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Edited by Merribor: 4/24/2022 5:37:23 PM
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Solitha Chapter 9: Entering the Guild

Nona woke, sat up, and stretched. He glanced around groggily, letting his brain slowly register where he was. It was the same spot he'd woken up for the past few days, Ahsante's guest chamber, but it would be the last night he had slept there, at least for the time being. With his new Guild membership, came new lodgings. For whatever reason, new Guild members were not allowed to live with their sponsors. Ahsante had explained why last night, along with a briefing of how to succeed in the Guild, and who to talk to if he had trouble, and where to go if he needed some quiet space, but Nona didn't remember much of it. He hadn't paid all that much attention, instead covertly casting, dispelling, and recasting tiny, controlled Flames behind his back. He didn't understand it. During the evaluation, Thread had never behaved so rebelliously, and Nona had never lost control of a spell like that before. According to the books, accidents like that only happened if the mage was being stupid. Pushing the conundrum to the back of his mind, he tried his best to smooth out his bedhead, and made a mental checklist of everything he needed to do before he left. Pack was all ready to go, all his belongings stuffed into one little knapsack. He was proud that he didn't need many possessions, but he wished he had more keepsakes. Human keepsakes, things to remind of him of the home he had forgotten all about. Next, he needed to wake Reke, snoozing away in his little makeshift nest on the bedside table. He leaned over and prodded the slumbering lizlai with his forefinger, but Reke completely ignored it. He prodded some more, almost tipping over the nest, but Reke managed to sleep through all of it. Huffing, Nona casted a light wind spell, which spilled him out of his warm nest, waking him instantly. "G'morning" Nona declared cheerfully, smiling at Reke in the dusky morning light. Reke glowered back at him, and nothing but rage filled his thoughts. He was too tired to do anything about it, so he let out a low, displeasing groan instead. Nona knew it would take awhile before Reke was ready to talk, so he jumped out of bed, and pulled on his blue coat. Fishing his comb out of the pack, Nona yanked it through the unruly knots and ruffles. Reke slunk over to a small cup of water he had Nona prepare at night, and dunked himself in. Underwater, he stretched and scratched himself, and when he emerged from the top, he felt a hundred times more energized. "Why'd you wake me up so early?" he complained, propping his forelegs up on the rim of the cup. "Because we're moving to the Guildhouse today, silly!" Nona explained. "'We?' You heard Ahsante last night, I'm not allowed to live with you,” Reke said. "Buuuuuut, visitors are allowed, so you'll just be helping move in for a few days. Or months." Nona justified, giving the glistening Reke a wink. "I don't think the Mage's Guild is going to see it that way. I'm pretty sure you need some sort of paperwork just to get in if you're not a member of the Guildhouse," Reke replied skeptically. "They can't check your paperwork if they don't know you're there." Nona said slyly, opening up jacket to reveal a hidden pocket inside. "There has got to be a better, legal, way to get me inside the Guildhouse. I'll just have to wait for it." "But we don't know how long that's going to take! It's like you said, you need to find Lusahn as quick as possible, and what's the worst that could happen if we have to bend a few rules?" This was stupid. There's no way Reke could sneak past the Mage's Guild by hiding in somebody's pocket. Who knows what sort of Ward or detection magics they have? No, it was too risky. But Nona was right. It would be ideal if he could get in legally but passing up this chance could be a mistake. All he really needed was a few minutes with some upper-level Healer, and he could get the information he needed. So, as long as he didn't get thrown in prison, it didn't matter if he got caught. Slowly but surely, a plan began to form in Reke's mind. "Alright, alright, you win," Reke conceded, "Just don't tell Ahsante we're breaking Guild law, ok?" … It took some effort to get Reke in a good spot hidden in the coat, but, so far, they had made it to the Guildhouse causeway without anyone noticing. Ahsante sent his golem servant, the same one that had guided Nona to the Evaluation, along with them, and he had insisted on carrying Nona’s bag. The vibrant green obelisk loomed over the three of them, along with the small spattering of folk that rushed into the Guildhouse around them. Teorakest was waiting for them, the ginger flecks in his hair sparkling, lips pressed together in mild annoyance. Before they got too close, Nona whispered a quick warning into his coat and hoped Reke could hear it. “Welcome to the Mage’s Guild, Apprentice Nona,” he declared unconvincingly. His gaze slid over the conspicuously Reke-shaped bulge in Nona’s coat. Slowly, his eyes took on a faraway gaze, brows knotted, and he folded his hands behind his back before continuing: “On behalf of all Mages in the Guild, we are, er, glad to add another talented individual to our ranks. The Guild is… a place of opportunity, and education, where many of the greatest leaders of the Empire were forged. It is our hope that you will, er, find what it is that you can do to serve the Empire or any other folk here at the Mage’s Guild,” he said distractedly. He had muttered whisperings to himself in between sentences, and his eyes kept sliding to the side before he jerked his head forcibly back to Nona. But, after he was done speaking, whatever had come over Teorakest had disappeared, and his attention was back on Nona. He turned and marched into the obelisk, Nona following on his heels. He couldn’t help but notice there was a wisp of a strange red dust that followed Teorakest’s hands that lingered for a moment before disappearing into the air. “I apologize for the shaky delivery, it has been some time since I delivered that welcoming speech,” he said, clearing his throat afterward. Teorakest brought them up to the third disk, which was similar to the second disk, albeit much denser. As soon as they stepped out of the obelisk chamber, Nona noticed three mounds, covered in green flowers, and arranged like a triangle. The one closest to them had a giant opening that descended into a dark tunnel, like the mouth of great, mossy creature. The other two faced outwards, but if the broad, white sidewalks that wrapped around them were any indication, they also held tunnels. Teorakest led them around the mounds to a small domed and pillared pavilion in the center of the triangle, entirely made of the same white stone. It held nothing more than a black, circular sign on two poles, but, on closer inspection, Nona realized it was a map of the disk. Four pyramidal shapes glowed softly: green, blue, yellow, and violet, which Nona took to be the four obelisks. White chalk marked the pathways; small paths dodged in and out of a tightly packed center, but, as they trailed off to the edge, they broadened into wide, meandering walkways. While Nona tried his best to memorize the map, Teorakest procured a bulging envelope form his sleeve and gave it to him. “These are all the necessities you will need for the time being. It contains a full calendar of who you will be studying with during the day, as no master has agreed to take you under their tutelage yet, nor have you requested teachings from any particular instructor. Since you have done so poorly on the oral section of the evaluation, your sponsor and I have decided that you require a private tutor with whom you will study with every day, including weekends. Until you are able to pass the Magic Theory Written Entrance Exam and have your tutor’s permission, you will not be able to study individually with a Master. Do you understand?” he said to Nona. “Excellent. Now, this map shows only third disk, with the exception of the Edgewood. You have been assigned to this building—” he pressed a forefinger on a thin tower near the blue obelisk, the one opposite of them, and a luminous red dot appeared where he picked it up “—and Ahsante’s footman is well-aware of the layout of the guild, so he will be able to guide you there before you waste any more of my time. If you have any questions, ask anybody except for me or figure it out yourself. Good day.”

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  • Edited by Merribor: 5/8/2022 6:31:20 PM
    With that, Teorakest stalked off, disappearing into the mound-tunnel. Nona then fished inside the envelope and found a brass key. Giving it to the servant, he asked if the golem could run his bags up to the room while he explored the disk for a bit. Ahsante’s servant complied, and, taking the key, trundled off with Nona’s stuff. Nona glanced around, made sure nobody was watching, then covertly opened his coat. Reke burst out, coughing and retching, as he made up to Nona’s shoulder. “When was the last time you bathed?” he demanded, in between coughs. “Yesterd—Actually, two days ago. It couldn’t have been that bad!” Nona responded. “You weren’t there, man. You weren’t there,” Reke shuddered. He was sure he’d have nightmares about the dark, claustrophobic, smelly pocket. Nona rolled his eyes and gave his armpit an experimental sniff. Ok, it was little funky down there, but it wasn’t that bad. Their next move was to find the Healers, wherever they congregated, before anybody figured out Reke wasn’t supposed to be in the Guild. The big map didn’t say much, so they dug through the envelope, looking for any clues. They had a small map, which was identical to the big map on one side and had a few more figures on the back. Helpful, but didn’t give them the full answers. But, if they cross-referenced the map with Nona’s calendar, they soon figured out that many of Nona’s lessons on Healing gravitated towards Meirnkledike Hall. With Reke sitting on top of the map on Nona’s shoulder, they were successfully able to navigate to the Hall. They ended up cutting through the dense central part of the disk, where strange buildings were tightly packed together. It was brightly lit by the giant Lightballs set inside the floor of the fourth disk, but it didn’t manage to reach every nook and alley. Each one seemed to be built for a particular function, but Nona could not guess what they were used for: one long, skinny building towered over everything, another was shaped like a winding labyrinth with a completely warded roof instead of a regular one, and another boasted a fan-like split right down the middle of an otherwise unremarkable building. The apprentices that bustled by them were mostly elves, but all sorts of strange folk mixed with them. There didn’t seem to be any sort of dress code, except everyone had a gray sash with a golden symbol emblazoned on it somewhere. Most wore it diagonally across their chest or across their waist, but Nona found some people had it hanging loose through their belt, and one lizardfolk girl had it wrapped around her head like a bandana. They ignored Nona for the most part, but he did get some strange looks, probably because he wasn’t wearing a sash. Meirnkledike Hall was on the outside of the dense area, just outside where the edge of the fourth disk ended. It was tent-shaped: cylindrical, except for a peaked top, and it had a block that jutted out. They assumed this block was the entrance, even though it wasn’t labelled, but, then again, none of the buildings they had come across were labelled. Before Nona opened the door, Reke stopped him. “Nona, I think it’s better for me to go in alone. If they see you, then they might figure out that I’m not exactly supposed to be here. Once I figure out where Lusahn is, I’ll find some way to contact you,” he said. Nona nodded. It made sense, and even though it might be difficult to meet up later, it would probably be safer to let Reke go in alone. Besides, it was his mission, so he called the shots. There was a small platform for tiny folk to the side of the door with a tiny door of its own, so Nona left Reke there. He disappeared into the Hall, and Nona was left by himself. Next Chapter: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/261054374?sort=0&page=0 Previous Chapter: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/260929432?sort=0&page=0

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