Mages and Intrigue

So, last time we left off, Arzet was talking with the False Chimera about where they fit in the new world order...

Mazes and Monsters

The False Chimera and Arzet finally agreed on an arrangement between them: Arzet agreed to wear an Eye of the Chimera for monitoring, and agreed to start a cult for the Apocalypse, in exchange for freedom out of here and possible power. The False Chimera wanted to take the adults as collateral, but Arzet haggled them down to taking their teenage friends instead. 
The possibility to instantly break the deal and flee with everyone still stood, though. However, Arzet was in the middle of the Chimera's headquarters - this would be a horrible missed opportunity if they didn't poke around. They poked their head down the passage marked "Vault" and found a horrible bloody pit of thrashing violence with a massive spiral staircase down around it. This seemed bad, so Arzet left and explored down the area marked "Dungeon". The Dungeon passage led to a lavishly decorated room with three doors: red, green, and blue. Arzet investigated the room all around, and found incorrect statements near each door - and a secret, fourth door under the rug. This trap door had a ladder leading downwards, and so Arzet went. From below, Arzet could see that the three main doors all led to some variety of surprise pit trap - none of the above was the correct option. 
Further in, Arzet found a room with a statue of a sphinx, an ash-baked floor, and a large lever. Forward was a gate, through which raging flame was visible. Arzet hit the lever, and the gate opened. The flame slowly began to enter and fill the room, and the sphinx statue came to life. "The Treasure Sphinx" and declared that it had an intellectual challenge for Arzet: to tell it three riddles. Anyone can answer a riddle, but only a genius can invent new ones! Also, the sphinx obviously didn't know any riddles, but was angry and ashamed about this. Whenever it heard the implication that it was insufficiently good at riddles, it increased the fire in the room - burning Arzet rather badly. Instead, Arzet flattered it and promised to bring great riddles and fried fish, so the sphinx hit the off button and let them through. 
Beyond this chamber was a long manorial hallway covered in paintings of old nobles and stuffed with low-hanging chandeliers. Arzet scampered along, only to find that the hallway was horrifically trapped. Even worse, when Arzet went past a certain point the hallway began tilting down and releasing a massive stone ball (Indiana Jones style) from the starting point. Arzet desperately climbed up and back into the Sphinx chamber before the crushing globe dropped, but it was a close one. Arzet left the Dungeon Path entirely to go back to Rolkirk, now too injured from the fire and traps to confidently make a daring rescue. Curiosity killed the kobold, one could say.

Everybody Freaks Out

Arzet quickly extracted Evennet and their mother from the party, leaving the teens behind. They grabbed a boat and set back across Lake Gutrahd to Adov. Along the way, Arzet manufactured a dropping of the Eye into the lake so that they could talk with them about what happened honestly. They agreed to stir the villages into fleeing Lake Gutrahd in a mass evacuation. The Eye was recovered and Arzet was back under surveillance, and so they said farewell one last time to their family and left for the wizard's tower. 
Rekala immediately noticed something was wrong and also the weird ominous amulet situation. When Arzet kept being weird, Rekala decided to use a Sleep spell to knock them out and investigate - she knew about cursed items and the hold they can have. She imprisoned Arzet for questioning and locked the amulet in a leaded box. Arzet explained everything, everything their status as The Chimera (which Rekala didn't really believe but didn't fully reject as possible). Rekala decided that the False Chimera must be an ederstone-touched dread wizard, and said she would support Arzet in gaming the system and luring this over-ambitious mage to their death. And what better way than to pit them against another over-ambitious mage? 

She would Turn Herself into a Pickle to Avoid Therapy

The ideal candidate for this "lure the mage to their death in a nightmare fight" plan was Darza, greatest wizard on the planet and lifelong minor prick. Rekala was once a student of Darza's University , who ran off University equipment to study Stildanian climatology in peace. If Arzet could prove themselves an exceptional savant who also publicly dunked on Rekala, Darza would surely fasttrack them into the University. It would be risky, though: Darza is known for chipping her students, is very controlling of anyone who uses her stuff, and is surrounded by constant and violent intrigue. Arzet agreed that this was still the best course of action, and so they prepared their ruse: Rekala was drugged, Arzet took their extra spellbook, and called the University to ask to join. 
Undersecretary Jeb, the man who answered the call, gleefully routed the call up to Darza herself. Darza projected an illusion of herself into the tower and asked Arzet to prove himself magically. Using second level spells and Vestige magic, Arzet proved themselves a true prodigy: a must-have for Darza. Darza insulted Arzet's village a bunch and was generally abrasive, but was thrilled to get Arzet into the system. It wasn't long before wizards teleported in, flashbanged Arzet, and took him back to the University for processing. 
Is this safety? Or is Arzet about to enter a world of even greater danger?

Components

Goals

QUEST GOALS:

• Learn more about the False Chimera
• Escape the clutches of the False Chimera
• Evacuate Adov and Hodov to The Kingdom of Hain 
• Regroup with fellow Gods

Relations

Protagonists

Arzet: The Chimera incarnate as a Kobold Wizard (Conjurer Wizard, Sage Background). Born in the village of Adov, Arzet has spent most of their mortal life with small scale. Arzet also has the ability to summon vestiges, ancient spirits of the dead, to aid them - a random spirit has added to the roster every level. Knows Find Familiar, Magic Missile, Grease, Sleep, Thunderwave, Identify, Catapult, and Tenser's Floating Disc

• Darana of Nefka: Darana is an ancient Vesper Priest of Deraksa, the Bat-Seer-Goddess of the religion of Zirun . She lived in ancient Nefka , a distant city of horrors, where she opposed the violence of the ruling regime. For her outspokenness, she was chained and thrown into The Vault of Nightmares as a terrible execution. This left her with a very deep distrust of authority, as well as a kind of cynical hopefulness. Grants the ability to speak with the dead and resist fear.
• Kiji the Wanderer: A Kobold explorer born in the Kingdom of Karama in Inahng and loyal to the Empire of Calazen . A builder of bridges and maker of maps, curious and optimistic to a fault. Was a pitiful fighter, who died fighting in the Karaman civil war. Quite liked Mavara , who they briefly met. Grants the ability to jump a distance equal to the amount of movement spent in a turn (so 30 feet unless dashing, when it becomes 60 ft), also the ability to resummon thrown weapons.
• And soon, more...

Allies

Arzet's Friends:

• Mozler, a Prism that ages slower than the rest of the group but ultimately is the 'heart' of the gang. Friendly, loving, trusting, and kind, Mozler is a friend to all the children of Adov. Was taken prisoner when walking back home from the mines a few nights ago. Trusting, friendly, and optimistic as always, though
• Wedrin, an older human about Alba's age that is friends with Alba and Arzet. He works for the local ranchers acting as a tanner and apprenticed butcher. He is somewhat aloof, very opinionated, and ultimately quite nice once he warms up to you. Was very injured in the fighting but survived
• Oglan, a Half-Prism Kobold-born boy, who is quiet but seems to revel in moments of attention - a kind of shy class clown of sorts. Enjoys building things and has been learning masonry
• Macha, a dryad farmer with a chill personality and an open mind. Persistent, loyal, and curious.

Rekala: Rekala is an old Pearl Pangolin wizard and Arzet's mentor. Rekala is an old, cynical misanthrope that once studied in The Darzan University and has little care for the problems of local people. She cares for Arzet, but sees this little venture as a potential learning experience more than a dangerous situation.
Ratticus: Arzet's Familiar in rat form. Manic, dedicated, the bravest of us. A luxury few can afford.
Arzet's Family:

• Barza, mom #1: Barza is doting, friendly, and cautious. She has always been the peacemaker in Arzet's house, and something of the unofficial breadwinner. Barza once worked as Rekala's apprentice before she fled to town to marry Itko. Ever since then, she has worked as the town's scribe and is an invaluable asset to the town elders. In her success, she has become somewhat risk-averse, and she desperately wants the family to just stick together and keep their heads down.
• Itko, mom #2: Itko is a member of the village's ranching and shepherding community, helping tend to the village's horses, cattle, sheep, and critters. She is a pretty average citizen, from an established Adovan family, with experience in the village guard and working as a scout in a brief tour of service for Rolkirk.
• Aslo, older brother: Aslo is a human in a Kobold family, and was born two years before Barza and Itko's marriage. Aslo's other mother is not Barza, but a Hainish Spring Knight that had a brief relationship with Itko during to and immediately after her time serving as a scout in Rolkirk. Aslo knows this, and has idealized his knightly mother into a heroic figure he strives to be like. He wishes to be a paladin, a hero of the wasteland who can really help people. He is bold, brash, and has more heart than brain. Currently, he works with the town guard nearly full-time.
• Alba, older sister: Alba is a child of Barza and Itko, and has a definite case of "middle child syndrome". She resents Aslo for taking all the attention, bossing her around, and for "dividing the family", and she resents Arzet for somehow overshadowing her despite being younger and getting even more attention. Alba is a quiet girl who enjoys books, reading, and storytelling. Since a young age, she has studied to replace Barza as the town scribe, though she feels quite isolated as few others in town enjoy reading (or even can read). Her isolation and resentment has festered into bitterness - but beneath all that, she loves her family above all.

Evennet: A stern and focused Starspawn sorcerer with color-changing fur and scales. The most powerful Ederstone-Sorcerer in the Luke Gutrahd village area. Based out of Hodov. Sees Arzet as a natural ally in these dark times, but frustrated that he is still a kid.

Neutrals/Bystanders

Darza: Greatest wizard of all time, abrasive and deeply vain regarding their own superior intellect.

Adversaries

Verkohn, the False Chimera: The Adversary who shall end the world. Seeks a world of endless chaos, where the fantasies of the powerful contest each other in defining reality and where life and death are meaningless. Resides in a nightmare labyrinth pocket dimension that will eventually enter the real world as a third crimson moon if Verkohn makes enough progress

Plot type

Quest

Parent Plot

The End of Innocence

Subplots

• Welcome to Wizard School

Related Characters

• Darza

Related Organizations

• The Darzan University

Related Locations

• Adov