[center][h3]Winterhold College - No Dice[/h3]
[b]Word Count:2311 (+3)[/b] [/center]

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/AJeWDw1.png[/img][/center]

[color=ea590c]”I can’t say I’m surprised that things weren't going to be as easy as just finding the place, but I expected the issue to involve some sort of gamble, not that the dice room was completely lacking in dice,”[/color] Edward commented with sardonic amusement once they’d finished inspecting the room that was supposed to be their exit. Things really had been going too smoothly with the stroke of luck with the key after all.

[color=ea590c]”I suppose we will simply have to scour this place from top to bottom for the missing pieces of this puzzle?”[/color] he then said to Sandalphon who had accompanied him (or vice versa) to the room while Ramata went his separate way. If she had any ideas grander than a blind hunt, he was all ears.

Sandalphon reached her index and middle fingers up to her ear, where her angelic sigil manifested in bright blue light. “At least it’s not just us.” Using her powers, she reached out to the Seekers scattered around the Winterhold College labyrinth, contacting those she’d convinced to accept her sigil beforehand.

“Attention, all team members. Edward, Ramattra, and I have found what appears to be an exit from this structure, situated in the Dice Room. However, we believe that unlocking the exit requires satisfying a condition for an arcane device, and to do that, some kind of die seems necessary. Please keep an eye out for any dice in your path, particularly one of remarkable size. If you do find one, report to me, then attempt to obtain it. Thank you all, and please contact me if trouble should arise. Sandalphon out.”

She ended the transmission, then gave Edward a nod. “There we go. My advice about the die being large is only conjecture, but based on the size of the game board beneath it, I felt it appropriate. As for us, we can do little but continue searching rooms ourselves.” The Dice Room had one other exit, and she gestured toward it. “Shall we?”

[color=ea590c]”That we shall”[/color] Edward replied, before gesturing to the somandrix to join them. There’d be no golem scouting this time, as all of Edward’s reserves, including his newly acquired frozen heart, were tied up maintaining the squads holding the doors open. He’d even had to dismiss the inferno steed in order to keep their network open (meaning his grenade launcher was just laying on the floor in one of the rooms).

The job of door holder this time, then, would go to one of his snoruyo, of which he had four in total. If the maze was significantly bigger than that, they’d be in a spot of bother.

Regardless, it was down to the Dreadnaught to actually do the opening itself, hauling open the door with one hand while holding his magelock pistol at the ready. The summoning staff he had been previously using was now in the hands of Sandalphon, who’d spared a sentimental moment to run her hand along its length as she recalled her original weapon of choice so long ago, before focusing on the task at hand.

[center][b]The Classroom[/b]
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In front of the other two lay another spacious room, although unlike the dark, almost sinister Dice Room with precious little light other than its glowing crystal disks, this one was pleasantly well-lit. Furthermore, it fit in with the Lecture Hall as a room that actually fit a college: an ordinary middle-age classroom. It featured a lush green carpet, tall red draped, an ornate chandelier, and plenty of light streaming in through frosted windows that allowed no sight beyond them–much like those of the bathroom. At the far end, in front of a giant map of the World of Light drawn in fanciful style, stood the instructor: a [url=https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/4a9c8405e8f4.png]lady tactician[/url] with shoulder-length, dark turquoise hair, a long flowing black coat, an black lace leggings. As for the students, Sandalphon identified a [url=https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/c3b2455ea0a3.png]bald, bearded man[/url] in the navy blue robes of a sorcerer, and a [url=https://i.pinimg.com/736x/a9/51/92/a95192565ed304c42a6926d9772e3c7f.jpg]redheaded cleric[/url] in the garb of a battle nun, half armor and half habit. They all turned to observe the new visitors without hostility, so the archangel let down her guard.

“Please forgive the intrusion,” Sandalphon began, motioning for Edward to lower his pistol if he hadn’t already. “Although, I am intrigued if anyone is actually managing to teach in this place. Its unpredictable nature seems antithetical to day-to-day life.”

The instructor gave a wry smile. “And yet, here we are. If we’re trapped here, we might as well make the most of it. In fact, you’re our second visitor today. A woman of blue metal just passed by minutes before, hopeful that she could join our lesson. Alas, not everyone has the knack.”

“Blazermate,” Sandalphon muttered, fighting the urge to roll her eye. Of course the medabot would try to learn some magic from these people rather than question them about the college. Luckily, they seemed amenable to conversation, so Sandalphon continued. “We are endeavoring to quit this place,” she told them. “My name is Sandalphon, and this is Edward.”

“Byleth,” the instructor replied succinctly, before glancing at her students.

The redheaded cleric gave a kind, sunny smile. “My name’s Primm! Pleased to meet you. I’ve been looking for a man in this place. Tall, handsome, long blonde hair…” She giggled nervously, realizing how she sounded. “He saved my life. If you’ve seen him, please let me know.” Sandalphon nodded.

“Thops, at your service,” the bald man greeted the newcomers with a respectful nod.

Once introductions concluded, Sandalphon continued. “The room behind us harbors an exit, yet it appears locked by arcane means. In order to play its game, we need a die of some kind. Have you seen one?”

“A die?” Byleth rubbed her chin. “Hmm…”

Primm stood up excitedly, waving her hand. “Oh, I saw one! It was huge, floating in the air, in this huge, scary pit. It was surrounded by dark magic, I didn’t like its aura one bit. Got out of there as fast as I could.”

It sounded like that was what the Seekers needed. If nothing else, it was confirmation that another puzzle piece was in here somewhere. Of course, finding it would be both the hard part, and from what Primm said, only half the battle. Sandalphon bowed her head gratefully, despite the ache in her spine. “Thank you. You’re welcome to join us in our search.”

Byleth only had to consider the offer for a brief moment. “Very well. If it’s a chance to escape at last, I’ll take it, and I think these two will as well.” Primm and Thops agreed immediately, bringing the party back to eight.

With the situation resolved, and the enlarged party ready to move, Edward dropped the attentive second in command posture he’d been holding a step behind Sandalphon and moved to the other door in the room, which was located further up the same wall the one they had entered through was on. Presumably, he thought, the hall had once run alongside a corridor.

As he moved he made sure to explain what he was doing, namely releasing another snoruyo to hold the door, before giving everyone a moment to take position relative to him and his two minions that would be his immediate backup.

When everyone was ready, the Dreadnought hauled open the next door and handed it off to his snoruyo to hold. 

[center][b]The Greenhouse[/b]
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This time, Edward found a rather cramped greenhouse seemingly build on a wooden deck, on one side of a brick building. Beyond the glass panes with rivulets of rain, which looked as though they could swivel, the visitors saw only fog and rain, with no visible ground outside. There were a great many potted plants, many of them hanging, as well as elevated seedbeds watered by a bathtub irrigation system. In onecorner, an [url=https://i.imgur.com/sbQ5Ngy.jpeg]odd shaman[/url] with a sun mask sat atop a rug with a number of wands arranged as if for sale. Elsewhere, two [url=https://cdn.wikimg.net/en/hkwiki/images/c/cf/Tipp_%26_Pill.png]aphids[/url] (one tall and one short) sat together in a flowerbed, sipping dew drinks as they roasted chunks of sizzling, sputtering fatty meat. A narrow metal staircase on one side led up to another door.

The Dreadnaught moved his hand away from the pistol he’d not unholstered this time when he found the room free of hostiles. He then raised his hand in [color=ea590c]”Greetings”[/color] to those in the room, before stepping aside to let the others enter.

Though the wand merchant remained impassive, the aphids waved cheerfully at the guests filing into the greenhouse. “Hellos! Many much greeting! Welcome to peaceyful corner of brothers Tipp and Pill,” the shorter one declared.

“Should be calleding us Pill and Tipp,” the taller one insisted. “Has the nice-nice ring to it.”

His brother shook his head. “Tipp always is speaks first, so Tipp coming first in names.”

“Pardon us,” Sandalphon apologized. When Lucy and Sir Packet Lossalot entered after her, they seemed disappointed that they still weren’t home. It could be a while before they encountered the keeper of cats, so hopefully the felines could be patient. “We’re looking for a die.”

Tipp blinked, confused. “There very plenty of ways for die in this bad-bad place. But I urges you reconsider! Life having lots of joy too!”

“Like tasy-tasty rasher,” Pill piped up, holding out a leaf with a portion of greasy meat on it.

After a moment Sandalphon’s pupil became an exclamation point. “Oh no, not that kind of die, I mean…no thank you, I’m not hungry. I’ll be fine. What I meant was...”

[color=ea590c]”Dice for the dice room, which we need to complete some puzzle or trial in order to open the gates of this place and use leave it behind”[/color] Edward stepped in smoothly when Sandalphon floundered, before offering [color=ea590c]”Us and anyone else who'd wish to join us.”[/color]

That piqued the brothers’ interest. “You figured ways out? We is want out, yes! This place not safe-safe.” The two began to pack up their equipment into backpacks even bigger than they were. As they worked they wolfed down the rest of their food, which made them even harder to understand. “Brothers Tipp and Pill just couriers, not for fighting. So we set up camp-camp by door and wait for the openings.”

At that point, Thops tentatively raised his hand. “Perhaps some of us should remain to look after them. Too many explorers could become unwieldy, especially if we should run into danger.”

Byleth nodded. “A fair point. You and Primm could stay with the others.” She glanced at the impassive wand merchant, who had yet to respond, then back at Edward and Sandalphon for their next course of action.

[color=ea590c]”Looks like we will have quite the convoy once we leave”[/color] Edward said, before thinking and asking Byleth [color=ea590c]”I should double check, given the disconnected nature of this place, but did you enter here at the tail end of the Midnight Walk?”[/color] because it would be a slight problem if the survivors they were collecting were not prepared for the frozen dark outside.

“My cohort and I were traveling the Midnight Walk when we took refuge in here, yes,” Byleth confirmed. “Our goal was to investigate Moon Mountain’s moon, believing it connected to the Frozen Highlands’ long night. But this place divided and conquered us.“ As she prepared to ascend the stairs to the next room, she produced a claymore of aged bone, one side of its long, segmented blade edged and the other serrated. Assuming that her instructor had sensed something dangerous, Primm readied her mace, the grip of her gauntlets tight around its handle.

[color=ea590c]”One moment”[/color] Edward requested, before walking over to one of the windows of the greenhouse, letting the sound and smell of rain inside. He then proceeded to lean out the window. Look up. Down. Left. Right. Then lean back on.

[color=ea590c]”The room is attached to a featureless brick wall going in every direction as far as I can see”[/color] he informed the others, sounding just a little disturbed by the fact. 

Tipp did not look surprised. “Yep-yep. Nothings out there but fog and more fog.”

“Extradimensional space,” Sandalphon reasoned. “If we are supposed to be trapped here, it would be too easy to simply slip out a window.” That made her wonder…was there any specific being in control of the college, orchestrating the pandemonium from the shadows to keep visitors trapped indefinitely? Nothing had suggested as much to her so far, but buildings did not exhibit anomalous activity for no reason, did they?

[color=ea590c]”I was expecting it to be more floating in the void. The possibility limitless material was unexpected”[/color] Edward replied, before musing [color=ea590c]”If I still had an empire I'd be inclined to investigate if it was quarry-able.”[/color]

That did not surprise Sandalphon one bit. “As pragmatic as ever.” With Byleth and Primm already at the top of the metal stairs and ready to continue, Sandalphon followed them up creakily. Hopefully they could find the cats’ mistress soon, but there was no telling what this maze would offer them next.