Grand Enchanter Irvine had grown ever more perplexed and more obsessive with each of Annabelle's creations, no two being alike in their purpose. Even when forged from the same billet of stock the outcome varried wildly, she forged a spoon from the same billet as the knife which currently hun at his waist. The spoon nullified poison when used for eating whilst the knife caused wounds dripping with corrosive acid. As alluring a conundrum Annabelle provided it shamed Irvine that he was unable to nuture and train the young woman's talents.
With a sigh Irivine dipped his quill into a bottle of black ink laced with Aether residue and penned a letter to an old friend, after it's completion he waved a hand over the parchment causing the words to glow faintly. Slowly the paper folded its self over and over until it took the shape of a small bird, a sparrow. He oppened the window allowing the small parchment bird to leap into the sky, it was an enchantment of his own creation that was perfect for sending a message to an individual who'd rather be left undisturbed.
Peck peck peck, peck peck peck, the little paper sparrow went jamming its beak against the head of a sleeping individual who groaned in irritation feebly attempting to swat away the bird in his sleep. Peck peck peck, the bird returned to its task, "Oi, bugger off" a gruff voice grumbled sleepily as it slowly lifted it's self from an alcohol induced stupor, he raised an eyebrow as he saw the annoyance that had awoken him. Hopping back and forth regarding hin with a cocked head was a sparrow made of parchment, with a grumble he held his palm out for the bird. With a hop it landed in his open palm and slowly unfolded into it's origional form with out a single crease or smudge.
After reading over the message he pursed his lips to the side and stroked his beard that consisted of several long braids ending in heavy silver rings. Irvine's message contained information that he had only come upon once in the Ancestral archive of the Dwarves, the entire written history of his people, what Irvine described was a power that gave birth to the art of rune craft. How a power of the legendary age appeared in a human was beyond his understanding, he couldn't help but feel a grin split his face. After scrawling a message on the other side of the parchment it folded back into a sparrow and flew out an open window.
"Brunhilde, by my ancestor's tits, get off yer arse, yer headin teh Tiber to pick up a wee lass what's got some amazin power" he barked at his niece who was lazily sipping a mug of ale with her breakfast of smoked Ronach haunch. "Aye yeh old bastard, I'll go get yer lass for yeh" she grumbled walking off after downing her mug and grabbing a haunch in one hand and her massive two handed hammer in her other swinging the ridiculous hunk of metal onto her shoulder with ease.
Brunhilde had been on the road for years alongside her crotchety uncle since her exile from the Dwarven Kingdom, she had been along for the ride whilst her uncle had dragged her to one ruined Kragg after another. Not that she minded body guarding the esteemed "Therradin Black-Rock of the Black-Rock clan", the honorable duty of escorting her uncle had shaved ar least a decade off of her exile. Even the endless string of women in her uncle's life had done little more than treat her as of their own daughters, if anything the range of races he managed to swoon impressed her.
Brunhilde said her farewell to her uncle before leaping into the saddle of a large heavily armored ruddy brown colored subterranean lizard known as an Earthbreaker Tyrant, its powerful clawed feet were perfect for digging and tearing apart foes and its heavily reinforced skull could crack stone. Prehaps its most unusual feature was it's speed, it could easily keep up with all but the fastest of horses, with a whip of the reins it leapt forward into run scrabbling down the side of the rocky outcropping they had camped on for the past few nights.
Adrian mulled over the letter he had recieved from his father racking his brain, political marriages were the norm for the nobility, it was one of the reasons his mother had insisted on not marrying his father. There was nothing that could be done other than to prepare for the worst, the writ of inheritance was a document leagally recognizing him as the heir apparent of Duke Arrianus, however with out the backing of high ranking nobility his legitimacy could be challenged in the courts. Situations where a lords first born had been disinherited after their father remarried were not unheard of though rare, the issue was the difference between the political clout of their families.
While the Black family had pull amongst the military and the Empress, the Reavar's were known to curry favory and make shady political deals with the high lords and had a habit of purchasing the loyalty of the barons through gifts and bribes. Whilst superior on the field of battle his father was severly lacking in high born friends due to his staunch morality and refusal to bow before others. For now there was little else he could do save for focusing on the present task, once he could move more freely he would be able focus on building his reputation amongst the nobility of Tiber.
It was with that thouth that he turned whole heartedly towards the first step of his goal, magic could be a powerful tool one that commanded respect amongst one's peers and fear amongst one's enemies. With a deep breath he began pouring over the three texts within his mind, images flashed by coupled with a intimate understanding of knowledge that should have been far beyond the grasp of a novice in their first year of study. During these internal study sessions he would partition his mind dividing it between several tasks at once, a technique he learned from the books in the Library, while one portion of his mind studied another manipulated the aether and demonic energies with in his body. Two orbs one electric blue, the other black-purple floated around his body, dividing into smaller orbs before returning to their original shape, it was a training method to increase a students control over their magic.
Adrian winced in pain as something sharp sank into his flesh causing the two orbs to disapate and dragged him from his studies. With a grunt he tried to remove what ever was digging into his leg only to see a small winged reptile the size of a very large house cat bitting his leg. Some where in the distance he could hear the frantic yelling of Annabelle calling his name, looking down at the wyvern using him as a chew toy he couldn't help but to imagine that the two were related. With a firm grasp he seized the wyvern's slender neck cutting off its air supply, no longer able to breathe it gave up on it's rather oversized prey.
The young beast was a deep purple in color almost black, it shined with gloss in the light of the aether lamp. It regarded him with wild predatory red eyes streaked with silver lightning bolts. Realizing their difference in size it soon gave up trying to bite and claw at him, with a grumble he looked at the small bleeeding wound from it's razor sharp fangs. What ever had happned he figured it would be best to speak with Annabelle before deciding what to do with the newborn wyvern.
Annabelle stood in shock looking at her novice quarters, it looked as if it had been ransacked, her personal belongings had been strewn about. At first she thought some had discovered the growing stash of enchanted baubles burried in her trunk, but that didn't explain all of the scratches and bite marks. "The wyvern, damnit, Adrian" she called out not knowing what else to do, looking at all of the damages that she would be unable to pay for her heart sunk, a servant's actions were the responsibility of their master.
The Mistress of Novices had been enjoying a cup of tea when a group of frantic novices darted past her office, at first she thought little of it till Adrian walked past carrying a baby wyvern, there was a crash of cup upon floor as she stood staring slack jawed the young man. "Ah, Mistress it's a pleasure to run into a lady as fine as yourself thise eve" he spoke charming as ever with a deep bow, detracted only by the annoyed hiss of the wyvern. "Adrian, care to explain yourself" she spoke pinching the bridge of her nose. "On the way here I became wrapped up in the incident at seven peaks, we had to clear out a nest of wyverns, I believe Annabelle had found an egg and took it with out telling me, I can only hope it was not solely greed that motivated her or I may have to punish her" Adrian explaied with a sigh. The young man did not show it, but she could tell he was deeply troubled and concerned for the wellbeing of his maid, "very well, lets get to the bottom of this" she spoke with a slight smirk.
The Mistress of Novices wove aether and spoke several words he did not know, but the incantation followed the structure of an Illusion spell, judging from the way the beast relaxed it was a high level tranquility spell. It looked cute now that it looked up at him with a dopey almost drugged appearance, at least it wasn't trying to snap and hiss at the other novices any longer.
Annabelle turned at the familiar sound of boot heels upon stone, the timing and assertive nature of the clacks telling her it was Adrian. Striding up to her doorway was Adrian cradling a baby wyvern, and a rather bemused looking Mistress. "I-I-I'm sorry" she stammered bowing her head motioning towards the carnage of the room. "Tis no matter" the Mistress waved dismissively. Annabelle looked up at the pair like a frightened doe, "frankly I'm more curious as to why you even had a wyven egg in the first place, it's not like a carnivorous lesser dragon is exactly a house cat" she scolded playfully. "I took the egg for my lord, I thought if I gave him a wyvern battle mount he would be pleased with me" she whispered meekly. "I already am pleased with you, please at least inform me if you plan on doing something this reckless in the future" Adrian sighed before kissing her forehead.
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"Now what to do with you" he sighed sctratching the head of the docile wyven. "For now it would be best if you kept her well fed, also do not let her out of your sight, and make sure to handle her often so she becomes accustomed to humans. The reason the poor thing tore appart the room was because it was searching for food, nesting wyverns will surround their clutch with carcasses once they are near to hatching. Also, you'll want to speak with the Arch Magus he is more of an expert of the topic than I, now both of you off to the kitchens while I get this place cleaned' she explained softly before finishing with a bark.
Adrian softly chucked carrying the wyvern in one arm, his other interlocked with a blushing Annabelle, "you know we're going to have to come up with a name" Adrian teased. "Lila, it certainly fits the color of her scales and has a feminine ring to it" Annabelle replied. Adrian agreed with a warm smile, what was one more woman to make his life interesting.
The next morning Adrian awoke to a tugging sensation, seated atop his chest was Lila looking at him expectantly while yanking on his clothes. "Alright lets get you some food" he grumbled lifting up the winged serpentine creature. Unlike yesterday's debacle Lila was much better behaved, she still hissed at others but a few soft raps on noggin stopped her from snapping at them. Most of the other novices looked on with curiosity as he hand fed a normally feared creature sitting in his lap like a common pet.
After breakfast the Mistress of Novices had picked up Adrian and led him into a section of the lower floors restricted from the novices, his hood was pulled back before entry. He was left standing in an audience chamber with thirteen robed individuals seated looking down upon him, their faces obscured by the lighting that focused on him. He took note of several empty seats while he was waiting to be adressed, each among the thirteen looked upon him with varrying levels of intrest, ranging from the heavily focused to the outwardly dissmissive.
"This is the one you have called before us, he has been here for less than a year, most unprecedented, Katja" the one seated highest above him spoke in a subtly accusatory tone. "He is ready for his fist trial, Kallador Arch Magus of the Crimson Palace" the Mistress of Novices. "That remains to be seen, where is the Lady of Bones" Kallador questioned in annoyance. "Asleep, Nyraleth does not leave her mausoleum before sundown" another voice spoke.
Adrian gritted his teeth inwardly as they continued pratling on as if he was not present, the arrogance was stifling, though it was an arrogance born from centuries of bloodshed. This was not the place where anger could be allowed to dictate his actions, still he needed a certain level of assertiveness in his actions.
With out waiting for their approval Adrain withdrew a pouch from his waist containing a mere handful of aether residue, over and over he had practiced this spell. With careful and deliberate action he began to draw a series of concentric circles over lapped with a six pointed star, at each of the six points he placed a symbolic item. A vial of blood, a small bottle ofwine, gold coin, a handful rose petals, and a vial of his own seed, at the center of the spell he carefully carved a copy of the sigil burned into his hand.
The room had gone stark silent as the Arch mages took notice of the young man's intense focus, oblivious to the world around him Adrian continued to work, only one among the mages could see the full extent of the boy's concentration. The Arch Magus of the Imperial War Mages College could see the faint traces of a warrior's battle trance, prehaps the rarest of martial abilities, Thessia the Aegis looked on in silent approval. Kallador had long grated under the defacto rule of the Arch Magus of the Onyx Tower, however he was forced to concede that Dalmar the Dark was a master of more than just magic, the man was an excellent judge of potential.
Adrian took a knife from his belt causing many of the onlookers to quirk an eyebrow, after making a small cut he added a final circle, one of his own blood. The use of blood magic was often viewed with prejudice, for one to so blatantly use it so openly caused concern among the thirteen, many secretly tapping into the Aetherium as insurance.
With one hand out streched he poured his demonic taint into the circle of blood until it glowed a dark black purple eliticing gasps from the thirteen who did not know the full extent of his powers. The ring of blood powered by taint was a powerful barrier for demonic entities, it would keep anything he summoned within the circle till his power or life were extinguished. With his other hand he wove energy into the spell, his consciousness streched out through the planes in search of Lilith, sensing an open portal various less savory entities clawed at his mind. Streeching and mindless chattering filled his ears, he blocked it out just as he did with the feeling of their claws raking his body.
Feeling the raw power emiting from the spell circle Thessia threw her most powerful barrier, the Aegis, sealing off the room from the rest of the world. Kallador stood and began weaving a spell that would incinerate even a lesser dragon, he held onto the raging malestrom of flames waiting for the first sign of trouble. The air cackled with static electricity as the sheer volume of Aether in the air increased with each of the Arch Mages who prepared spells of their own.
Lilith could feel a sharp tugging at her from across the planes, each second she delayed anwsering it's call wracked her body with painful jolts of energy. For the first time in her life the Succubus felt fear, an entity that could yank her across several planes of exsistence was beyond her capabilities to defy, her only relief was the fact that her bond with her master was not broken. It was possible that he had been captured and forced to serve a master more powerful than himself, it was a very realistic possibility, her only hope was that she could preserve his life by serving this powerful being. She clossed her eyes and gave into the spell allowing her mind and body to strech into the unknown, something familiar caught hold of her and wrapped her in its energy drawing her into its embrace.
The stone floor was cold upon her feet, a sensation too foreign for a being where one's world was subject to their own desires. She was naked, bare before the hardened reality of a primaterial plane, a frightening experience when she had only touched this world through the dreams of mortals. Lilith opened her lavendar eyes to see the normally emeral green obs of her master swirling with the black-purple of the demonic taint and the vibrant blue of the arcane. Normally Adrian would not have been powerful to supply a spell of this magnitude, only by first casting the arcane spell then powering it with the taint was he able to physically puncture the barriers between the primaterial and the Aetherial planes. She could feel the beigns trying to claw their way out of the portal as it slowly widened beyond Adrian's grasp, Lilith grasped the mind of her master adding her own powers to his, slowly she was able to help him seal the portal and cut the connection powering the spell.
Adrian slumped forward into a soft embrace that smelled of wine, honney, spices, and subtle pheromones, his breathing was ragged and his body burned with pain. Lacerations and burns covered his body a reflection of the battles with the entities in the other planes, raw aether coursed through his body and seared his insides from pushing past his limits. If nothing was done he would likely die from aether poisoning or at the very least burn out his concious mind becoming little more than a husk of a human being. Lilith kissed him deeply sucking the raw aether from his body along with the rapidly expanding taint, it was a scorching kiss as bolts of arcane lightning arced through her body and into the air, fortunately for her she was immune to the affects that aether produced in humans. She was in pain but there was no danger of mutation or death.
Once Adrian was stable Lilith rounded on the thirteen mages who were waiting to unleash their terrible magics, she could match each one on one but together they would over power her. The council stood in silence with furrrowed brows as the demon stood protectivly between the council and her master filling the air with an aura of fear that caused beads of cold sweat to form of Kallador's brow. They could banish the demon, but she would dragg at least one of them with her, he waa concerned for the young man's life but he would not dare risk his own to save the young fool.
"Hahahaha marvelous, absolutely marvelous" a flat deep voice stated flatly breaking the silence drawing all atention to the far side of the room. A figure in black spider silk robes with silver trim stepped into the light, a breif moment of hair raising tension gripped everyone's hearts, Dalmar the Dark casually strode through the room his with a casual gesture the spells that had been readied had disapated into nothingness causing looks of shock and confusion. "You'll find no enemies here daughter of Lilim, now see to your master's wounds" he spoke off handedly as he simply strolled past the demon crouched ready to attack as if he was on an afternoon walk through the gardens. "Your judgement" he stated flatly in his deep commanding tone.
"The council agrees that the novice has presented a working knowledge of magic and is ready to begin full apprenticeship as an adept of the Onyx Tower" Kallador stated while looking around for confirmation from the other Arch mages. "A word of caution Arch Magus of the Council of Magi, train this boy well, he has the potential to one day sit alongside us, but I fear his recklessness will bring ruin to this world" Kallador narrowed his eyes at Dalmar as he spoke.