite a long story, surely it's one you'll find interesting.  Its a story of what I've been doing the last 3 years, I've traveled to many places, and it began one day when an idiotic co worker decided to pour a hot liquid onto my computer, which gave me a shock and ended up killing me.  It gets interesting from there...

Time passes and I explain my adventures as a verser, through each world, what I've learned and what I've encountered...

...after being taken to his estate, he decided it would be time for me to get a totem.  Me, not knowing much about totems, and being an accomplished swordsman, and magician in my own way, it seems to open up new possibilities.  Eventually, you caught my eye, and so I've come here, to, if you'd be willing to peacefully be my totem, you're sure to see many interesting things as long as your with me.  Plenty enough I'm sure to make up some of the time you've been so lonely without a magician visiting you.  But, if you are unwilling, then I'll just have to prove myself a bit it seems to reach you.

Sound good for a story?  And now you know why I'm here, even though I'm sure you knew beforehand.  But as a confirmation of what you knew rather.  Thoughts?

There's a pause, and the door opens.  You're a funny one!  I'm sure that we'll have lots of fun in my ruins, lots and lots!

When you step past the door, it closes shut behind you.

Let's be friends, until you get killed in these ruins!  But while you're still trying to find me, why don't we talk a little?  Why do you want a totem?

You're in a room that's fairly dark, only lit by green crystals that are on pedestals.  There are four pedestals in the room, and three doors.  The doors to your right and in front are open; however, the one to your left is shut.  There are divots on the floor where green light flows twoards the door on your left from the pedestals, but there's none coming from the pedestal without a green crystal on it.

I seek to understand magic and increase my power.  To understand how magic is done from a different way from than how I do it. If by using a totem I can do magic differently. Then I'm out to try it.  Any chance you can peacefully be my totem?  I guess not though..  it wouldn't be fun if it wasn't a challenge...I seek power and it seems getting you for a totem would help give me that power... especially since you've been deemed unattainable..

I shoot wind at each of the pedestals.. if nothing happens then I throw some dirt around to make sure places are safe to walk.. one by each of the doors..

You throw some wind around, and one of the crystals plops onto the ground from the pedestal.  The crystals are evidently rather durable, and removable from the pedestals.  The area beneath where the crystal was fades and is no longer lit.

You don't activate any traps with the dirt.

I put the crystal back on the pedestal and head over towards the door ahead of where I entered.  I throw dirt down the hallway seeing if anything happens.

Nothing happens.

The crystal, returned to the pedestal, once again lights that section of the floor.

Through the forward door is a much larger room.  Light shines down on a pedestal in the center, which has a green crystal on it.  On the ground, the light flows into two large circles, on the floor in the room.  They glow with a magical symbol you recognize.  It's a symbol which binds gates from opening.

You also see some erections coming out of the walls.  They are stone and hold a spherical object on the end.  You can sense magic in them, but it looks held fast by the stone.  The balls are black.

There's one to your left, one to your right, and two on the far wall accross from the entrance of this room.

I move over to the other door..

Fighting a demon or something from another plane?  I've done it and succeeded.. but I'd rather avoid if possible...

Once at the other door I look through it..

In that room, there's also a light at the top of the room which shines down on a statue that's placed in the center of the room.  Behind the statue are two empty pedestals sticking out of the wall, and a closed door.

The statue itself is rather simple.  It's a 5 foot tall rectangular box with arms and legs.  It has a happy face etched into it.

Do you believe that there's an evil in the back of every good person's mind?

There is no such thing as a good person.  It is all point of view.

I go and inspect the shut door...

I don't know if I like that...  The tone is the same childish fun, but now it's a little pouty.  The statue spins around, and now you see an angry face on it.

It moves towards you, swinging its fists at you as it approaches.  You don't get an opportunity to examine the door before it begins doing this.

The statue is moving somewhat sluggish.  It is made out of stone after all.

One person's good is another person's evil.  Who really is good?

I back up a bit and concentrate on the other side of the room.. when the statue gets closer, just out of range I teleport to the other side, then turn around.

You make it to the other side of the statue monster.  In front of you is the closed door, with the two pedestals sticking out of the wall-both of which are still empty.

When you turn to see the statue, you see that it's stopped attacking.  This side of it is a happy face.

I try to levitate the statue a bit.. test its weight..  if its relatively easy to pick up I pick up and move it over to a pedestal, keeping the happy face towards me.

If its extremely heavy, or more than I'd care to waste for energy to pick it up.. (trying to conserve some energy here) Then I create some dirt to put on each pedestal..

You find that the statue is....REALLY FRICKEN HEAVY, probably a reason why it was moving slowly to attack you.

You put the dirt inside and...see no results.  You get the impression that it works by a power-system involving the crystals in the other rooms.

I run back into the other room, grab a couple crystals, run back, ignoring the statue that is slowly moving towards me, and put the crystals in the slots.

You easily run around the statue, which franticly and futily tries to attack you once more.

The crystals require a small tug, but you get them out of their sockets, and soon enough you're back in the other room, which has now re-set itself back to normal.  It seems as if the statue returned to its position after you left the room.

The smiling side is looking at you.

I go and carefully and quickly place the gems in the sockets and then avoid the statue as it inevitably moves towards me.

You round the statue, and make it to one of the sockets.  Luckily, you manage to place it in easily, the creases on the bottom of the crystal fitting perfectly your first try.

Then, the monster swings its arm, one vertically between you and the other one horizontally.  You manage to duck and roll to avoid them.  You're in a corner of the room, the statue between you and the second divot, and a pulsing crystal in your hand.

I levitate myself up and over towards the door.  Then levitate the crystal over towards the pedestal.

The statue turns with you, and tries to chase you, swinging its arms.

It's hard to levitate the crystal accurately into the divot of the pedestal, but you manage it easily enough.

You hear the voice in your head again, Oooh, you are interesting!  How do you do that?  This is going to be fun while you're here!

The statue then goes idle, and falls onto the ground in the middle of the floor.

No point in having it try to attack you-but there will be more fun toys later on!  I hope you have fun!

The pedestals glow green, and flow into the door, which then opens.  You see that the hallway immediately turns left after the doorway.

I go through the door and use my sword to look around the corner...

Around the corner, you see a hallway that leads into another room, approximatley the size of the one that you just left.

You can't see anything in the room, but it's lit by that familiar green glow.

I move forward a bit..

Let's see...  Luminare basically means shine... perhaps it will create light if said like a spell and using energy?  Maybe... I hope this works..

I gather a little energy into my hands and point towards the room..

"Luminare."

I await to see if anything happens..
This message was last edited by the player at 22:50, Mon 02 Mar 2009.

You create a ball of light, and it goes in the direction of the room, slowly.  It's fairly bright, and is able to light it entirely.  Your nifty light ball stays in the room, hovering in the air, keeping it bright.

OOC: +@1 Principles of Power Words and Incantations, 1@3 Ball of Light Spell

Using the ball of light, I look around the room and slowly advance to see what else is in the room.  As I move in I prepare to jump back should something happen to the floor.

I like that!  How do you do this stuff?  I've never known a magician who already knew how to do this stuff without a totem!  Hurry up and find me-we can do great things together!

In the room, the floor seems solid enough, and doesn't fall from beneath you.  The room is much taller than you imagined, and above is too far for you to see; however, you do hear a noise up there-something's rustling, and you hear a monstrous CAW.

There's an open passageway on the wall opposite where you just entered, and a little to the right.

Am I going the right way to reach you?  Surely we could have much more fun the quicker I reach you.  It would help if there wasn't  as many obstacles..

Recalling the knowledge of the greek language and the basis for how some spells are created, in a manner similar to flamma for flame, aqua for water, luminare for a ball of light, terra for earth, I try to get the basis for a spell to create an explosion of blinding light.  Forming the words and keeping them in mind, then taking the ball of light I've got, I try to shoot it straight up at the ceiling, trying to get a scope for how large this bird is...

One hand I keep on my chest, the other I use to direct the ball..

You shoot the ball of light towards the ceiling, and it explodes in a blinding flash.  You're far enough away that it doesn't blind you, but you hear a bird-like screeches above, as a creatures use scrawny arms to try and cover their eyes.

They have taloned legs, and wings of a bird; however, their facial features are those of women, women with dangerous eyes and fangs.  One word to describe them-harpies.

They're stunned by your light for now.  You see that they entered the room out of some sort of hole in a wall up high, that's opened.  There are three out right now, but there's a fourth coming out of the hole, held up due to the ball of light blinding it.

I quickly dart across the room and into the next hallway while the harpies are blinded.

I've killed erinyes... harpies shouldn't be that, but I'd rather conserve energy where I can, as I'm sure there are more interesting things ahead.

Hey!  You cheated-you're supposed to fight the harpies!  Oh well, I guess that's one way to beat them...  You hear it in a pouting voice, but it's ultimately impressed with you.

You make it to the next hallway-another immediate left turn there.  This time, you don't have time to check with your sword's mirror before the harpies become aware of your location.  You need to at least round the corner.

I round the corner, then create another ball of light to illuminate the room. I then prepare for battle, putting my hands to my sword and sheathe and get ready to attack the oncoming harpies should they give chase.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:10, Thu 05 Mar 2009.

So you turned to fight instead of trying to escape it?

I'm just curious.

I have updated the previous post with what my intentions were after our brief conversation.

There's a long hallway in front of you, and you hear the harpies screech, but not pursue you.  You can hear the fluttering of their wings high up, and the noise dies down.

In front of you is the long hallway, which widens some, then closes back to its normal width further down.

I create some dirt in the shape of a ball, and throw it down the hallway past the widened area.  Should nothing happen, I create a little more and throw it on the floor.. to make sure it isn't trapped..

You dirty up some of the hallway, and nothing happens.  It seems to be trap-free.

I carefully and cautiously head down the hallway, preparing to levitate myself should something happen.

You reach a wider area of the hall, and see a staircase leading down to a door on your right.  The hall continues in front of you.

Also, there are some windows to your left, which show you the room with large summoning circles in it.

I make you a deal...  If you go into that room, and bring the orb to me, I'll come with you on your adventures.  But you have to clear the room of all enemies.  Agreed?

Deal.  Let's see what you've got in store for me...

I teleport through the windows, and get ready to draw... its time to kill.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:04, Wed 11 Mar 2009.

When you teleport into the room, the crystal is sitting on the pedestal, as it was before, with green lines on the floor travelling to the summoning circles on either side of it.

Good luck.  Just grab the crystal, and it will release the seals that hold the summonings at bay!

And where are you?  So that I know where to head after I clear this room of  whatever is in here..

I head over to the crystal, but don't grab it yet, awaiting a reply..

Hahaha, well I suppose I can let you know.

The voice flashes pictures of the door that you just teleported away from into your head.  I'm through there, but trust me, it won't be easy getting to me the normal way.

Can I see the room you're in?  So that I know what to look for when I finish up here?

I look at the different type of summoning circles to see what they might summon.

<<If I can see the room, I focus on something important in the room and try to teleport myself there.>>

<<If not, then I see what might be summoned in the room.>>

Nope nope nope!  Have fun with all of my friends!

All you can get out of the summoning circles is that they're necromatic.  They're meant to raise dead.  The size of the circles makes you estimate that there will be plenty.  As well, there are multiple circles within them, which makes you also believe that there will be more than one wave of them.

Example: Once one wave of summons leaves the circle, another circle inside activates, and sends more.  There about four group-summonings per large circle, you believe.

I look around for a way in which to possible mess up the circles to prevent them from being summoned.  If so, then I mess everything up and remove the crystal.  If I can't find a way to easily mess things up then I hold off and wait for an answer to the following question.

What awaits me if I try to reach you the normal way through the door?

If she doesn't answer, then I take the crystal and teleport back into the hallway.

Well, I've left the room.  The only way for them to reach me is to burst down the walls.  If they do that, then the room will be clear, and I will have cleared the room.  Now, why don't we stop messing around and you make this easy the rest of the way to you.  Then you can surely see some interesting things in my company.

If I can't leave the room with the crystal, then I put it away, and get ready to kill the undead as they are summoned.  Aiming to sever their heads from their bodies, and going from there.  If they can't see me, perhaps they can attack each other and do some work for me.

You can't see any way to mess up the circles.  They're engraved in stone, which for some reason you can't manipulate.

When you grab the crystal from the pedestal, you feel your magic subsided entirely, as well as your psionic ability.  It's hard to focus on teleporting, at least when you try to picture anything outside of the room that you're in.

You hear a hum, and the outermost part of the circles go blank from the green energy.  Seven soldiers, plate armor over their chests and armed with swords, appear in each circle, giving a grand total of 14.  They begin to approach you, swords drawn.

The swordsmen's armor is only covering the chest.  Neck, head, arms, and legs seem vulnerable.  Arms and legs are covered by cloth.  Their eyes are white, glazed over.  Something also smells now of fermaldahyde (spelling?).

I put the crystal on the ground, and see if there is any effect for my magic capabilities..

If no effect, then I get ready to draw my sword and stand ready.  When they get closer I draw and slice the sword wielding hand off of the closest one. (I'm assuming the bones have deteriorated a bit, so it shouldn't be nearly as hard as a living human.  Plus, factoring the speed of the cut, and the angle, and if sliced off at the wrist or so, it should be much easier.  IMO at least.)  I then take my foot and shove the closest one in the chest, pushing it backwards to help trip the ones behind it.  Then, preparing to dodge, parry, and dismember the others as they get closer.  I be sure to keep moving around the room, so that they can't all gang up on me, and keep my cornered.

If there is effect, and my magic is returned, then I shoot fire at them, and give them a nice light breeze for the fire to spread quickly.  I pray water on the ground between me and them and get ready to move as things unfold.

They may be dead, but fire can still char a corpse.

You do get the feel of magic back into you when you drop the crystal, and the fire has great effect on them.

You manage to burn them intensely, and it holds them back for a decent time.  Half of them are charred corpses on the ground now, while the other half still continues toward you, now on top of the water that you created.

The charred corpses on the ground still fidget some, as if trying to move with their burnt bodies.

Time for a bit of style with this one...


I back up and wait for them to get past the water, then, once they are about 20 feet past it...

I put some energy into my fingers, bring them up to my mouth, lick them, and then trace them along my blade, uttering the words for a spell for wind.  Then, I charge at the corpses and see if I can dis member them a bit, and give me quite a few less opponents.

And a new magical experiment is under way!

You don't notice any results...at first.

You're able to move around the group of undead coming at you, and make it to the corpses.  The room is just big enough for this kind of movement.  In addition, they are just slow enough for you to do this.  If they weren't holding swords, you'd say they were probably brainless.

You proceed to chop up the fire-burned bodies, and feel that the movement of your sword in the air is easier than normal.

OOC: +@1 Air Magic, current level now 2@2.

I wait for them to approach and as they get closer I side step and swing, aiming to take off their arms, so that they can't wield anything.

You find the movements of these beings easy to read, and slice their arms off easily.  Without arms, they are much less of a threat, and easy to push away from you.

When you've chopped all their arms off, some fall to the ground without means to get back up.  Only about 5 of them are still up and walking towards you.  You see the glow of the second layer of green light in both circles on the ground.

There's another flash of a summoning, and you see more of the soldiers, like the ones you've just fought, come out.  These still have eyes glazed over, but look a little darker than the pale creatures before you, and move slightly faster in your direction.

Playing with fire...  maybe I can finally try that spell out...

I get the words in mind to create a spell that will, in effect, basically be a tornado of flame, shot forth from my hands.  Left hand is fire, Right hand is wind.

I proceed to gather the energy, and when I've settled on some words that might give me the desired effect, I shoot forth the magic and hope something goes right with it.

The approach of the enemies puts some strain on you to come up with the spell, so you shout out the closest thing that comes to mind.  You manage to give a large burst of wind at them, tornado-like, and it puts out the small flame that you produced, rather than feeding the flame.

It pushes them back some and the wind dissipates quickly, but they're persistant in approaching you, and start coming a little faster, swords drawn at you.

I settle into a defensive stance, sheath my sword and let them approach. As they get closer to me, I prepare to draw, and when one is within reach of my blade, I draw and cut it down, and proceed to carefully take care of the rest of the skeletons that come my way.

If they start coming too quickly, or try to surround me, I shoot a burst of wind at them to push them back a bit and take them on at a slower pace, giving me time to take care of them.

This is more than enough for the current wave, it seems, and there are only a few left able to move after only two bursts of wind to keep them back.  The rest are sprawled on the floor, trying to struggle with their broken bodies.

Then, you see the summoning circles glow for the third time.  You see a blur, but you're able to make it out with your highly trained eyes, from constant battles.  There are six more enemies now, in ninja-like attire who move swiftly to escape your eyesight.

Other than that movement they had, you have initiative to act against them how you see fit.  Just note-they're fast!

I quickly run over to a corner of the room and cover the room in front of me with water, so that the only dry spot on the floor is where I am standing.  Then, thinking through the words to create lightning, or a similar burst of electric power, I gather some energy and shoot the water.

I only shoot the water if the area where I am is still dry.  If where I am is also wet, then I levitate myself up a bit, then shoot lightning at the ground.

Following this I create a patch of dirt in the corner below me for me to stand on safely.

You don't manage to get all of that done.  The ninja-like guys are on you too fast.

When one gets close enough, and you catch him off guard with your own speed, parrying his attack, you see that they're wearing average rogue clothing, a light leather armor with soft shoes.  They're carrying two daggers each.

There are still 3 swordsmen left standing, but compared to these, they might as well not be moving.

I move to the quarter and take up a defensive stance. I take a step forward so that I have room to maneuver, and prepare to defend myself.

You make it to the corner, and finally you can catch all of them in your sight at the same time.

They notice this, and stop their movements for the time being, allowing the three other enemies to go ahead and attack you  (these three other enemies are the regular swordsmen).

Looks like they have some intelligence about them...

"It seems you are actually capable of thinking..  either that, or you have one helluva instinct...  Perhaps we can make a deal?  You assist me, and I assist you?  Take the 3 swordsman out and leave the room.  Then you can go free to do whatever?  Sounds like a good deal, right?  You don't die and can spend time doing whatever it is you please, and I can clear the room."

If they don't agree, I strike down the swordsmen when they reach me.

The voice laughs in your head again, and the three swordsmen in front of you are easy enough to slice down, due to their speed against yours.

When you finish with them, the group of ninjas are already charging you, in a strange formation that constantly changes.  It looks like it will be difficult to pin any of them down from their movements.

You said clear the room.  If they leave. then the room is still clear.

I go over the words for the tornado of flame again..  and change the method for how its made.  Instead of both at once, I aim to create the tornado and add the fire to it.

<<Kind of like taking a can of spray, and shooting it through a lighter... except in reverse.  Instead of adding the wind/flammable object to and through the fire, its adding the fire to the wind/flammable object.  After all, when you take a lighter to a can of spray...>>

You focus and create another tornado, which knocks four of the enemies back.  When you try to add the fire to it, the results are the same as before-it's drowned out by the forceful winds in your tornado spell.

Two of the enemy make it past your tornado.  One manages to slice your chest deeply, and the other stabs into your ribs, which you feel probably caused some internal bleeding but luckily missed your lung.

*cough* crap, that'll need to be healed..

I enter a defensive stance ready to parry any on coming attacks, and consider, but not cast, words that might form a healing spell.

You know a healing spell already, but I suppose your knowledge of spellcraft can bump it up by @1, making it a 1@2.  You're fairly certain that the healing spell can be cast easy enough with words, but only an attempt will tell whether or not it'll heal these wounds.

Your willpower is enough so that you can keep fighting like this, and parry effectively.  It hurts every time they come into contact with your weapons.  The other ninjas are almost on you now as well, recovered from the tornado-like blast that sent them back.

I pump a large amount of healing energy into me to help with the wound get ready to parry with my sword and draw and parry with the sheathe if needed to parry all the incoming attacks.

Under these conditions, you fail to heal yourself at all; however, you do parry the majority of their attacks.

The only problem is that there are so many of them, and you're sliced once more in the stomache.

Not good...

I create a large chunk of dirt on the ground, crouch and form that dirt into a shield.  Then, while crouching in the corner, I create a small fire to burn the wounds, cause them to stop bleeding, then heal myself up a bit.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:49, Sat 18 Apr 2009.

You manage to create a barrier of dirt between yourself and the others, giving you a little time to think.  At first, you don't hear any noise on the outside of your shell, but then they're beating on the barrier.

You feel that the barrier will be able to hold for the time being, and you're able to heal your wounds up a bit.

+@1, new use for Fire Magic-Cauterizing wounds.

I'm just bumping this for you, Avahur, if it went without notice.

     I turn around, sweating, and in a fair amount of pain as I adjust to the wounds.  They will need to be healed when through with this.  Looking at the corner of the wall I imagine the myself looking at this corner of the room from the other side.  I'm only going to have one shot at this, so I need to be ready... Preparing to cast fire spells to shoot at the ninjas, burning all that I can; starting with arms extended and converging together to get them all.  I prepare to teleport to the other side of the room behind them.  I sheath my sword and prepare.  Concentrating on the task on hand I get ready.. and execute it, drawing my sword when I'm done ready to defend myself against any that managed to escape my fiery wrath.

You feel a little more forced than normal during this teleportation.  It is jerked and you feel out of whack for a moment, but the ninjas in front of you are all trying to beat the barrier of earth against the corner.

It's one of the first times that you've gotten a chance to look at them.  They look more alive than the others, but these are also undead, it seems.  You unleash your fire on them, and they can't avoid your attack.

Due to your state, you push too much magic into it.  By the end, they're one giant pile of ash on the floor and you're on your knees and gasping for air.

Oooh, you are a fun one!  *giggle*  Just one more to go.  I'll even give you a second to catch your breath!  Savor these few remaining moments.

     I sit down in the corner of the room and huddle up a bit, giving my weary body a chance to relax.  I haven't fought like this in a while, fun though,  definitely fun. One more enemy or one more ring? I take the time to relax a bit and get ready for the final summoning ring. While catching my breath I close my eyes for a few seconds and try to focus.

Just one more, and I'll be through, then I can leave this place, and continue with my training.

When the respite is up I adjust myself to a position ready to attack.. or defend myself, as needed.

Your rest helps out a lot, and you feel fairly well, compared to how you were.  The fighting reminds you of when you pushed yourself too hard magically.

You're sore, and tired, but you feel that you can still fight.

The voice returns, Both.  Are you ready to play a little more?

Give me a full day's rest and I'll glady take on the circle.  In my present condition?  It'll be a bit rough, and I'd rather not.  But really, do I have a choice in the matter? If so, lets wait a bit more, and I'll take the next one on, if not, then, lets get it over with...

There's no response in your mind, but you see the floor glow, and a fog spreads from the circle.

After a moment, the fog starts to swirl, and then comes together into one form.  It's a white male, covered only by what seems to be an old pair of shorts.  He's very muscular, and has blank eyes, but his skin is very healthy looking.  Think Mr. Manhattan from Watchmen.  He has the same, blank expression, too.

"Good Day, you're the next opponent? Very well, lets get this over with.."

I take a defensive stance and wait to see what abilities this opponent has.

He stands there still, but looks over to you.  He doesn't show any aggression or fear-his face is blank of any emotion and you can't read what he's going to do next, but you wait.

And wait...he continues not to act, and you realize that it's your responsibility to clear the room, not to stop the room from killing you.  You have to kill the enemy in front of you.

I continue to wait and gather my energy.

You wait a little longer and feel better.  You've got a better chance of spells working now, and your movements are better.  This time also allows you to get your body a little better rested, and you're okay for a fight that could last a while, as long as you're not wounded.

You don't feel that you can get any more rested unless you sleep.

I send a small fire spell his way and see the reaction.

Your test is met by a suprising result.

The fireball hits the man.  He doesn't react at all, and the fireball doesn't move him any bit.  When the explosion of your attack clears, you see that there's no damage done to him at all.