--- Atrog ---
"What makes a professor want to join a group of adventurers?"
Atrog asked Balron in his usual gravelly voice. The orc towered over the dwarf in front of him, even while they were both seated. The ballpoint pen and notepad looked comically small in the paladin's hands. He noted that Balron was wearing armor and carried weapons. A point in his favor. Many other wizards were too confident in their magic and neglected the basics.
In this line of work you never knew when you were going to need your weapons. It made sense to keep them within reach at all times, even when you were holding a job interview in a nice office.
Hiring was not his area of expertise, but Atrog knew that building an effective team was very important. A good companion was far more valuable than any martial training or divine spell he could call upon. A pity that both of his existing companions would be even worse at this. Galanys would make a game of it and end up somehow pissing off half of the nobility in the city. Again. He tried to think about how Rania might approach the hiring process. His mind kept flinching away from the idea in horror.
"I was actually an adventurer in my youth myself." the dwarf replied. "I was a delver in the capital ruins."
"You were a delver before?" Atrog replied in shock. "That's amazing! A perfect fit for our mission. What did you do?"
"I'm surprised you didn't know. Didn't the adventuring bureau forward my information to you when they made the introduction? I did receive yours. Then again, I was an adventurer about two hundred years ago, so maybe they just misplaced my records."
Atrog raised an eyebrow at this, but did not interrupt. Two hundred years was old for a dwarf, but the man in front of him did not look like he was past his prime. Looks could be deceiving though. As a professor at Northpass university, he probably had biomancers as coworkers. He could simply ask them for a favor to give his body a magical tune up.
"Salvaging the technology of our ancestors was a lot of fun and exciting work." the dwarf continued. "I won't bore you with the details of what I did. You can read up on it once you get my profile. Or when I get in a talkative mood and ramble about it later on. I am an old man after all." the wizard smiled genially.
"The short version is that I made it to rank 13, and that I am certified for working in all containment areas in East Oruk. Naturally I am also certified for handling old government security systems. Understanding them was a large part of my research these past few decades, after all. I actually designed the test that the bureau uses to test for this certification."
"Impressive." replied Atrog. He knew that only roughly two percent of professional adventurers ever made it to that rank. "Why did the bureau not recommend you as team leader then, if you have that much experience?"
"Oh, I asked them not to. It was a long time ago and I do believe I have gotten rusty in the meantime. I spent almost two centuries doing theoretical exercises, and only casting spells under controlled conditions. I haven't thrown a simple fireball in ages." the dwarf got a faraway look in his eyes as he talked, seeming to reminisce on the past.
"It will probably take me a while to get my head back into the game. I wouldn't want anyone else to get hurt because of me in the meantime. Besides, I was never interested in leading people. That wasn't my role back then, and it won't be now. No, the thing I want is the same thing I have always wanted to do. You see, young man, I am fascinated by security systems. That's what made me interested in adventuring in the first place.
"It's also why I decided to become professor of abjuration at the university. It's always been my passion. But lately I have hit a block. I am no longer as creative as I used to be. So I have decided to turn back to adventuring, and maybe that will help me get my head back into the game."
Atrog nodded in understanding. It was well known that risking your life on adventures somehow allowed people to grow faster than they should. The phenomenon was called the Law of Adversity. It had been studied at length by various governments who tried to empower their armies en masse, but this never worked. Whatever caused adventuring to be so useful to a person's growth, it seemed to actively avoid being studied. All that was known was that risking your life on adventures led to unusually fast growth.
"The security systems in the ruins of the capital do still hold many secrets that all my research has not been able to reveal." Balron continued. "You have no idea how frustrating it is to know that there is a spell that can bypass the Trismenian Shield Pattern, but not to know how."
Atrog nodded sagely in feigned understanding. He had no idea what that meant, but his experience with other wizards told him that asking about it could send the dwarf into lecture mode, which he would rather avoid.
"The method was a state secret before the Cataclysm. Nowadays we only know that it existed, but there is nobody around anymore who could explain how to do it. There are many things like this. Knowledge our ancestors had that would save us decades of research if we could just recover their notes somehow. And besides the benefit of discovery, it's also important to test my own skills. How can I be sure that the spells and methods I design actually work, if I do not test them in the field?"
Previously dour, the old wizard had become rather enthusiastic by the end of his little speech. Clearly, Atrog thought, the man is obsessed with his work. He itched to ask for details about his experiences, but he also knew that his decision was already made.
The adventuring bureau was often annoying, but they were good at their work. If the man really reached the rank and had the qualifications he claimed, his competence was not in doubt. He would be a perfect fit for the party. Better to speed this up and share the stories later in the evening, with the rest of the team, and plenty of drinks.
"Alright. You have convinced me, professor. You sound like you know what you are doing, and I don't think that it will be a problem even if your reflexes have grown rusty. The three of us can already handle ourselves in a fight, and someone knowledgeable with ruin delving will be very valuable."
"I'm glad to hear that, but I have to admit, I am not entirely convinced if I want to join your team in particular. Your own credentials are impressive, but I do have some concerns about your teammates, and they don't seem to be here for this interview."
"I can't say I'm surprised to hear that. Galanys and Rania must sound pretty shady on paper, if the adventuring bureau gave you their profiles. They are actually both busy at the moment, but relatively close by. How about we go get them right now, and I will make introductions? You can ask me any questions you may have on the way."
"Sounds good to me. Please lead the way." Balron responded, and the two of them left the office.
The office was located on the university campus of Northpass. It was an underground city, built by dwarves. That was why it was one of the few cities in Oruk that survived the Cataclysm three hundred years ago relatively unscathed. Since then, it had developed from a mining town and trading post to one of the richest cities in the remnants of Oruk.
With the increase in population and traffic, the originally slightly-larger-than-normal school had been developed into one of the greatest universities on the continent. Compared to the cities before the Cataclysm, Northpass would barely rate as a city at all. But the Cataclysm had hit every country across the world, and so Northpass was considered a metropolis. Mostly because of a lack of competition for that title.
The entire city was underground, built into the mountain that was originally used for mining. Most of the population was dwarven, but both laws and cultural norms in Oruk meant that practically every part of the city was built to be easily accessible to even the tallest of the races native to the country. So Atrog walked with Balron through a well-built and clearly marked tunnel system, illuminated by magelight, as he tried to explain away the eccentricities of his teammates.
"So, about Galanys." Balron began, "Her file didn't say much. She recently started out as an adventurer. Passed all theoretical exams with flying colors. Performed well in practical tests as well. I have only one question."
Atrog knew where this was going.
"Why did she get kicked out of wizarding school for necromancy without a license?"
There it was.
"Well, it's a long story", Atrog replied, "I asked her the same question. Repeatedly. But she actually does have a reasonable explanation."
"I'm listening." Balron said, both doubt and curiosity clear on his face.
"Galanys claims to have an eidetic memory. She can remember anything she has ever seen with perfect clarity. I thought she was joking at first, but I have seen it myself. It's uncanny. Her memory means that she never miscasts a spell. If she has seen a spell performed once, she can recast it perfectly every time. She can even do that under stress. I have seen her cast spells continuously in a fight without misfiring even once."
"That's pretty impressive." Balron replied. "I never had trouble with that myself, but I have known colleagues who still messed up their spells even after years of experience."
"Yeah, I don't envy you wizards at all," Atrog smiled, "I much prefer my own divine spells over the arcane. They don't require doing integral calculus in your head while you are surrounded by arrows and fire. Divine magic is much nicer that way.
"Anyway, as I was saying. Galanys doesn't have that problem. She isn't very powerful right now, though. Since she is inexperienced, she doesn't have much mana, yet. Her reserves aren't particularly impressive for her age either. I expect that she will be monstrously strong once she has built up some mana reserves."
The "if she survives that long" went unspoken, but was clear to both of the experienced adventurers.
"But we were talking about the necromancy incident." Atrog continued. "As it happens, Galanys' town was visited by a traveling mage from Ossor a few months ago. In her own words, Galanys 'cribbed some of his notes'." Atrog made air quotes.
"She said that the man was giving a lecture on the ethics of necromancy. He wasn't teaching any spells, but he sometimes leafed through his notebooks while looking for references. Galanys had been in that lecture room before and noticed a reflective surface at the back of the room. So she developed a magnifying enchantment for her eyes, and always made sure to sit in the right spot in that lecture room. It allows her to see all of the lecturer's notes.
"Combined with her eidetic memory, she can memorize the speaker's notes if they leaf through them even once. She says that she originally did this to copy the answer keys for exams, so she would always get perfect marks. Honestly, I don't know if she should have told me this, or if I should be telling it to you, but she seems to be really proud of what she did and likes to talk about it. In any case, she took an exam to become a licensed necromancer shortly afterwards. The problem is that she couldn't wait to try it out.
"So when there was a death in the village a few weeks later, before she received her license, she offered her services immediately. If she had waited for her license, they would probably have hired a necromancer from a nearby village instead. But she needed the money and necromancers can charge a lot for their services. A skeleton to do manual labor is worth a lot for a village.
"But you know what the government is like in these cases. It's a permanent mark on her record, all because she couldn't wait for a few days. Personally, I don't think she did anything wrong there. The reason necromancy needs a license in the first place is because of what happens if you get those spells even slightly wrong. But Galanys doesn't make casting mistakes, so for her it was just a formality."
Balron thought about the situation for a few seconds before replying.
"I think I agree. She didn't really do anything wrong there. And frankly, if my students showed half the ingenuity she did I would give them a passing grade on general principle if I found out about it. That trick with the mirror was actually brilliant. Now I want to go back and check my own office and the lecture halls for any reflective surfaces like that. Hah, it's funny. I meant to get back to adventuring to get more practical experience about security. I ended up learning something new before I even set foot outside the city.
"I have one concern though." Balron continued, "She really shouldn't talk about that openly. Ossoran mages are not just centuries ahead in the field of necromancy, they are also famously secretive about it. I doubt that whatever she copied was something particularly important. They wouldn't put state secrets in an unencrypted journal. She could probably have learned the same spells by paying for them like anyone else. But what she did is still technically theft. She could get into trouble for that."
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"She did in fact get into trouble for that." Atog responded, "That's how I met her in the first place. A priest of Unir told me about the situation she was in, and asked me to deliver a letter and a package to her village."
Unir was the god of creativity and invention. A minor god, all things considered. Atrog was not sworn to any particular god, but acted as a kind of divine mercenary. He was trained as a paladin: Somebody who knows how to fight, and how to safely channel divine energy even in the middle of combat. Like many paladins in Oruk, Atrog sold his services to any church that was able to pay, so long as its god was roughly aligned with his personality.
In his opinion, this was much more efficient than the silly customs of other countries, where a paladin served a single god exclusively. Unlike gods, people had complex and multifaceted personalities. It was vanishingly rare to meet a person with such a one-dimensional personality that they could be seen as the servant of one god and one god only.
"I normally get asked to protect someone, or clear out a nest of monsters, so a simple delivery was a pleasant change of pace. Apparently Unir found her actions very creative. He was unhappy that the village elders took a very dim view of her unlicensed necromancy. In his opinion, creativity should be rewarded, so I was sent to prevent any trouble for her. I'm not sure what was in the letter and the package, but it seemed to calm down the locals. It was probably some money along with the affirmations of a priest that Galanys didn't mean any harm. I'm pretty sure the only reason they sent a paladin was because my presence added weight to the letter. Otherwise they could have just hired a courier."
"In any case, Galanys was no longer welcome in the village, so I agreed to escort her to Northpass. We were attacked by dire wolves on the way here, and that's how we found out that she can actually fight pretty well. After that, she decided to become an adventurer: She is good at it, and it's an easy way to solve her money problems."
"She has money problems?" Balron asked.
"She does. She spends everything she earns on buying odd magic items, machinery, or reagents for her experiments. I suppose that's the real reason that Unir considered her interesting enough to bother sending a message. Not many faithful get treatment like that, you know?"
Atrog had by now led Balron across most of the university and they were starting to hear cheering in the distance.
"I think we are nearly there. Galanys spends her free time making money as a stage magician. She is pretty good at it, too."
"A stage magician?" Balron asked, "But you said she is an actual wizard."
"She is. She says that being a magician is more challenging and fun. Casting spells just requires rote memorization, but stage performances require creativity. Her words, not mine."
"Wow." Balron said indignantly. "I'm not sure if I should feel insulted or amazed by this. That 'rote memorization' takes most people decades to master. She is very lucky to have such a useful ability, and she decides that it makes things boring and attempts to become a stage magician, of all things. It's like she is trying to offend every wizard in the world at the same time."
The two came to a large foyer built into the tunnels. The human woman that could only be Galanys had parked her wagon in the center of it. Odd pieces of magical equipment poked out of every corner of it. She had set up a stage in front of her wagon and a small crowd of students had gathered to watch the show.
Any wizard even slightly trained in biomancy was able to alter the color of a person's skin, eyes, or hair in relatively little time. It was evident at a glance that Galanys made full use of this in order to look as distracting as humanly possible. No part of her appearance looked natural, with silver hair, golden eyes, and purple skin. On top of this, she was wearing the gaudiest dress imaginable, the bright colors clashing with each other as well as with her hair and skin.
Atrog knew that she did this on purpose. She put significant effort into looking distracting during a show, because it made it easier to manipulate people. She also enjoyed predicting people's reactions to her odd appearance. The woman had taught herself the basics of biomancy not in order to become a healer, like a normal person, but to put on a show. She said it was cheaper than hiring someone to do it. It's not like learning the basics of an entire field of magic was hard, according to her.
Somehow, despite Galanys' best efforts, she was not the first thing Balron noticed when the two of them entered the foyer.
"Why is that man there screaming for his life?" he asked Atrog, pointing at a man who was currently busy screaming his lungs out.
The man appeared to be cut in two, as in the popular trick used by many stage magicians: The top half of him was in a box with only his head poking out. The bottom half of him was in a box with only his legs poking out. So far so normal.
What was less normal was the guillotine on the ground in between the two boxes, covered in blood, and the fact that the man seemed to be suffering a nervous breakdown.
Some people in the audience started shouting in horror, but Galanys appeared to be serenity itself as she calmly continued her performance. She pushed the two boxes back together, and opened a hatch to release the man inside.
The man looked down at his legs and noticed that he was entirely unharmed. His face cycled through a variety of emotions, from horror, to surprise, to relief, before he started crying and shakily made his way out of the box. He shot Galanys a fearful look as he disappeared into the crowd.
"It appears that this trick was a bit too realistic for my lovely volunteer assistant!" Galanys shouted into the crowd in a bombastic voice. "A pity, as the show can't continue without an assistant. I will have to end it for today. But don't worry! The show will continue in the coming days!"
She gave a bow to the crowd, then quickly made her way from the stage. Some of the students had become quite upset, and she was making a beeline for Atrog to escape their wrath.
"Hi Atrog, hi Balron! Quick, let's get out of here. I overheard someone talking about a lawsuit and I'd rather not be here right now. Out of sight, out of mind and all that." she greeted them, before quickly walking past them and taking the lead on their way through the tunnels.
"How do you know my name, miss?" Balron asked.
"You were one of the applicants for joining the team. There was a picture of your face, so I recognized you. You are Balron Irwin, professor for abjuration and security. It's a pleasure to meet you!" she bowed politely to Balron, and he returned it.
"I take it then that the interview went well?" She asked Atrog.
"It did." He responded. "I was just trying to introduce him to you and Rania."
"Awesome. How about we go fetch Rania then? Her exam should be almost over by now." Galanys said.
"That show just now went great. A little too well, actually." Galanys continued without prompting. "I have spent months trying to find a way to make the standard sawed-through-in-a-box trick work with an assistant who isn't in on it. It was an interesting challenge. It went almost perfectly."
"Notes for the next time:" She added, "Do not forget that normal people freak out easily. It's kind of flattering that the guy found it so realistic that he started to cry, but it also ruined the show for everyone else. I'm glad I didn't charge money for this. That would have been awkward."
"Really, Galanys, that's your take on what we just saw?" Atrog asked, shaking his head. "The man looked like he will need therapy to recover. Why in the world did you add blood to the guillotine?"
"Oh, don't be so hard on her." Balron interrupted. "I found this highly entertaining. There was no harm done, and she did say the man was a volunteer. How did you do it, by the way? I can't wrap my head around it. It looked so realistic."
"A magician never reveals her tricks!" She replied with a shit-eating grin. "But thank you for the compliment!"
"Fair enough. Maybe I can talk you into revealing it later." The dwarf responded.
"Please don't encourage her." Atrog said dejectedly. Secretly he was glad that the two of them seemed to get along so well. He had been afraid of Balron's reaction. Atrog was tempted to pray that Balron's meeting with Rania was going to go just as smoothly. Unfortunately, he only prayed to sensible gods, who answered reasonable prayers. He couldn't think of any who would answer such a prayer.
"What is it that you mentioned earlier, about Rania taking an exam?" Balron asked.
"As you probably read from her papers, Rania is not yet registered as an adventurer with the bureau." Atrog replied. "She has spent the last few days taking all the tests on required knowledge for adventurers, and behavioral exams."
"Interesting." said Balron. "I actually don't know anything about her. The bureau didn't bother to send me anything besides saying that she isn't registered yet. Please tell me about her."
"She saved our lives from bandits two weeks ago. That's how we met her." Galanys immediately replied.
"That's true. There were over a dozen men lying in ambush for us." Atrog added. "They thought that Galanys' wagon must be stuffed with riches. There were far too many of them for us to win a fight, but we probably could have killed a few of them. So I tried to negotiate a deal with their leader. The negotiations were not going well and it looked like they were going to kill us. Then in the middle of our negotiations, this elven woman suddenly dropped from the trees without making a sound. She just asked the bandit leader, and I quote 'excuse me, but are you the bad guys?'"
"It was the weirdest thing." Galanys added. "She went on to explain that she was looking for 'Bad Guys' to kill, and she was confused because bandits normally don't haggle. So now she wasn't sure what to do about it and would like to know whether or not she should start fighting."
"Are you serious?" Balron asked.
"She said that in such a deadpan voice. Like she was just genuinely confused and wanted clarification." Galanys continued. "Well, she got it shortly afterwards. One of the bandits said that yes, they were the bad guys. Give us your money."
"He definitely shouldn't have said that." Atrog said. "She looked him up and down. Nodded. Then suddenly jumped ten meters into the air, unslung her bow in mid air, landed on a tree branch, and shot him in the head."
"Seriously. I have never seen anyone move like that before." He continued. "It was uncanny. It was also an excellent distraction. I stabbed their leader while he was still recovering from the shock, and Galanys disabled a small cluster of bandits by conjuring a web, then set it on fire. The rest of them didn't last long after that. Rania probably killed more of them with her bow than the two of us together."
"When all was said and done, she walked up to us, calmly introduced herself, and asked if she could join us to, again I quote, 'go on cool adventures together'. She did not seem to care in the least that she just killed a half dozen people since they were 'The Bad Guys' in her world view."
"Well, that's certainly an odd one. What's her deal?" Balron asked.
"That's a good question. We have been trying to figure it out since then." Atrog responded. "She seems to act like she has no idea how people work, and treats life like some kind of story. The thing is, she is a shaman. You know how those get. Talking to spirits does things to your brain."
"So I have heard. Shamans do have a reputation. But it sounds like you think there is more to it?" Balron responded.
"I do. She is just a person with a really odd way of looking at the world. Galanys disagrees with me, but I think she might just be a cultist of Tonos."
"Tonos? The god of stories. That would make sense." Balron responded. "Viewing your own life as a story is something that his more extreme followers sometimes do. It doesn't explain that she is actually competent, though."
"I agree." Galanys added. "That's why I think something else is going on. Atrog mentioned that she is a shaman. She is really good at it. I have read about spirits and shamanism. Spirits have a very different psychology than people. From what I have read, shamanism is mostly based on persuasion and deception. You need to be able to talk the spirits into doing things they wouldn't normally do.
"So what I think is going on is that Rania is acting like this on purpose. It's some weird way of manipulating the spirits. It would explain why she is so competent at fighting. That's her drawing strength from the spirits she interacts with. I think she is pulling some weird reverse psychology move. She actually introduces herself as 'Rania Mortal, a Perfectly Normal Elf'. You can practically hear the capitalization when she says it. I mean, who does that? If you were really a normal person, you would never say something like that.
"Unless of course that is what you want people to think. That's why I believe she is actually a normal person, and is acting like this as some weird way to manipulate the spirits. She probably expects us to realize this, but can't admit it out loud or the spirits will notice it. Or maybe she doesn't expect us to notice this, and wants us to think that she is secretly very powerful. It could be a useful gambit to appear more useful, or to scare away people who are easily intimidated. I mean, those bandits did look pretty confused when Rania asked them if they were 'The Bad Guys'. So if her goal was to put them on the backfoot, it clearly worked well."
"If that was her goal she could have just attacked from ambush instead of revealing herself." Atrog interjected sensibly.
"Huh, good point. I may be overthinking this." Galanys replied.
"Oh gods. I haven't met her yet and already my head hurts." Balron lamented.
"I think it's admirable. Once I have mastered humanoid psychology, I would love to learn more about the way spirits think from her." Galanys said.
"And have you ruled out the obvious alternatives? That she is insane? Or that she is possessed? Or that she is actually a supernatural creature of some kind?" Balron asked.
"Of course. It was one of the first things I did." Atrog replied. "I set up a small area of consecrated ground without her noticing. She walked through it without any difficulties. She isn't possessed, nor a supernatural creature. I also wouldn't call her insane. She is perfectly capable of solving everyday problems. She is just really weird in social interactions."
"How powerful was that consecrated ground you made? What if she is simply a powerful enough outsider that she could ignore it." Balron added.
"I actually am a competent paladin." Atrog responded, a little offended. "Some moderately powerful creatures may be able to walk inside that area, but we would still notice that they are being affected by it. Shrugging off such a spell without any visible effect at all would take a very powerful creature. Anything that powerful has no business walking around in forests and joining random groups of adventurers. Beings like that usually spend their time trying to take over a country instead."
"True enough. I apologize." Balron said. "I will withhold my judgment then, until I know more about her."
The three of them then spent the next couple of minutes making small talk as they walked towards the building in which Rania's examination was being held.
Suddenly, a bone-chilling roar echoed through the tunnels, interrupting their discussion.
"What was that?" asked Galanys.
"Hm. Sounded like a demon to me. Might be a Narasu, or possibly a Bykolith." Responded Balron, his hand on his chin.
"Don't talk! Act!" shouted Atrog, who had already drawn his sword and was running towards the source of the roar.
As he rounded the corner, he saw a student running away in terror, pursued by a two metres tall monstrosity of claws and fangs. As he took in the speed of the monster, he knew that he was not going to make it in time to save the fleeing woman.
Suddenly the demon toppled over and fell flat on its face. Atrog noticed an arrow sticking out of the back of its head. Seconds later, the creature dematerialized, as summoned demons do when they are killed.
"Oh, there you are!" Rania shouted. She was standing in the doorway the monster had come from, with her bow in her hand and a smile on her face.
"You guys!" she shouted, "This exam is so awesome! They summoned practice demons to fight, for testing!"
"What?" exclaimed Atrog. That didn't make any sense, he thought.
Galanys and Balron looked equally confused.
Another roar came from inside the building, followed by the sound of an explosion. Rania ignored it.
"I'm not sure if you are allowed to help me since it's a personal test." She said. "You'd have to ask the examiner!"
Atrog was at a loss for words. "What. No. Of course not. We will help you."
"Okay, but only if you are sure I won't fail the test because of it!" Rania responded chirpily.
She turned to run back into the building, but then stopped herself and said "Oh, one more thing. They weren't very clear on how the exam gets graded. Do you think we get extra credit for saving Innocent Civilians? I hope so!"
Atrog could not believe his ears. "Let's go with a yes." He responded, before charging past Rania and into the building.