Secrets under university of Murkow Report

General Summary

Once again we gain a little glimpse into the daily lives of the students at UiM.   Hanging back after an evocations class on the properties and dangers of certain material spell components, Laymon, Katia, Olivia and Irma are joined by the ellusive Nicolás de Larona. They discuss some recent concerns, like Irma's wierd dreams of finding curriculum at section 9.8 and being stalked by a strict wizardy type with one eye, or Katia's summons to a study on Fey Ancestry by a professor ''Horst''. While Olivia and Laymon have concerns of their own, Nicolás chimes in with having heard about section 9.8 from a prof. Horst.    Before they can ponder more, they are confronted by Brawo Uppercrust II, a upperclassman Tiefling with a reputation for stealing homework and boasting his rise to carry on the family name and tradition in politics. He has a deal for the group: Fetch him an obscure study on local wildlife from section 9.8, or he will spill the beans on some earlier bending of rules that could get some of the students in trouble with management. This secret was learned from Ersnt the human wizard, who appariently saw the party steal keys to the restricted sections. The bully is however, he reminds them, known as ''Brawo the honest'', and will give some help. Sylvia, his dragonborn co-conspirator, has reliable intel on a tunnel leading to this section, gained from a ''mr. F''. The party convenes. While fearing this blackmail will only continue, they end up agreeing to the terms, partially due to an interest in the restricted section's contents.   They make their way to the old alchemy lab, getting to know Nicolás on the way (or confusing him with his palette-swap John North). While Olivia and Irma stands watch, they find a hatch hidden in a storage room. With cleaner air from a gust by Nicolás, and a torch Katia MacGyver'd, they head into the tunnels. Olivia stalks the shadows, and finds the coast clear. They first reach a cobbled room full of empty crates and bookshelves, a few registers, and a half-eaten sandwich. Pressing on, they enter a bigger cave, this one full of glowing and dripping liquids and chemicals. Laymon recognizes many of them as failed or old potion recipes, dumped recklessly by previous alchemists. Irma almost grabs some pink goop which Nicolás accurately clocks as acidic, but not before Irma disintegrates her best hankechief. After scooping some foreshadowing potion of See Invisibility, they carefully step between landfills spilling chemicals over to the other side. Faced with a wall with no ladder, Irma gives Nicolás a rocky boost so he can perform his unique graviturgical trick: making the area's gravity lighter. Everyone jumps up, where they find a ladder to a trapdoor.   Olivia takes a peek, and sees the interior of Mr. Funderberker's store of curiousities and exotic supplies. Irma takes the charge and alerts Mr. F to the group's presence. He explains that he sold the information to the dragonborn and bully, but didn't expect anyone to find his entry to the tunnels. Giving them a pointer to a hidden wall, he exclaims a disinterest in the deeper tunnels, and hops off.  Katia opens the glamoured door with a little investigating, and the party heads into torch-lit stairs. This leads to a small lab-office-bedroom condo, filled with research and old dusty tomes. While Irma rests on a dusty unused bed, Nicolás and Laymon scour the vials and alchemical research. Together, the party finds some astronomical entries, a few foreign formulas, and evidence of a long line of blood studies done on elves. Suddenly, Olivia notices something small and invisible scurry towards a rough-cut tunnel on the other side of the room. With a silent notice to the rest, Katia and Irma struggles to stop the creature with mage hands and small rocks. Running after it, Irma finds a wooden panel on the other end of a short tunnel.   Having drunk the previously scooped potion of See Invisibility, Irma now sees what the others can not: Three small demons, with insectoid limbs and eyes, stalking section 9.8. Having led her to its friends, the little quasits slowly approaches. Irma manages to break the concentration of one demonling, making it visible, and the rest enter to fight. Before the first spell is flung, a hidden figure reveals itself: A High-Elf wizard, almost entirely turned to a Nothic. With glimpses of memories relayed telepathically, the entire party gains a sense that this figure is the alleged ''prof. Horst'', who lures subjects into its tunnels for research. It fixes its glowing eye on Irma, and rots her arm. With a demonling nibbling her leg, Irma is quickly healed by Laymon. A full scuffle ensues, where Olivia does some swift knife-work on the squishy little demons. Irma displays elemental mastery with a burning hands spell, and Katia does Magic Missle by the book. Nicolás and Laymon utilize chaos magic to pester the Nothic with artillery, but not all find their mark.    After Olivia slits the throat of a final demonling, the Nothic activates a living armor as a last line of defence, before hiding back in a corner. As Katia and Laymon battle a fully clad living armor with lightning and fire, Nicolás tries to scramble the Nothic's mind with a Crown of Madness. Caught between humanity and aberration, the creature jerks into a charmed state (despite being established as elven, but hey, rule of cool). With no allies nearby, it ends up mostly moving erradically out of harms way, but into Olivia Turn's way. Or her dagger. Suffering many glancing blows, it gets its ribs done in by Irma, and a final crush from Nicolás crumbles the creature into itself. A final death rattle from the Nothic has Nicolás seeing his old nightmares resolve, as the endless sea turns starry and dark. The eye of the Nothic shows him the stars before it too turns black. Katia sees its last memories, making copies of the same summons to its studies, and spending its last days as an actual High-Elf wizard distraught over its kin's shortening lifespan.    As the dust settles, Olivia quickly steals three random items, for her own reasons. Laymon grabs ''Herbalic properties of Herbs and Ferns in the Dawn Woods'' by Sylvester Karloff, while Irma takes the shiniest book from the bookshelf mentioned in her dreams... a gold-bound volume of ''History of the Snow Elves'' by Teamûriell Laikennen. Yay, history. Nicolás grabs an astronomy book for himself, while Katia returns to the study to find more notes on several decades, no, centuries of studies on blood samples on elves. They also remember their original job, and grabs ''Observation of Stirges' Migrational Patterns and Mating Habits'' by Folio Ferngully. As steps are heard from the mid-day patrol nears the section, the party quickly leaves the tunnels and sneaks out through Funderberker's shop into the Minglewoods markets. Nicolás promises to utilize the tunnels to leave school unseen.   In the following days, Katia gets a growing existencial crisis over potentially only making it to her second or third century, reminded of her wine-mom's rambling obsession with how long relatives live. Nicolás gets visited by one of the Truth-Paladins who has a few questions regarding the incident, but it turns out their lead is very unmotivated, and Nicolás ends up befriending him. Irma hangs out more with most of the group, as well as the ''janitor'' sweeping the plaza. Laymon advices Irma on proper dissected-eye care, and ends up looking after his new friend, the pickled Nothic Eye. We love our dissected organ friends! Olivia is not seen much for a little while, attending only the mandatory classes. But after a week or so, news break out on a hearing about the potential suspension of one Brawo Uppercrust II and friends. Appariently, three random items from section 9 had shown up at their dorms. More news at nine.

Rewards Granted

Three bullies facing the conses' of their 'quences.   A pickled Nothic Eye of dubious sentience.   Two folders and some papers on the esoteric knowledge and ramblings of a madman.   ''Herbalic properties of herbs and ferns in the Dawn Woods'' by Sylvester Karloff.   ''Astronomical Errs and proposed connections to the Far Realms Hypothesis'' by Alva Krauzt.   Some dirty vials.

Missions/Quests Completed

Finished blackmail-entused mission on retrieving boring research book for Brawo.   Dealt with a hidden malicious force under the university.

Character(s) interacted with

Brawo Uppercrust II   Sylvia the sketchy gold dragonborn   Ernst the mediocre human mage   Mr. Funderberker   Prof. ''Horst'', from dust have you come and to dust you shall return   The regalia armor of Warmarshal Wzogendy III