AVB - The Favored One

[Rizban]

This thread is for God Imperror and GM(s) only. Please do not read it.

You find that the door to your room has neither lock nor handle. Instead, there is only a crystal set into the center of the door...

[God Imperror]

OOC

Spoiler

Truce tried to open the door 239 (which isn't his).
Also some knowledge checks.

To know what the apprentices at Erbauer's were handling, trying to create and how expensive it was.

knowledge (A&E) (1d20+8)[13]
knowledge (arcana) (1d20+12)[22]
Craft (1d20+7)[23] *I detected a mistake on the sheet the masterwork tools should provide a +2 bonus here, and the apprentice craftman too, but it is not written on the sheet, I haven't modified it, but will do if you don't mind.
Appraise (1d20+8)[26]

Similarly a knowledge arcana and an Spellcraft check to know what the disk is and how it works.

knowledge (arcana) (1d20+12)[15]
spellcraft (1d20+12)[31]

Finally buffs/auras on person can be found listed on the sheet, in case the link has been lost in the PMs let me know.

Edit: The thread tittle doesn't start with AVB as other threads

Truce caresses the crystal engraved in the door 239, curious to see how it works while he keeps his eyes open, in case something really unexpected happens. Probably people forget the number of they room from time to time. It is just probably a variation of an arcane lock, but perhaps there is also an alarm. Better to know it before it becomes necessary.

[Rizban]

Spoiler

I noticed.

K(A&E) - It's definitely not a building or other structural component. It's certainly not a barn. There are no moving parts that you could identify.

K(A) - All you are able to make out is that it's based on some form of crystal, but you aren't able to identify any of the particular magics being used. The process seems a bit unusual.

Craft - They are indeed magical craftsmen crafting magical items. They're doing a pretty good job, but you notice one of the two makes several small blunders along the way. He catches and corrects all of them, but they cause him to take longer than the other apprentice.

Appraise - In their current form, you estimate the items to be worth about 2,300gp.

The crystal doesn't respond in any way.

[God Imperror]

After checking that the crystal doesn't work when touched by someone not "tuned", that word will do until Truce discovers how it really works, Truce pushes confidently the door of room 238.

Once inside he closes the door and checks the room. He is going to expend there at least for a night, and it's been one of the most expensive inns that he ever payed for. Five gold pieces could have lasted him for a week if he still was with the monks, well, Aldhaven was Truce home now.

Leaving his backpack and his scrollcase in the floor he kneels beside the closed door. There wasn't an obvious lock outside, but there might have been a lock there originally, that or the doors were crafted on demand, which would have surprised Truce anywhere else, but the Sad Flint Inn was an expensive Inn and that was inside the realm of possibilities. Carefully he takes the springdriver and the screwlocker from his pockets and begins tampering the door while whistling a merry tune.

Spoiler

Taking 10 on a search check: 13

[Rizban]

It opens onto a 10 x 15 room. There is a bed, a chest of drawers, and a large wooden chest that doubles as a nightstand. There's a rug on the floor and a single small window that lets in light.



The door has a standard dead bolt to lock it from the inside. This appears to be independent of the crystal device. As to the magical lock, it appears to be entirely magical in nature with no obvious moving parts.

[God Imperror]

Leaving the door after being sure of how it works, more or less, Truce walks to the chest, leaving there his scrollcase and opens the backpack over his bed, picking up the potion belt and the potion bracer filling it with small spheres which seem to be filled with a thick black smoke. Once done he puts them back into the backpack and looks through the window, trying to get some idea of how long will it be till dusk, it was easier at the monastery, the monks would play a bell every hour.

[Rizban]

Upon opening the chest, he finds that it's an extradimensional space. Anything you have will fit inside. It, however, refuses to close if a living creature is inside. Experimentation shows that it functions much like a handy haversack, but with much greater capacity. It is sovereign glued to the floor.

The window shows the Plaza in front of the Sad Flint, though you are almost entirely certain that your room should be facing the side street. It looks as if it is early afternoon, and you should have 4 or 5 hours until sunset.

[God Imperror]

Well with all those magic items lying around it is quite understandable that they charge so much for the room... A mischievous idea crosses Truce mind, maybe he could just extract the magic of those items for himself. But that of course would surely get him kicked out of the Inn, and probably send someone to chase him. It was probably a bad idea.

Leaving the scrollcase in the chest Truce leaves the room and then the Inn. He plans to explore the city, or at least the surrounding area, before sunset. With that in mind he starts to walk away from the plaza, walking through the broad street on the west.

He keeps his eyes open in case something interesting pops up, but he seems to be searching for a cheap place for dinner, a bakery would be neat, Truce has a craving for warm bread.

Spoiler

Assuming that the map is facing north the west broad street is the one that goes into the oldtown. Or at least that is the one I was intending to go

[Rizban]

You quickly find your way into Old Town. The buildings here appear to not only be older than those of Midtown, but they are also considerably fancier and obviously owned by wealthier families. All seem to be built of high quality masonry or decorative stonework. What open land can be found is perfectly manicured and landscaped.

The shops of the Plaza quickly fade out, and there do not appear to be any more shops along this road. Eventually, you reach the wall of the Nobles' Quarter on your right and what appears to be a university to your left.

[God Imperror]

Well this place of town seems even more expensive and luxurious, if Truce even considered moving towards the Old town that consideration left him while looking those fancy streets. But at least something good came out of his wandering, a university, a place of knowledge.

Truce walks towards the university, there might be a Library somewhere, a place to read would actually help him to cope with the loneliness of the big city.

[Rizban]

A large, wrought iron gate stands open in front of the campus, topped by a sign which reads "Aldhaven Royal University of Scientific Esoterica." It seems as if there is a student organization fair going on at this very moment. A large sign points the way to the registration office.

[God Imperror]

Truce is intrigued by the students fair, he hasn't seen anything similar at the monastery. So he approaches it wondering what are they doing, maybe there is free candy.

[Rizban]

There is, sadly, no free candy. Each booth appears to be a student organization based around a particular academic field of study or some sort of intramural contest. Occasionally, both.

The ones you see immediately are as follows:

• Partial Cryptoneuroscience
  
• Paranormal Anthropological Merchandising
  
• Practical Leadership
  
• Forensic Genetics
  
• Atypical Monetary Medicine
  
• Discriminatory Programming
  
• Fundamental Radical Hydrotaxonomy
  
• Conditional Calculus
  
• What is obviously some sort of sports team for a sport your character does not recognize.

[God Imperror]

Oh boy... if those subjects of study were around when Truce started studying with the monks, his life would have been much more wonderful. The man gravitates instinctively towards Partial Cryptoneuroscience, as he is partial to cryptography and neuroscience.

There he approaches the main group of students with hidden picked interest, he smiles slightly sure of himself, and gazes at the things that might be on display.

Spoiler

OOC: I am picturing this as several table (one for each group) with students gathered around them, with some sorts of booklets, posters, or merchandishing for sale promoting their group. I am not really used to student fairs, and the students fairs that I might be used to might not be the same that you are used to... I am picturing this wrong?

[Rizban]

Spoiler

You've got it right.

The table seems to consist entirely of arcane diagrams of interconnected magical nodes. Simply looking at them makes your head spin. Each one seems to give off some sort of impression just by looking at it.

[God Imperror]

-Wow that's pretty cool.

Truce mutters under his breath while considering how that could be applied on a larger scale, or even mass produced. A maze constructed on those patterns might be more effective that a normal maze, or inscribing subtle glyphs like those on pages could make them almost unreadable and thus protect information.

Without thinking he picks one and looks at it closer.

[Rizban]

Your mind seems to twist as you look deeper. You begins to feel alien thoughts entering into your mind. After a moment, you suddenly realize that you are sharing your mind with that of a dog!

"Fascinating, isn't it?"

[God Imperror]

It certainly is fascinating.

Truce blinks, the thoughts are alien, estrange, abnormal, out of the ordinary. He tries to push the voice out of his mind, well, this is a students fair, and this stuff was probably done by students, it shouldn't be dangerous to look at it. Truce tries to reassure himself clothing his eyes and focusing on his breathing.

-How does this work?

[Rizban]

"Through extensive study and applied divination, we are able to construct magical algorithms capable of reproducing the mental and psychological make up of a given entity. In essence, creating a magical construct that exists only in the mental realm. Staring at a particular diagram in its totality allows the creature, which exists only as mind, to enter into your mind and temporarily fuse with you. This allows us to see the world through their eyes and understand them on a profound level that would be impossible otherwise. Some of these entities are dangerous, so it's of course only available to graduate students. The diagrams here, however, are totally safe for casual observers."

[God Imperror]

That sounds interesting, I'll craft someone to take those classes for me... Truce smiles at that thought but raises his hand and scratches his chin pensive.

-Can you replicate individual entities or just general entities?

He looks around trying to see who he is talking to, the mind pattern was similar to that of a beast, a hound, and talking was probably beyond its capabilities.

[Rizban]

You're talking to a young human graduate student who is obviously working at this booth.

"it dors not replicate any individual. Think of it as giving birth. When the process completes, a new unique individual is brought into being. It is known that the entity exists entirely on paper and in the minds of those who interact with it, but there is some debate as to whether or not the creature has a soul..."

[God Imperror]

I hope this guys aren't familiar with mindswitch, having ones mind captured into a paper might be... dangerous. Truce leaves the paper alone on the table.

-So you just fold it into an origami and you have a cool paper friend going around? Can they remember things? Can they learn stuff? Can they think?

Truce looks at the student, giving it a quick study.

Spoiler

One of the things that I find more unsettling of English language is the lack of gender of several words. I am talking to a male student or to a female student?

[Rizban]

Spoiler

Honestly, I hadn't even considered the gender. Just pick one, and I'll go with it.

The student nods, "Oh, yes, they're fully capable of everything that the original creature can do, albeit limited to only mental actions. We're very careful not to replicate any hostile creature with psionic abilities, of course. Most are unaware of their limited existence, and the few that become aware of it and hostile are destroyed promptly so that they do not suffer."

[God Imperror]

-Interesting. I guess it is close to animating a construct. Probably both technologies could be double crossed and combined for a wider range of applications...

He seems to be talking almost to himself, but beyond those words there is a thought.

"You destroy self conscious creatures so they don't suffer? Young man, that doesn't seem like something that would be enforced on a normal university."

-Do you have applied construction and animation at the university?

While he was with the monk creating artificial intelligence was one of his most coveted interests, of course for as far as he knew to actually create something more than an homunculus he needed more experience.

Spoiler

Let's roll with a man. I'm picturing something among the lines of a computer nerd. By the way... becoming a professor at the university is starting to look cool. Would that be really hard?

[Rizban]

"And if you discovered that your entire existence consisted of a bit of ink on a scrap of paper and that you had no control over your life whatsoever, unable to do anything but sit and brood endlessly with no hope of natural death, would you not consider destruction a release? Those that discovered their true nature and were allowed to live quickly fell into deep depression and became deranged and dangerous. It is simply for the best to eliminate them.

Yes, I there is a construct building class. It is actually one of the prerequisites for this course."

Spoiler

You have to show advanced skill in a particular field and pass several examinations in various fields as well as be believed to be a beneficial addition to the staff. It's fairly difficult but not impossible. There have been two players who were offered staff positions, but neither ended up taking them.

[God Imperror]

-I am not so sure that my existence consists of something that different. Of course I was raised in a monastery, so the idea of a greater power has accompanied me since I learnt to read. For all I know I am just a character in a cheesy soap opera directed by an entity with a sick sense of humor. Leaving that aside, if I discovered my existence to be... lacking in aptitudes such that a third entity considered basic... well... I can't fly and I haven't killed myself, have I?

Truce smiles broadly at the student, in his years discussion and theology were some of his favorite subjects. He really enjoyed harassing his teachers with questions that were hard to answer or even think about.

-Have you tried creating something that would be satisfied with having only mental actions?

Spoiler

That is really interesting, I guess I will keep my approach to Erbauer a main objective then, and approach the university as a long term goal

[Rizban]

"There is a difference between being merely unable to fly and being unable to act. I said, those that discovered their nature suffered severe breakdowns and suffered greatly. Even their patterns began to degrade, causing actual pain to them. Believe me, if you were more experienced in the field, you would know that it is unpleasant but necessary."

[God Imperror]

Truce still believes that it won't be so bad, perhaps an analogy for a lack of magical talent would be a better one. Most people cannot trump the laws of nature and rewrite reality on a whim, and they do not suicide once they discover that others can do. Most of the time they follow their lives without trouble, like Truce, who lacked any kind of talent for channeling the power of Astaroth even if he was familiar with the rituals and the mysteries.

-Whatever, I'll trust your reasoning, you are more experienced than I on those matters. I would still like to learn about it in further detail...

He then looks at the student as if seeing it for the first time.

-By the way, I am Truce, just got to town. Nice to meet you.

[Rizban]

"I am Dellam. I'm a graduate student working on a doctorate in crypto and parapsychology"

[God Imperror]

-A pleasure

Truce tends his hand to Dellan.

-Wouldn't you know any nice and preferably cheap for dinner?