Dragons of Despair, Chapter 1: The Tower of High Sorcery
Location: Somewhere
Date: Shiarai, Evening, 26th Reorxmont 351 AC

The misty air was thick with the feeling of anticipation.  The trees' dead branches were still, and the weird red-eyed creatures floating in the mist hold their breath, waiting for the first Test of High Sorcery to reveal itself.  Solinari and Lunitari peered through the canopy, shining silvery and red moonlight down upon the companions.

The wind sighed, and a voice snaked into everyone's ears.  "And so it begins..."

The trees abruptly parted, leaving the companions on the precipice of a windy cliff face.  Ocean waves crashed at rocks below, the air brisk and salty as it stung their faces.

Sitting on the cliff's edge was a woman with elegantly folded feather wings, a snake-like tail curling from her skirt, tethering her to the foundation.  She wore a beaked mask over the top half of her face, redolent with colours.  She pondered over a cracked stone, her lips curved into a melancholy frown.

As the companions approached, she turned her head, her hand beckoning them closer. "Please, can you help me?"  Her voice was soft and lyrical, yet it cut through the howling wind of the cliff-face.

"I've lost a stone -- a special one that was given to me by my mother, who was given it by her mother before her."

She gestured to a pile of stones nearby, each identical in shape and size, all smoothed down by time.  "I have spent days searching, and yet it eludes me. It's warm to the touch, shines purple under certain light, and is more sturdy than any other mountain rock."

Ayrron walked up to the lady with a smile and nodded. "Hello - oh, their beauitful wings!"

He listened to the woman and frowned. "Do you know what kind of light makes it shine....is it a certain moon phase, or some other light?"

Vailin did not speak to the woman.  He felt this was not his place to interfere.  Instead he kept his gaze outward for threats.  The woman likewise classified as a potential threat.

Valik and Vailin were of the same mind, and Valik positioned himself to cover another section of their surroundings.

He had no idea what to think of the winged woman. He had certainly never seen a creature such as she, but he also knew from last night's experience that anything and everything within this test could simply be an illusion. She may be dangerous, she may not, but there were already two sets of eyes that would be focused on her.

"It shimmers and has a purple sheen when you twist it this way, in the light," the woman said.  "Can you help me?"

She picked up another stone and twisted it around, peering at it in the moonlight.  The move looked practiced, as if repeated a thousand times or more.

Aelina moved to the pile of rocks, all identical and thought to herself that there must be a trick to the request... this was the test of high sorcery after all. She looked at Ayrron, willing to help the winged woman, herself most certainly an illusion, and crouched beside the rocks. How do we figure this one out, using magic? Would it look like this? she said as she crafted a simple illusion in her hand of a rock with a purple sheen.

create an illusion with prestidigitation

Today: Secret Roll: Aelina rolled 19 using 2d20+6, dropping the highest dice only with rolls of 16,13
This message was last edited by the player at 00:33, Tue 01 Aug 2023.