Looking up at the chandelier that just last night almost brained him, Salt found himself overjoyed for his current protection. As a Proctore of new and newish students of Nersinia his Terrifying school he was afforded the same protections that the newbies got. At least as long as it was in the execution of his duties, and he did his job to Nersinias satisfaction.
His voice raised and with a clearing spell for comprehension he continued: “As you can plainly see this halls interior differs starkly from the near liminal space, we were in just a while ago. This is simply because we are entering your Coteries planar steps from a defunct corridor passage.”
Turning to the row of 97 students and casting a rudimentary privacy/warding spell the nondescript beige wearing youth asked, “Now you all know why I would take you on this circuitous route from the cafeteria to your dorms.” The answers came fast and angry “you're a dick” “you are weak” “you fear power” “you love bossing people around” “secrets” “spite” “good reasons” “bad reasons” “do you know who my father is” “you want our souls”.
“The answer should be simple and apparent to all of you.” The beige boy said, his voice small but overpowering. “Because I get something from this.”
“I do not do this from the kindness of my heart but for points from Nersinia. We call them N-points for short.”
“You are a Coterie of ca. A hundred sentients, at this very moment there are 999 or so other Coteries in your first year.” A great murmuring broke out with shouted questions flying like as “Thats impossible” “I tried for four years to get inn” “this is exclusive Nersinia for god's sake” “do you know who my father is” “the tuition was a king's ransom” “how could we all fit in the castle”.
“Quiet” Salt repeated and activated the muffling portion of his warding/comprehension spell. “By the end of first year the surviving students are compressed into approximately 600 Coteries of 100 sentients each. By second year 400, and at the end of third year when most dabblers and nobles can proudly say they did study at the school, and they are allowed to drop out with some modicum of dignity and can advertise that they went here without certain alumni killing them on the spot for N-points.”
At this point Salt stopped as he saw the crowd lean in, “and that information is not something one gets for free in this place.” Softly smiling during the subservient groaning and shouting Salt quickly muffled the crowd anew. “There are two reasons I stopped you, but you have had a long day and if you so desire have a good rest in your rooms that are through to my left, we shall see each other tomorrow at first bell 1200 in the cafeteria, your badges will light up with my rune, which I shall then have displayed above my head. Now a warning read your student book and do Not enter other sentients room/sanctuary without express permission from the owner.” Salt stood quietly as the more bellicose students hurried towards the door and promptly vanished. Juking backward the students nearest the doorframe milled about kind of like cattle Salt thought.
Muffling the crowd for the third time he spoke, “does anybody know who I am?” “Proctor Salt” came a cry “and how do you know?” he returned. “Orientation, master Stavros told us" Came another, “and did he conjure an image, a likeness or otherwise of this proctor Salt?” He pressed. “You are in the lion's den here people” shaking his head Salt continued “In your student book it says your proctor's likeness, voice and common mana signature.” “He is right” came a call together with wild scrambling to verify with their own book which inevitably always seem to end up at the bottom of newbie student's packs.
“That book is the difference between a living wizard and a dead mage, use it people. Now get to bed!” In the din of students factchecking and confirming with each other a few students took the chance of going through the door and promptly vanished. Leading Salt reflected to more hullaballoo. At last, a pertinent question broke through the din. “Proctor Salt is it safe to go through that door?” Seeing a young Quinasi half water elemental he replied “Yes, it is safe for YOU to go through the door.” “Is it Safe for me” “Is it only sometimes safe” “fuck you dick” “do you know who my father is” “I knew it, you want my soul”.
Time Salt thought, there is something about time. It flows so fast when you're with idiots, but so slow when bored by idiots. “Time” Salt shouted stunning most off the crowd, “can someone tell me why I am not trying to kill you?” Tap, tap, tap, the smart ones won't tell, the dumb ones won't know. “Time, in your book of all the answers it will tell you why. It goes as follows first graders are protected from on high by the school for the first semester no one may murder them or indirectly or directly profit from their murder. If someone kills you by accident, well it happens.” Grumbling, massing, gnashing of teeth. “Furthermore, no third year may murder first years indirectly or directly nor profit from their murder. Same fourth year with second year, fifth year with third, sixth with 4 years, and so on and so forth. There are also safe rooms, the cafeteria, classrooms, certain shrines, some of the training grounds, all ritual circles, enchantment workshops, alchemy storage, some of the library's though they change with time and temperature.” As the list of places that where safe grew, for some it seems to become apparent that the list of where it was not safe was longer.
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“So” Salt continued “why are you probably not in danger?” After a wait of some moments a voice came out from the side “Because you get something from this.” “Yes” exclaimed Salt “in the little book of students should read me, it says: the Proctor gains N-points Proportional to the students alive after a week, month and year. In other words: I Want you to live.” Flourishing as much as a boy can flourish a thoroughly beige nondescript cape Salt exclaimed. “Now the door will actually teleport you to your Coteries floor where your name can be found in your mother tongue on the door to your Sanctuary/Room. Fly, fly now, I have no doubt you will have a thoroughly rotten day tomorrow, we are going into the rainbow warrens.”
As the students left first in a deluge then to a stream on to a drip. Till only 23 students was left, 23 students and a humming Salt. “Proctor sir” came a voice from the back “May I ask what the second thing you wanted to tell us was?”
“There was a fantastic question asked a little while ago.” Salt said. “It was how can we all fit inside the castle? Now the fact that a student sees this wonder of the world as a castle at all is near insulting.” Salt lowered his voice and said “The fact is we do not know what Nersinia is, part dungeon: possibly, part godkind: undoubtably. One of the greatest artefacts of yore: believably, its own demi plane: now there we have something. We are all aware of the portals Nersinia opens up, some to rich lands, some to poor. This is nothing new, there are seven other dungeons found with the same inclinations. What seams different about Nersinia is its spatial signature, that is to say its lack of one, or to be more precise its overwhelming solidity in all dimensions. Thus, leading it to interact with all spatial things to plunder or collapse as it wills, or as someone wills.
If you come here to this door on any other night in this week and you enter this door a scant few seconds after someone else: you will be ripped apart by spatial wind. Do you understand, do not trust spatial spells or equipment in Nersinia! Now have a good night.”
This time after some Heming and hawing 11 students stayed behind before the voice again asked, “Proctor Just so I know, what was the first thing you wanted to tell us?” Salt squared his shoulders for this there wasn't always a surety, but it happened sometimes. “I assume you mean the punching up part of the rules, where an underclassman or even several can rob or kill their seniors or even proctor if not in a safe sone?” There seemed to Salt to be a group off 5 instigators 3 opportunists and 2 who quickly distanced themself. “Why yes sir that was the clause we were thinking about, but more along the line of a donation.” Thankful for his work ethic Salt felt he could not in good conscience let these newbies go denigrating the good name of his terrifying and beloved school.
“Now the problem with this school is that when people get in after years of study.” Salt explained as above him the “chandelier” grew eyes and long limbs. “They sometimes tell themself that since I have already studied so hard and probably am already a second circle or even third circle mage, an impressive achievement pretty much everywhere but here.” As the 9 remaining newbies formed a lose half circle around Salt, glances flying without confidents through the air. “They tell themself this will be easy, they tell themself do I even need this, I know so much” Salt shifted himself more firmly into the half circle of students. “No, you are not here to take, to add, you are here to be taken from. In the first year Nersinia takes the stupid and the careless, in the second Nersinia takes the arrogant and the directionless, but in the third year. In the third year Nersinia takes the weak.”
With the word weak the ground under the half circle broke into dust plunging the newbies into sand and salt. And with the smallest of gestures from Salt the monster dropped from above. Now the hole where the circle had stood was not very deep nor very long, one could probably look over it if upright and not surrounded by static clingy sand and salt. Four of the nine mages had to their credit put up mage shields, however being mages, their shields were blocky inelegant static things. Useful against elemental spells and kinetic force but against mana-philic salt and mana- phobic sand worse than useless, the salt clung to anything mana rich forcing it to give out a portion of its mana throughput as heat to comply with the spells purpose. The rich heat sent the sand in several showers throughout the room blinding all. The vast amount of sand and salt transmogrified from stone capturing and keeping the newbies in place.
In the aftermath the monster took a finger and a toe in payment and Salt dumped all nine students bleeding trough the portal. Salt felt quite happy, the first task of his Nersinian mission as proctor went off without a hitch, and with a successful summoning, binding and rewarding of a middling Demiurge, it would be more amenable to his tricks next time without trying to brain him.