This morning, you all got a brief written note:
You have gathered in the briefing room after getting your things together. The room is square, with a desk in the front, and windows overlooking the courtyard behind the desk. Some wooden chairs are by the walls, and a hat rack stands by the door. On the table there are two containers, a large unfinished wood box with no lid and a small lacquered chest. Some of you have arrived early, some punctually, and the rest are only minutes late. Laksara, the exploration officer in charge of local exploration has refused any requests to discuss the mission before everyone is here. She waits patiently behind the desk, her focus on some papers. When the last of you comes in, she asks them to close the door and everyone to have a seat.Quote:
Please report to briefing room 2, on the fourth floor at noon today.
You have been selected as part of the underground expedition.
Pack the personal items you wish to take along and get additional supplies from the commissary.
Laksara
Laksara is known to you all, as she has been your instructor in some of your Exploration courses. She dresses in brown clothes that are made to get dirty in her job, but somehow always stay clean. Her platinum-blonde hair is cropped close on her temples, with a short mohawk on top, hanging to the left. When talking, she gestures a lot with her hands, which brings out the fact that they are covered in a green, reflective chitinous layer; a mark of her lower planar heritage. She stands up and begins:
“Nine days ago, the team expanding our basement levels excavated their way into natural caverns. There was some debate whether to close up the hole to block access or to explore, but in the end the Conclave of wizards decided to fortify the hole and send out an exploration team. I was given the task of selecting the team, and you are it. I believe your individual skills, perspectives and knowledge is a good combination to send out here.
Your mission is to explore these newfound caverns, map them as far as you can and make sure there are no immediate threats to the school within them. How you do it and how long you take with it is up to you, but I know at least one Conclave member is very keen on seeing results. As you are all going out to the field for the first time, let me remind you of the Code.”
This has been drilled to you several times, so as she goes over each point, you nearly mouth it off silently with her.
“One: Friends are better than enemies. I will make the former, and destroy the latter.
Two: My companions are my life. I will do everything in my power to bring all of us back, no matter the condition.
Three: My loyalty is to the Explorers, and I know the Explorers will support me in return.
Four: Knowledge is the most powerful thing in the world. If I find any, I will bring it back.
Five: Finding things is rewarded by finding things. I will let things Í find be inspected. In return, I will know what it is and it or another item of the same kind will be given to me.
I trust you will remember these.”
She then takes several engraved metal rods out of the large box.
“In addition to basic mapping and evaluation, you have two additional tasks. The first is to place these rods in hidden locations as you move out. They will create a magical alarm system designed to warn of approaching threats to the school. The farther out you get them, the better. Optimally, place two of them on either side of a corridor or cavern, so that anyone going through will pass between them. There are sixteen rods, so you should have enough. Try to make sure you cover all entrances towards the school.”
Then she opens the lacquered chest with a tiny key and takes out two monocles, framed in gold with a long silver handle.
“The second bit was a surprise. Today, professor Callan came to see me and gave me these, with instructions to give them to you. He described them as high-energy detection lenses, and said that they’ll detect magic and like phenomena, whatever that means. In any case, he wants you to keep an eye out for the extraordinary. If you find something you really can’t account for or something truly strange and out of place, he asked you to leave it alone and report back. In addition, if the lenses detect very powerful magic, the same applies. Leave it alone, report back. He didn’t really explain himself, but I would heed his request if I were you.”
She puts the lenses back in their chest, and sits down.
“Now I think this mission is rather important. It’s not often we have virgin grounds in our basement. Personally, I’d have sent more than one team out, but right now we don’t have the manpower to do that. Instead, I convinced the steward that you need better equipment. That means I got access to some advanced stuff for you. Here’s the breakdown: every one of you gets to choose a better weapon, armor or a magic thing. You go see Ako Korfaras in the main tower and tell him which of these you want and he’ll find something in storage. Personally, I think gold to get you what you want would have been a better option, but he insisted that stored items are better used. Anyway, it’s better than nothing.”
She folds her hands behind her head and leans back in her chair.
“Now you need to do two things before seeing Ako. Decide on a leader, and decide who uses the lenses. I’m not going to make those decisions for you. Any questions?”
With that, the room is silent, and sounds of the younger students’ games lesson echo in from the courtyard.
On the Conclave:
Spoiler
The Conclave is a group of professor Callan’s apprentices who have been tasked with the daily governance of the valley and school. They decide on important matters by voting, with senior members having more votes than the junior ones. They all have something visibly strange about them, something that’s not right. There are a lot of other authorities in the school and in the valley, but the conclave is the professor’s voice when he’s not around. And he does keep to himself a lot.