The start of the semester at Hoseforn's Academy for Gifted Adventurers was always a special occasion. For returning students it meant getting to reconnect with old friends and brag about whatever misadventures they experienced over their break. For new students, it meant getting to meet the giant crystal, named Athena, that would greet them in the main hall. Their acceptance letters would be scanned and magically transformed into an interactive map of the campus. They would then be sent to the 'Hall of Consumption' in order to enjoy the welcoming feast.
The welcoming feast was a beloved tradition by students new and old, for even though the food at Hoseforn's was always quite good, the food and drink at the welcoming feast was truly something special. It was tradition that before the feast, Hoseforn himself would stand and give a speech, welcoming students new and old, and introducing the staff. It had always been a cheery, and quite short, speech. This year, however, was different. While few of the new students would notice, many of the seniors would notice the serious look in Hoseforn's eyes as he spoke, and the warning that he gave......
"Welcome students! As ever it fills my old heart with joy to see so many promising young adventures sitting before me, waiting for this old man to shut up so they can feast. But, as always, I must take up a little of your time so that I may introduce the uninitiated among you to those who will be handling their education from now, until you graduate. To my right Miss Maurine Rickter, she is not only in charge of teaching you incantations and nearly every aspect of magic that you could wish, she is also my Vice Dean, so don't fool around too much in front of her. To my left is Sir Vermont Baleth, who will teaching you general combat, and ensuring that both your bodies and souls are well looked after.
Over here is Lady Maya Jhalavar, who is are resident weapons master. She will make sure that each and every one of you is proficient in whatever weapon you chose. And that you can defend yourself, should the need arise. Next to her is Master Throndrout Grimbrew, out local expert on all things runes and alchemy. He will, hopefully, be teaching you how not to blow yourself up, I would pay close attention to his classes. And last, but not least, we have Mr. Dex. He is in charge of teaching our young rouges how to become old rogues. He is also in charge of disciplinary action, something you'd do well not to forget.
Normally...... This is where I would stop talking and allow you all to dig in and enjoy the hard work of our tireless chefs. However, I find myself needing to speak for a just a bit longer. If you are here, it is because we see incredible promise in your future. We are not a school that can be bribed or bought, only those truly worthy to be here are allowed to stay. I must implore you, all of you, to work your hardest to meet your full potential. The world always needs brave adventurers, now more then ever. There are...well... We must all stay vigilant in the coming days. Train hard young ones, for you are the future and the hope of Ealinata. Now...EAT"
Rodrick stumbled happily across the courtyard of Hoseforn’s Academy for Gifted Adventurers. Little floating crystals bobbed up and down, lining and lighting the seemingly endless paths that wrapped around the strangely beautiful buildings. For a moment he wondered at what each building held, all of them strange shapes and sizes, but each remarkable in their own way. In his hand he held what had previously been his acceptance letter, but now seemed be a map of the campus. It showed a small blinking light that moved as he moved, and there was a little glowing line pointing him towards, what he assumed was, his dorm. It was wonderful, and somehow a little scary.
Rodrick had never before seen anything like Hoseforn’s Academy. Magic, which was rare and mysterious in East Balmoria, seemed to run wild in this place. He thought of the enormous talking crystal, named
Athena, that had welcomed him in the main hall. Yes, the giant crystal had spoken to him. Hells, it had been a little bit snarky towards him, informing him of where he could find a communal bathhouse and instructing him to bathe, in a not so subtle way! Sure, it had been a long trip here, and he smelled like he had been on the road for the past 3 weeks, but still…
He thought of the myriad of students he had seen. There seemed like there had been every race of intelligent being you could imagine. It had been easy to tell the new students from the old. The new students had been staring at the hall in wonder, while some of the more senior classmates were rushing to off to say hello to old friends, the majesty of the “Hall of Consumption”...what a weird name... seemingly lost on them. His mind wandered towards the piles food, more food then he had seen in his life, and all of it appetizing. He had eaten better tonight then he had eaten in years. And he thought of the wine…..oh gods the glorious wine; sweet, but not sickeningly so, rich in both flavor and color.
Rodrick stumbled, his foot catching on nothing. He managed to right himself just enough to prevent himself from falling, but there had been a great deal of flailing around involved. He heard muffled giggles nearby from some passing students. Panic tried to rile up in his chest but he managed to push it back and not run towards the dorm to hide his shame. Instead he looked around as if searching for whatever had tripped him
“Damned spirits, tripping new students like that. The nerve of it.” He managed to keep his voice steady, and upon hearing another muffled giggle from nearby he decided that he had saved enough face and continued on towards the dorms, keeping a slightly better watch on where he was going. The wine was apparently not just delicious, but devilishly strong. He would have to remember that for the future.
Walking a little slower now, Rodricks mind wandered back too the nights feast. The teachers who had sat at the at the front of the hall had all been just as unique and strange as the students that attended the academy. The headmaster,
Hoseforn, had likely been the oldest man that Rodrick had ever seen, but he he moved as easily as a man in his 20’s. He had seemed to radiate a sense of knowledge and an almost whimsical strength, it had been fascinating.
Maurine, the woman who had sat next to him had been equally interesting. Rodrick had heard of Nagga before, from time to time you would hear rumors of one being spotted on the outskirts of the Akeza jungle or somewhere deep in the desert. But Rodrick had never actually seen one before. She been beautiful...and absolutely terrifying. Where Hoseforn had radiated wisdom and cunning, that woman had given off a sense of pure power and an unyielding confidence in herself. It would be fair to say that she had intimidated the piss out of him.
He thought of the
Sir Vermont with a face so stern and serious that Rodrick couldn’t help but look away from him, lest they make eye contact. The man had been quite..huge, and despite being middle aged Rodrick had no doubt that he was a fierce warrior still. The dwarf who had been introduced as
Throndrout was a bit harder for Rodrick to get a feel for. He had had scorch marks all across his beard, and large black soot mart in the middle of his face that the drow woman,
Maya, had wiped off. Maya….. Damn…
Rodrick had seen nearly every one of the male students stare at her at one point or another, and not a few of the female students. She was beautiful, and always seemed to move like a dancer, it was nearly hypnotic to watch. If a normal woman made Rodrick uncomfortable, he had no idea how he would handle classes with Lady Mara.
And then there had been the masked one,
Dex. Rodrick involuntarily shivered. He had seen dangerous people before. Men and woman who, if you were to step into an alley with them you wouldn’t have come out alive… that man had made them look like a lovely little basket of kittens. It wasn’t just the creepy mask, or the fact that he had barely moved and yet seemed to be watching the entire room at once. Something about that person, Rodrick wasn’t entirely sure if they were a man, woman or something else entirely, had practically smelled like death. Rodrick hoped he wouldn’t have to work very closely with them.
Subconsciously, Rodrick reached behind him and readjusted his lute, settling its weight more comfortably on his back. His lute was a constant comfort to him, which was a strange thought since it was only an instrument. But somehow Rodrick always felt more grounded and stable with it near him. In the past 5 years Rodrick had barely gone anywhere without it. He knew that there was probably some unhealthy dependence on the instrument hidden deep in the back of his mind, but that was where he would leave such thoughts, in the back of his mind where they could sit and fester like all uncomfortable thoughts should.
Rodrick looked down at his map for a moment, noticing that it seemed to point to a building right in front of him. He looked up to see a large building with what had to be hundreds of windows, each one with a small balcony that you could step out onto. “Safe to say this is the place.” He mumbled to himself.
As he stepped into the dorm he saw lines of doors that seemed to reach out in ever direction. He wasn’t even sure that it should have been possible to fit so many doors in one building.
‘The rooms must be tiny...’ He thought to himself, a slight disappointment sinking in. Looking back down at his map, he saw that it had changed again, it now seemed to be a representation of the dorm building. Gods this thing was handy! He followed the line to the left and up a few flights of stairs. The map ended at room 326, the small glowing line on his map leading right to the door.
Rodrick lightly put his hand on the door, and felt a slight tingle in his hand and heard a light clicking sound. The door swung open without him even having to push. He wondered for a moment what the hell that had been, but stopped suddenly as he stared at the room. It was HUGE!
The room sunken in the middle, with two sides of the room being about a foot higher then the middle. On the two raised sides were large double beds, large armoires for clothes, and two nice sized chest with strange locks on them. The bed on the far side seemed to sit next to the window with the small balcony. In the middle of the room, where the floor dropped down, was a very plump looking couch that faced a fireplace, that was already lit. A large bookshelf sat on the opposite wall from the fireplace with….what looked like a miniature version of the giant crystal he had seen in the main hall sitting on top of it. The crystal glowed and pulsed lightly, casting strange but beautiful shadows across the wall behind it.
Rodrick stepped in slowly, in awe of the room, and the door closed automatically behind him with a soft click.
“Welcome, Rodrick Malentine.” Athena chimed in a clear and pleasantly feminine voice. The crystal seemed to pulse brighter as it spoke.
“Uhhhhhhhhhh...Hi.” Was about all that Rodrick could manage.
After it became clear that he wasn’t going to say anything else, Athena chimed once more.
“This will be your dorm room for the foreseeable future. There is a bathroom in the door to your right that you and your roommate may share if you do not wish to use the public baths. While sleeping in the dorm room is not strictly required, sleeping in any non sanctioned area of the school is forbidden and may result in disciplinary action.”“Oh okay thats..wait we have a private bath? Why didn’t you tell me that when I first got here?” While Rodrick didn’t exactly mind the public bath, he greatly would have preferred to use this private one.
“The rooms were still being prepared at the time of your arrival. And you required a bath.”Rodrick glared at the crystal.
“How do you know…. You don’t even have a nose!”“I can tell. Personal hygiene is important when you are going to be in close proximity to others.”Rodrick was being sassed! By a rock!!! …...AGAIN!!!!
Rodrick glared with all his might at the crystal, he thought of a thousand cutting things he could say to try and get back at the shiny rock. For a moment he thought of picking the crystal up and tossing it out the window. That would show it! But after a moment he just sighed and mumbled,
“Whatever.”Rodrick moved towards the large couch in the center of the room. He ran his hands across it and let out a small Ohhh sound. It was perhaps the softest thing he had ever touched. Not really knowing why, he plopped face first onto the couch, and let out a muffled but somehow much louder
“OhhhhhhHolyShit…..This is amazing…... I never want to move from this spot.”
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