So I haven’t done a game summary for a while. I figure it’s about time I do one.

So the day started out fine as you walked through the streets of the village of Whitton and came to the gate of the White Lotus Academy. At the gates you were met by Wizard Trevors who greeted you as petitioners and welcomed you to the academy. You could tell he was very insincere in his greeting. He feels petitioners are a waste of his time. Wizard Trevors shows you the dining hall, the privy and your common room. He then departs and says he will come back when the head master is available. The group is suspicious of Trevors and decides to not show the letter from Valthrun the Precient and not tell of their mission for their own safety.

After washing up from the journey the group heads to the dining hall to get a meal and to attempt to chat up some of those eating there. Fred is his normal gregarious self and starts attempting to talk with the students and guards. Shawna shares out some of her Dwarven ale and attempts to chat up the guards. The group tries to find out where the headmaster is so that they may speak to him themselves.

[What you don’t know.] You were suspicious of Trevors and Trevors was suspicious of you. While you were in the dining hall he was scrying on your location. He saw a bunch of heavily armed people trying to get the guards drunk and find where the headmaster is located.

So Wizard Trevors calls in Captain Harkness (The captain of the guard) and tells him to get absolutely everyone to arrest you. With the recent happenings in the Harkin Barony you could very well be remnants of the Iron Circle here to take the headmaster prisoner. Luckily the Captain has some soldiers (that were on the way to the Troll Wars to the south) present to augment his guards.

[Back to you guys.] So several guards show up and start escorting you away. They are joined by others along the way and once you reach an area that starts looking like a jail you have all had enough. Ket attempts to talk the Captain out of whatever they are going to do but the Captain isn’t in a listening mood. He tells Ket to be quiet and when Ket continues to plead your case Captain Harkness slams his weapon in Ket’s head. The guards came prepared and eventually are successful in capturing all of you. Among the guards is Fargrim. He ran away from Winterhaven a couple years ago and was a friend of Fred Voss.

When you all wake up you are in an infirmary as opposed to cells. One of the physicians tell you that they found the letter from Valthrun on Kitsune. He is a respected wizard and this acts as identification papers for Kitsune. He calls her a full wizard of the highest order and says he has sent her here to speak to the headmaster on his behalf. Sometime during all of this Shawna steals some Iron Arm Bands of power off of one of the physicians. You are told the charges of Assault and Resisting Arrest will be dropped.

At this point Wizard Trevors directs you to the headmasters quarters.

“The Headmaster’s Residence,” he states as he looks at the building. He leads you inside.

The interior’s wood paneling has an old, worn look that bespeaks age. Tevors leads you up a broad stairway to a landing and through the door at the top into a study that feels cramped due to the numerous bookshelves. In the center of the study, an aged man with gray hair sits with his head on his desk, snoring softly. Your guide gives you a small smile that wavers after a couple seconds, then he clears his throat. A few moments later, he steps forward and shakes the headmaster, who sits up with a start and looks at Tevors, then you, with bloodshot eyes and sticky drool on his cheek. Before Tevors can speak, the headmaster sways to his feet and yells, “Tevors!” leaning forward as though to counter the force of his voice. “Leave me! My work is urgent and my time is valuable. Begone, and take these petitioners with you!”

With a small shrug and a warning glance at you, Wizard Tevors ushers you out of the office and closes the door behind him. “I’m, uh, well. There’s a student duel due to begin any time now. I was hoping you would enjoy the demonstration and perhaps share wisdom from your practical experiences. I have some administrative duties to attend to, but I’ll have Fargrim show you the way.”

At Harrid Yard, two combatants square off against each other. Each wears the White Lotus uniform—one in the form of heavy practice armor with a dulled blade, and the other in light practice armor with a wand. Neither is older than 16. The warlock is just getting the upper hand when the practice mannequins go nuts and attack the group. The group springs into action protecting the spectators. The two combatants take a couple shots as they run through and get help.

When that fight finishes, Instructor Obrak (a dwarf) runs up, saying that a student fetched him. Instructor Tevors arrives a moment later.

Tevors is nearly breathless after his run to the practice field. “I’m . . . ” he gasps, “ . . . so incredibly sorry. Nothing like this has ever happened before. The enchantments on those practice dummies have been unchanged for at least 50 years.” Then he doubles over and breathes heavily for a minute while the dwarf that ran up just before him talks with the students.

“I’m going to be examining the records of their maintenance and then I’ll ask Instructor Westbrooke to examine the mannequins directly.” Tevors looks at you. “If you’d like to help me figure out what happened here, you could find me the book in the library that details how they were created originally. I’d send a student, but it’s likely to be in one of the more dangerous parts of the stacks.”

“If I could use your experience and knowledge any other way, I would. But both the maintenance records and the creation instructions are confidential and proprietary, and we can’t allow you to see either without permission from the headmaster who . . . who might not be forthcoming, as you saw. This is something you can do now.”

Tevors gives the group a crystal the size of a finger that, through warmth and chill, will guide them to the correct room in the Lost Secrets Library.

Several of you say, “More dangerous parts of the stacks? I hate this place!”

Who is Paul Darr?

Paul Darr has lived in California, Oregon, Colorado, and currently lives in San Antonio, Texas. Paul is also an Army Veteran, who has deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. On the political spectrum Paul is a Libertarian that advocates fiscal responsibility and social tolerance. Paul is currently employed as an IT Manager and is a father of a handsome boy and beautiful daughter. In his free time Paul enjoys reading, using and modifying open source software, gaming, and several other geeky pursuits.