“I have to get some sleep.” A smiling Authorius said. The name itself was strange in these lands. His parents said it came from a place far away called Acadia. They told him he was named after the god of magic due to his colorful eyes. Well, the god of magic certainly has blessed him. He got up from the wooden stump that was acting as his chair.

“Nonsense! Play another round! C’mon.” Chieftain Doug said as he put the small wooden pieces back on the board. The grey in his beard betrayed his age. Yet despite his adventurous youth, he had grown up to be a wise man for the village. Wise enough to realize he would need magic and druids alike. “I’ll let you win this time.” He said with a smile.

“That’s a lie.” Authorius said. “The day I win from you is the day your people will barge in here demanding your son to take the throne.” Despite that, Authorius sat back down again and rearranged his own board pieces. The king held the darkest pieces, so he was to start. According to the rules. “Gibbou will punish us.” The Servant said as he made his own move.

“Then she shouldn’t have made the night so beautiful.” The chief said as he moved his own piece again. “I will pray for forgiveness in the morning. Surely she’ll understand that talking with old friends requires time.”

Authorius was rubbing his black beard as he pondered his next move. “Gods can be fickle. The druids lost their supremacy over Ha-Dûna, a place we thought protected by no less than nine gods. Now they worship Sigeran.” Authorius noted casually as he moved his pawn again.

“Not just them.” The king remarked with a sullen voice as he moved his piece without much time to think. “My own men have been giving me sideway looks. The farmers are afraid to upset Lyd and Reiya while my own sons have begun whispering his name. I do pity the druids.”

“Any idea what they will do?” Authorius’ response was faster now, both in conversation and on the board.

“No. I think they’re too shaken by what happened. Many of them lost an important place: home.” The king said as he was now rubbing his bare chin. “You wouldn’t understand that as a wanderer. But home is an important place. Especially if you’re part of something. To have it taken from under you. I can’t imagine how it would feel.” The king finally made his move.

“Then why not offer the druids shelter?” Authorius asked after which he moved his pawn.

“And draw the ire of those who rule Ha-Dûna now? I’ll let them pass and let some stay as is customary. The people love it when a druid stays for a bit. It’s good for the fields as well. But how long is that going to last? I’ve been expecting someone from Ha-Dûna for some days now. To tell me to turn to the one true god.” The king made his move again.

“Will you?” Authorius asked as he put his pawn in a very vexing place for the chieftain.

“Publicly, I might. There’s no arguing with these fanatics. I want my village to stay in one piece. If that means I need to kneel to some new god, I will.” His pawn took that of Authorius.

“And then what about the druids that pass? They won’t like it.” Authorius moved another pawn in a vexing position.

“It’s a balancing act. I might shift at any point. For as long as I can keep the peace.” The king moved his own pawn out of danger. “Always got to shift.”

“What if war comes again?” Authorius asked as he moved a second pawn in a vexing position. Boxing the king in on the board. “Sometimes there’s no balance. You just have to throw your lot in with one side or another.”

The king rubbed his chin. Pondering more upon his current situation than the board. “The druids have been almost my life long ally but those Sigerans… they’re dangerous. Zealous. Nothing scares me more than a zealous man.” He took one hard look over the board again and then, finally tipped his king piece over. “I don’t have an answer for you.” He said with a faint smile.

Both men rose and took each other’s wrists. “Authorius. Rest some in the guest bed, then get out of here and don’t come back until all of this is cleared up. The druids might’ve disliked you but there’s not telling what Sigeran thinks.” The Servant merely nodded and moved to one of the side doors of the hall.

The mage slept restlessly. He was well aware the place was dangerous. He preferred to stay on the move. Be nobody in particular. Here and now, his entire body was on guard. For a second he thought he felt a rush. He got up immediately with a knife in his hand. There was nothing. Wooden boards had kept the windows shut. No wind could enter. Yet he swore he had heard something. With three hand signs, a skill he learned from his parent’s homeland of Acadia, he lit the candles in his room. Light banished the darkness. On a table beside Authorius sat a strange thing. An orb made of several fragmented pieces. He frowned when he picked it up. It wasn’t heavy nor light but fitted perfectly in his hand.

For weeks Authorius had been trying to solve the puzzle. He had gotten through four layers already. Every time he had to recite a certain spell. One he knew he had learned but was so far back in his mind, he barely remembered it. None the less, every time the fragments of a layer peeled away from what he assumed was the center. Now, on the road, he was looking at the orb as he was reciting a spell to make water. That was the only clue he could deduce from the strange shapes on the last fragmented layer. It had something to do with water. Sadly a small bit of mist formed around the orb but nothing else happened.

A bit exhausted from his travels, Authorius decided to rest a bit near a pond in which he was dangling his legs. Though he was still trying to read more clues off of the puzzle. Until he accidentally dropped it into the pond. He quickly grabbed it again, but felt the fragments shift and move under his grip. When he fished it out again, all layers were pulled back. Revealing a glowing pearl-like object within it. Slowly Authorius pulled it out. It gave off a soft light that somehow didn’t blind him. Nor felt hot to his fingers. Then the pearl’s light flashed. In that flash, it gained weight and shape. When Authorius’ eyes could open up again, he wasn’t holding a pearl in the palm of his hand. Instead, a wooden staff balanced in his hand, with a gnarled top embracing a crystal. “I always wanted a wanderer’s staff.” He said with a faint smile. Though he closed his eyes and reached out to his brothers and sisters. Many of them had received the same strange puzzle in the last few weeks. He had to share with them the joyous news of what happens when you manage to solve a puzzle. When he opened his eyes again, he looked around him to try and find the opened puzzle. Yet it was gone. As if it had never existed in the first place. The only thing that remained as proof was the staff in his hand.

[hider=Summary]Authorius, a Servant, has a boardgame match with a village chief near Ha-Dûna at night. They play a game while the Servant asks the chief about the recent events that took place in Ha-Dûna. The chieftain is somewhat dismayed as he simply wants peace and prosperity for his village. Eventually he is asked whether he would support the Sigerans or the druids in a war. A question he cannot answer.

That night Authorius receives a gift of the god of magic. A small orb puzzle. It takes him weeks to solve it but when he solves it, he receives his focus: a staff. The puzzle itself vanished though.[/hider]

[hider=MP/DP & Prestige]
[b]Qael’Naath Start:[/b] 2MP/2DP
[i]- 2MP: Creating a magical phenomenon[/i] >> These small objects can appears as orbs, pyramids and cubes. They can always be held in one hand of the subject who is given one. These puzzleknots appear when they cannot be perceived (often while the subject is asleep). They appear as trials for certain magic users that reached a milestone. The milestone can be reached through many ways: creating new spells, mastering existing ones, mastering an elemental aspect of sorcery and so forth. These trails are all designed to be tests of the mind and are unique to each magician. Their surfaces are filled with riddles and clues for what has to be done. Sometimes it’s as simple as moving a small piece to get to a deeper layer. While other times it might require one to cast a very specific spell that they have learned. It might demand to be thrown into a fire or plunged into deep water. Either way, after all five layers of the puzzle are unlocked, they will find a glowing pearl inside. If they take the pearl out of it, it will transform into a focus. Then the puzzle will vanish again.
[i]- 2DP: Creating a magical phenomenon[/i] >> A familiar focus is unique for every magician, be they mage or sorcerer. It proves that they passed the great milestone. It also acts as a sign of their place in Qael’Naath’s great plan. The Foci take the shape of their given role within the designs: a staff denotes wanderers and loremasters. Their role is to gather and then spread magical knowledge across the lands they follow. Clear crystals denote observers. Those who examine the world around them. Empty slates, books and scrolls mark one as a scholar. Those who do not study the world but magic itself. They device the new spells and chronicle existing knowledge. Crowns are perhaps the rarest of the Foci. For a crown denotes a leader. Someone under which all other roles, if possible, should unite. Crowns are expect to lead magic on a great scale. Directing resources between the roles and scrutinizing results. Each focus can remember a single spell. Allowing its wielder to cast said spell without chant, move or carved sign. This will not work in the hands of anyone but the original owner of this focus. Should a focus be away from its original owner, or should the owner perish, the focus will crumble out of existence. This focus can be destroyed by a solid hit from a hammer (which will break it, and then the focus while phase out of existence).
[b]Qael’Naath End:[/b] 0MP/0DP

[b]Post Length: [/b]6.7K Characters
+3 Prestige >> The Servants
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