Two hours passed quickly after the crash of the Eludicate, following violence and near ruin of the Arcanosphere. In those following two hours the members of the expedition gathered themselves and took proper stock of their situation. The time passed quickly and it seemed only moments later that they were reassembling at the top of the Eludicate once more. Based on the grim expressions, it seemed no one had good news to share. There was a milling about of those assembled, an uneasy of uncertainty. Then someone pushed through the crowd.

"Ahem, well it seems my formal introduction is going to be different than I envisioned," began a man with a large curled mustache and robes of layered white and silver. "I am Eldreth of Rencor, I was appointed to lead this expedition by the Paramount of the Tower of Mages. Now, we were meant to join together upon our arrival and be formally introduced to one another. But it seems we no longer have the luxury of time. Our goals remain the same, we will tame this place for the glory of Aleteros, but it seems we will not have the luxuries we hoped for at the start. Magic here does not behave as it should, but it still functions. We still regain our footing. Now, have we taken account of our situation?"

"Eight people are dead," spoke up someone from the crowd.

Eldreth frowned beneath his well manicured mustache. "A tragedy. That leaves eighteen of us still alive."

"And two traitors," the voice did not speak loudly, but it carried nonetheless. All eyes turned towards the robed figure of the Head Navigator.

"You saw these acts of treason yourself?" Eldreth asked.

The cowl of the robe shook ever so slightly, "No, but I know the Elucidate, there were fail safes to prevent what has happened here. And my co-navigators were absent their posts once we landed-"

"Then for the time being we account them missing. When we find them we will revisit the matter," Eldreth cut off. "For now, there are more pressing issues. Such as our supplies," the expedition turned and look quizzically over the crowd and someone spoke up.

Someone spoke up, "The Conjuring Kitchen was destroyed in our landing. The tower isn't able to conjure food or water. We have three days of stock, mostly sweets and liquor intended as luxuries. We can manually conjure more, but it will be full time work and will only be enough to subsist on."

"There's also the Healing Quarters, they're disabled too. We can't heal our wounds till it's back up," added another.

"I can assist," rasped another voice. The crowd parted to allow a badly burned figure through. The woman who had so very nearly died hours ago. She was back on her feet, but she wore terrible scars from her encounter. "I was to operate the Healing Quarters. My abilities will be limited without proper resources and with how magic is working, but I can provide aide." Her voice struggled to raise over a rattling whisper. Eyes averted away from the disfigured healer, clearly everyone thinking how easily that could have been them.

"Very good, Taelyn," Eldreth acknowledged.

"The Arcanosphere will also destabilize again, the magic of this place is unruly. Right now it is keeping our own energies reliable within the tower, but we'll need to set up an arcane weave surrounding the tower to keep it stable," spoke up another mage. Eldreth nodded.

"There should not be surroundings for this tower. All of this is wrong," spoke up the Head Navigator again. Pushing her hood back roughly revealed her silver hair and white pupils. She waved a hand expansively towards horizon. "There is ground out there, and look, do you see that smoke on the horizon? Smoke! This is supposed to be an untouched plane for us to shape, but it does not even appear that we're the first to arrive! We must understand where we are before we have any hope of dealing with this situation."

That was a fair point as well. While the sky was a featureless gray, yet somehow it still illuminated, out surrounding the tower there was what looked like muddy fields. Further out yet was distinguishable terrain, what looked like rocky outcroppings which hid the source of what was indeed a dark plume of smoke rising up.

"Ahem, there's also the matter that the Elucidate seems to be continuing to fold space upon itself." Some spoke up, "It seems someone on the sixth floor set up rather expansive chambers, well within parameters mind you, but now in its current state the Elucidate seems to be still expanding those quarters. It's difficult to say just how far they got now. This is drawing a signficant amount of power and will compound as they get bigger."


Eldreth stroked his mustache and gave a thoughtful nod of his head. "Well it seems there is no shortage of tasks requiring our attention."

The Trials of the Elucidate

OOC: Below is a simplified list of the various things demanding attention. Some of these may be solved by engaging in a project, others may require an adventure. You may discuss amongst yourselves what you would like to prioritize.

Three Days of Food and Water
Healing Quarters are Disabled
Two Members of the Crew are Missing (Accused of being traitors)
Elucidate's Spatial Warping is running wild
The Arcanosphere remains in danger of destabilizing
There is smoke visible on the horizon.

~She's a tough one -- I give her high marks for that,~ Arzin thought to himself as he saw the female mage whom he had cut out from the innards of  the largest of the Slugs. It was clear that Taelyn -- which was apparently the female mage's name -- had suffered terribly from the caustic slime inside the creature, yet here she was, walking and talking . . . tough, indeed.

Arzin looked at least presentable. He had cleaned blood and ichor from himself and his armor, and had been careful to clean the blade of his sword before sheathing it. He wore breastplate, bracers, and greaves, and he now carried his helmet in the crook of his left arm. His shield was leaning against a nearby wall.

The ex-soldier moved to the front of those who were speaking to the robed mage who had identified himself as Eldreth of Rencor. "Master Eldreth," he said, inclining his head politely. Rude commoner or not, seemingly the fellow knew how to show deference to those who were in command.

Arzin then turned to address those who had gathered in the room. "I am Arzin. As you can no doubt tell from looking at me, I am no mage. I was given a place in this expedition on the off-chance that we might encounter some situations where cold steel -- and the ability to wield it purposefully -- might prove to be useful."

"Now, I have listened carefully to the problems and issues that are deemed foremost in everyone's concerns. But I have heard no mention of those creatures that we fought to the death down in . . . in the first floor Receiving Hall."

"I have no idea what they were, or how it was that they suddenly appeared in our midst and threw themselves at us so aggressively. Mayhap some of you have a better understanding of such things than I do. Are we satisfied that we are in no immediate danger from another such attack?"

"Unless we feel well-comfortable in our circumstances, I would urge that we add those creatures and their possible reappearance -- as well as mayhap others who dwell in this place where we now find ourselves -- to the list of matters that need quick resolution."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:11, Tue 13 Feb.

Steorra stepped forward.

To near Arzin. The man was once again moving normally - the haste had worn off now. But the soldier would remember him from before, with the slimes.

"Soldier Arzin? You do not need to worry about your place here. We voted you into the project via a caucus majority, because we valued your skills and loyalty as a plan B for times just like this. And if you want to know, I was one of the ones who voted in favor of you being here." the mage said.

"Oh...I forgot to introduce myself to you formally. I am Steorra Tellurian, Magister of Time of the Mage Tower. And I will commend you for your admirable performance back there with the slimes." he said.

He then considered.

"...and, I would much appreciate it if you would take on a task with me that will benefit all of us here on the Elucidate home-front. Given the strange nature of the situation we find ourselves in, I could use you as a bodyguard as I investigate the spatial folding situation. For I...let's just say, I have it on good authority that I know where the cause is originating from, but I need to go up there via one of the still-functioning transporters and look into how to actually fix it." he continued.

Magister Steorra then looked more concerned than before,

"Before you consider dismissing my request, know that this is a problemn that will get worse and worse the longer we wait to fix it. The chambers will grow increasingly large until it will be a journey unto itself just to traverse them. And all the while, draining more of the tower's magical resources until we reach a point that it drains the magic faster than the Arcanosphere can naturally replenish it! At that point...the entire tower will fail. Things like exploration, food, and so on will mean nothing if our headquarters is rendered inert!" he said.

"With that said, will you agree to escort me as your first act in another dimension?"

OOC: Steorra is going to pursue the spatial-folding adventure lead. He...has reason to know where the site is in the tower that this is occuring, and he is propositioning anyone who wants to come with and help him!
This message was last edited by the player at 05:15, Tue 13 Feb.

Aurland made himself somewhat scarce in the immediate aftermath of his channeling of the Arcanosphere's energies. Partially because he'd been reduced to near unconsciousness and partially because he was still sorting through the changes to his Pattern and the new connection he felt to the building. He was only roused to proper consciousness and participation as Eldreth made his introductions and went over the status of the Elucidate. It was a grim situation but not hopeless. His gut told him that he should focus on their food situation as it was the most immediately dire and the one where his skills would be most useful. However as people began making plans he stepped forward.

"While I don't personally believe finding the navigators should be our highest priority I would be remiss not to inform you all that in stabilizing the arcanosphere I have formed a sympathy with the device. There is an arcane connection between myself and those who have handled the device recently. A trail that is directing me out into the wilderness and one that is fading rapidly. I estimate within the day it'll be too weak to follow."

It did not escape Arzin's notice that neither Steorra nor the mage who had helped him in the battle (who had not introduced himself -- not that social niceties were required, under present circumstances) had made mention of the man-at-arm's expressed concern that they might need to protect themselves from another attack by the Slugs (or whatever they were), or possibly some other manner of local creatures. To his way of thinking, that indicated that his own concerns were not high among the matters that held the mages' attention.

"Magister Steorra," Arzin replied, inclining his head respectfully. "You did well downstairs," he continued, "many people who have no military training will panic when faced with sudden and unexpected danger. You kept your head, and used your magicks to good effect."

Arzin smiled a thin smile. "And thank you for your vote of confidence when the issue of my coming on this expedition was under discussion. It seems as if your reasoning has been vindicated."

". . . vindicated . . ." At one point during his military career, Arzin had an interest in becoming an officer -- the army could certainly use leaders who had front-line experience, he had reasoned at the time. He realized that his accent and manner of speaking would mark him as a low-born commoner, and would likely hold him back with respect to rising to a higher rank.

Accordingly, he had employed a tutor to teach him to speak more properly -- that is to say, to be able to converse in appropriate fashion with those who considered themselves his betters. He told himself that his efforts had been largely successful, although he sometimes reverted to his roots in times of crisis.*

Arzin turned to the mage who had spoken after Steorra, the man who had aided his defense so effectively during the battle. "Sir," he said, "you have my thanks for your most able assistance downstairs. Like Magister Steorra, here, you have proved yourself to be numbered amongst those who can keep their head when danger threatens . . . most commendable."

Moving back a step, Arzin glanced between the two mages. "You gentlemen have offered up two very different courses of action, both of which appear to be time-sensitive. I am willing to offer my aid to whichever is most appropriate, but these appear to be matters best understood by magickers -- which I obviously am not."

"Can the two of you agree upon a course of action, or," here Arzin glanced at the white- and silver-robed mage who had first spoken, "does Master Eldreth make the decision . . . or is a vote needed?"

Arzin had no idea how mages went about deciding such things . . .

---

OOC: *I have not been writing Arzin as a base-born commoner, straight out of the gutter. It occurred to me that I probably should account for his diction and vocabulary being somewhat higher than his original station in life. :)
This message was last edited by the player at 18:13, Wed 14 Feb.

Irene mulled over her options. While she believed that they should focus on the healing quarters and what was taking away the Arconsphere's power, she would do neither. Necromancy and healing had a tendency to repel each other, it was perfectly within the realm of possibility, just most people didn't want an air of death where they were supposed to get better. Then there was the warping, if it really got out of hand she would of course help, but she felt that whatever mage had made those quarters should take care of it themself.

As for food... Irene wasn't looking forward to getting injured again by her lack of knowledge in physical function magic. That left... "I don't believe a vote is needed, that would utiliz precious time. I can go on the search for the lost mages too. Its probably best that those who can work rune magic work on the healing quarters and the food conjuror. While looking for the lost we can also look for the location of the smoke and anything that might be edible on the land. Should this mage's" She'd wave at Aurland. "Search lead in a different direction from the smoke we can split." Irene would step forward and say this. Her face was like stone, betraying nothing. Her voice was monotone and distant.

"Excellent, that is two problems resolved," Eldreth said optimistically. Regarding the rest of the mages, he expedition leader continued, "For the rest of us, let's take a more thorough stock of the Elucidate and see how extensive the damages are and begin getting the tower back in order."

That left the two teams to their own devices. Some pleasantries had been exchanged, but these mages were largely strangers to one another, in some cases knowing something of the other mages reputation, but not the person themselves. Steorra and Arzin had become passingly familiar with one another during the battle below and the pleasantries afterwards. Aurland and the pallid woman whose name had yet to be given were entirely strangers to one another yet.

What better time to get to know someone then on a dire mission!

OOC: Working on opening up the adventure threads.