OOC: And now would be a good time to make my entrance, I presume.
BIC: The fire was quite a surprise. Tahu had his hands full keeping it contained while the blue mages tried to put it out. It really wasn't their day, though, and they weren't making much progress. It didn't help that half the wizards were running around in panic, leaving only Tahu and a few of the senior apprentices to help the Headmaster. Them, and one newcomer, who seemed to be a blue mage. Caston, perhaps? Not the time to worry about that. "Headmaster, the air's too dry. We need an alternate source of water--I can't contain the fire in that wing for much longer." The headmaster had apparently come to the same conclusion, for even as Tahu spoke, the mighty blue mage brought the water from a fountain to bear upon the inferno.
The Headmaster wasted no time, dispatching mages on damage mitigation. Tahu was about to go leave on inventory, but then he heard the new arrival say "Sir, I'm Caston Carnaly of Haven. I have something very important to talk to you about." Well, I guess that's him. What does he want? Tahu walked back and stood next to and behind the Headmaster.

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Tahu 1000 - Former Member

I meant AFTER the battle, but whatever.

IC: The slot on the door slid open and two eyes peered out. "You are?" they asked somewhat breathlessly.

"White." Aldrin replied.

"White who"

"Aldrin. Aldrin White."

"Oh YES!," shouted the man, his eyes suddenly filled with excitement and relief. "Mr. White! My master, Mr. Potvin has been awaiting your arrival quite eagerly." He opened the door quickly. He was a short man and had used a step stool to reach the door slit. His hair was short and dark and his face was covered in bruises. "Please, please, right this way!"

Aldrin walked into the doorway, and down a straight hall. The doorkeeper was pushing him along, expressing that he must go faster. "A left here.... and a right... Stop." The man walked in front of Aldrin and opened a door. "Mr. White has arrived sir."

"Lead him in." a voice answered from within.

Aldrin stepped forward into the room. A sharply-dressed man sat behind a desk, a pipe in his hand. His unwelcoming stare pierced Aldrin's eyes. "Antoine, away." The short doorkeeper hurried off. "Mr. White... I believe you know why I have called you here."

"Andrew, there's no need to be so formal."

"I believe you shall find it is. Now then... they call you 'The Arrow' now? I hear you are very skilled with the bow."

Aldrin tried not to look too smug. "They say I am the best."

"Who?"

"They"

"Come forward." Andrew wore a scowl as he opened his desk and pulled out a card. He offered it to Aldrin, who took it.

Aldrin's eyes widened when he read the card. 'Horace Maxwell. Rodell... Andrew, I'm a mercenary, not an assassin."

Andrew's scowl deepened. "I'm a very specific man now, Mr. White. I only associate with certain people, and of those people, you are the only one capable of this job." His eyes read Aldrin's face. "This task must be carried out with great haste... I know you will not disappoint me."

Less than a minute later, Aldrin stepped out onto a street in Windrow, now a hired killer.

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Johath walked into town, and saw smoke rising in the distance. He stopped a person and asked what was wrong. "The Institue caught fire, but it was put out." Johath looked at the smoke, shrugged, and headed for the Clockwork House.

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OOC: Who said I wanted the entire institute burned down? You have plans for your benefit there... I have mine.

BIC...

Tory managed to take a small piece of copper and hopped lightly onto the horse, riding immediately off into the woods. The quick escape allowed him to seek refuge in the forest to the south, knowing his moves would have to be careful for a while to avoid trouble. The entire time, animals of the forest seemed to become his victim to the darker side of his power, wills bent and sanity tested until much of the path behind him was strewn with mad, battle-ready beasts. 'This power is indeed greater than that fool would ever teach me...'

Dusk, meanwhile, watched with a small smile at the growth of the Black mage's potential. Shifting his gaze back to the academy, a good portion of it was burned down. Of course, given who was the headmaster, it wouldn't be utterly destroyed--Dusk was superior to the headmaster, but he was no fool. But, with the long-distance damage in mind, Dusk focused the Orb's link into the mind of the man. "For the sake of no wrong heads rolling, Rutilus sends his regards... and sympathy for the amount of damage. I had expected you to stop it faster." Breaking the mental link, Dusk gave a smile and looked over the area. Aside from the headmaster and seniors, many students held potentials without the will, wills without the potential, or worse, a lack of both. Caston still stood out among them in his abilities, and one of the few students seemed odd... a fire mage who had a cool enough head to stand out among his fellow students as helping with the fire. It seemed Dusk wasn't one of the rare few capable of fire play without having to always be rash and hotheaded. The immediate magical prowess elsewhere was no threat... Only the physical abilities of the party remained in need of testing.

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OOC: I'm drawing a complete blank here, after 9 hours of straight scaping. I'll be in RP force tomorrow, hopefully.

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OOC: We're pretty much waiting on Lander anyway.

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OOC: Yeah, yeah...I had like a 12 hour sleep after sleeping like 3-4 hours last night then driving 7 hours straight...but I'm back, batteries recharged, etc. Also, Caston might be on a bit of a personal endeavor here so you guys might need to find something else to do. But I'll help.

BIC: Before the Headmaster could respond, a voice rang out in his mind. He was so startled by the feat he nearly fell over.

"For the sake of no wrong heads rolling, Rutilus sends his regards... and sympathy for the amount of damage. I had expected you to stop it faster."

"The Dark Arts!" He exclaimed. Before the link was broken, the Headmaster managed to trace it a short way. He knew the man sending it was far away, but not quite as far as one might think. The Headmaster got the notion of East as well. Then, as quickly as the phrase was uttered, the link was broken. He cleared his mind, having a strange feeling that Caston had something to do with this. "What is it, then?"

"Sir, I need help in unlocking my potential-" The Headmaster put up a hand.

"Who is that?" He asked, gesturing to Gigas. Caston hadn't seen him approach.

"That's Gigas, he's travelling with me. No better man to have in a fight, that's for sure." Caston said.

"He's with you?"

"Yes, sir."

"Well, then, Gigas! You're a strapping lad, would you mind going into the institute and help clean up the debris? I imagine we could get it cleaned up in a fraction of the time with you behind us!" Caston addressed him again.

"Sir, I need lessons, and quickly. There's a wizard on the loose that is capable of manipulating all of the elements with ease." The Headmaster frowned. "He fought me in my home town, and stabbed my mother. He sent an army of beasts after us, and I dare say that he had a hand in the burning of the institute."

"You're certain that he can use multiple elements?"

"Sir, I witnessed him using Green, Red, and Blue with my very own eyes."

"And I witnessed him using black..." The Headmaster mumbled. "This fellow sounds very dangerous indeed. Come, we shall go to my study, and discuss this further. Tahu, I'll be needing you as well." The Headmaster walked off in the direction of the unburnt half of the Institute. Caston looked about for Delon, but didn't see him. He turned to Gigas.

"When Delon shows up, ask him to go to the pub and try to gather information. About who might have burned down the Institute as well as where Dusk may be." With that, Caston followed the elderly man into the building.

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The giant wasn't sure about this name they had given him, especially since it came from the very animals that tried to kill them. He shook it off for now, and nodded in approval at the Headmaster's request. When he was through talking, he also nodded towards Caston's request. He followed a group of mages over to the smoldering area of the institute. They were all standing around and pointing at the damage, so he decided he'd take the initiative. He walked over and started pulling the charred beams away from the undamaged timber. Everyone was looking at him wide-eyed until he almost hit them with the smoldering boards and beams he was tossing at them.

"G-e-e-e-t-t-t-t s-s-s-o-o-o-o-o-m-m-m-m-e-e-e c-c-c-c-c-a-a-a-a-a-r-r-r-t-t-t-s-s-s-s, f-f-f-f-f-f-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-l-l-l-l-l-s-s-s-s-s!"

The mages scrambled away from his booming voice to get the carts to load the debris. He nearly had all of the burned area cleaned up by the time they got back. It took them a while, even with the giant's help to load all the debris in the carts and get it hauled away.

"N-n-n-n-e-e-e-w-w-w b-b-b-b-e-e-e-a-a-a-m-m-m-s-s-s. N-n-n-n-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-d-d-d-d-d h-h-h-h-a-a-a-a-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-e-e-e-r-r-r- a-a-n-n-d-d-d n-n-n-a-a-a-i-i-i-i-l-l-l-l-s-s-s-s."

They brought him the new timber in cart loads, and gave him a large maul from a nearby weapon's shop to use as a hammer. The nails were much larger than regular nails. It took him a few hours, but finally the institute was back to normal. There were a few boards stained black from the smoke, but he decided to leave them since they had no structural damage. When they finished, everyone gathered around in a circle in some shade to get some rest. They brought the giant several plates of food, and jug upon jug of wine. Needless to say, by the time they had finished their lunch, he was quite drunk, and practically passed out on the lawn in the shade.

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Delon spent his time in the city, as any other rogue would: stealing and decieving. While his motives were true and pure with Caston, he couldn't let the calling of the innercity go unheard. He spent the majority of his time "gambling" (some call it gambling, Delon thought this trickery to be an honest living), and stealing from unattended houses. Having entertained himself for a day, he decided to "borrow" some things that might help his group. He took some pieces of bread from a bakery, and some gold coins from a gentleman's pocket.

"This should last us a good while." he said softly to himself. "I should also pick up some thistleweed and a mild solvent to brew my poisons..." Delon decided to look for the local apothecary. He asked many a-folk, but all of them seemed to either ignore him, or claim they didn't know where it was. "Well this is going to be a problem..." After a day of mixed success, he headed back towards the institute, to find the Giant passed out on a lawn with liquor stains on his fur shirt, but Caston nowhere to be found.

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Tahu followed the headmaster to his study. Multiple elements? It wasn't unheard of; rumor had it that the Headmaster could use white magic as well as blue, but not to nearly the same degree. Someone who could use at least four types this well... We need to solve this, and fast. If it spreads, there'll be no end to it.

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Tahu 1000 - Former Member

The forest path to Rodell and Rurm... by far the most dangerous road leading out of Windrow. You'd have to be insane to go it alone. There was the roundabout route around the thickest part of forest, but it required going nearly the entire way back to Haven.

--------------------
Seven years prior, Aldrin lay against a tree in complete blackness. All he could see was less than a foot in front of him, a monster of a bear with a flow of dried blood down its face from an arrow in its forehead.

Aldrin's own leg was in bad shape as well. The bear had clapsed its jaws around it during the squabble, and now Aldrin was alone, wounded, at nighttime in the middle of one of the thickest forests in the entire world.

He had eventually been found by a small group of travelers the next morning and fixed up by their White Mage. But the experience had taught him a lesson: never travel the woods alone.

And so it seemed he would need a traveling companion to reach Rodell.

But who? A close-ranged fighter seemed the logical answer... but Windrow was home of the largest Mage academy. So apart from asking random strangers off the street, where could he go?

Out of options, Aldrin headed in the direction of the Institute of Magic.

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Caston followed the Headmaster into the stone part of the Institute, up several flights of stairs, and into a study-like room. They entered the heavy wooden doors. Occupying the far side of the room was a large desk, behind it a high back leather chair. Both of the side walls were full of built-in bookshelves, floor to ceiling. And of course, they were all filled with tomes of all sorts. Chronicles of the Institute, all the research and magical information of every generation of wizard to ever attend the Institute.

Caston marveled at the collection. Such power and knowledge all contained in one place. He longed to kick the Headmaster out of the room, lock himself within, and read every volume in the collection.

"Caston, is it?" He snapped out of his awe-inspired trance.

"Yes, sir."

"Tell me of this wizard you met, and tell me, in as great of detail as you can, how exactly he was using multiple disciplines."

Caston told the Headmaster everything, he remembered well, as it had only happened yesterday.

"...so you see, he has the uncanny ability to infuse his weapon with any element he sees fit, as I said. He used Blue, Red, and Green as if he had practiced for hundreds of years." It had taken Caston some time to tell his story. The Headmaster was silent. After a moment, a knock came at the door.

"Yes, come in." He said. A student entered.

"Sir, the giant has fixed the burnt wing of the Institute."

"What??"

"He's a marvelous carpenter, sir. He cleaned up the whole mess and rebuilt the building almost entirely by himself." The Headmaster rose.

"Where is he now?"

"Well, sir, we fed him and gave him drink out of thanks, and he became inebriated, and passed out on the lawn under a tree."

"My goodness..." The Headmaster rounded the desk and left the room. Caston followed.

They made their way back outside to see this miracle for themselves. Sure enough, the structure that had been ravaged by flames no more than a few hours ago was now back to new, save for some smoke stains here and there. Caston looked about, and sure enough, Gigas was fast asleep on the ground near the fixed building. Caston turned round to address the Headmaster, and saw that Delon was in the town commons. He approached him.

"Well? How are things with you? Have you made progress?" He asked the rogue.

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Delon simply smiled, and showed off a collection of food and money. "Is this the progress you ask of?" he said teasingly.

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Caston eyed him coldly.

"Tell me you got that by honest means."

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"Excuse me sir... I could've sworn I had some gold on me..."

"Yes, I know that you're in a hurry sir, but the new loaf won't be ready for another ten minutes."

"Tell me you got that by honest means."

Conversations flew past Aldrin's head as he moved through the town commons towards the institute. Then, he stopped in his tracks. There, asleep against the side of the institute, was the very half-giant that Aldrin had earlier seen fighting the Or'cara.

Aldrin turned to his right to a young mage with short dark hair. "Excuse me, do you know who that giant is?"

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Caston was taken aback by the rough looking young man, but then he supposed it wasn't every day you laid eyes on a real life giant.

"I don't exactly know who he is, no. He's traveling with me. Why?" Caston was careful not to reveal too much to the stranger.

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"He's traveling with you? So does that mean you are the ones that army of Or'cara were after this morning? I was just curious as he had brought back a particularly harsh memory for me." Aldrin hesitated before continuing. "I don't want to impede or anything, so dismiss me if you wish, but... you said you were traveling? I am looking for a companion through the woods south of here, so if you and your friend are headed that way you would fit the bill."

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Tahu remained behind the Headmaster, but wasn't paying too much attention to the surrounding events. All those elements and almost certainly more...the word "impossible" comes to mind, though that's always wrong. Still, though, if he has that much power, why has he not made any offensive actions yet? Tahu shared these thoughts with the Headmaster. "My thoughts exactly," the great mage replied. "Either he's extremely skilled at illusion or he has a greater goal that he cannot attain by brute force alone."
"But what is that goal? ...I guess that's the all-important question, sir."

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Tahu 1000 - Former Member

Caston was baffled that this man had known, or perhaps seen what had happened with them and the Or'cara. It didn't matter.

"Yes, that was us. You saw that? Heard what happened, perhaps?" Caston pondered. "At any rate, I'm not certain where we are headed next, I have business at the Institute and I haven't any idea how long it's going to take. However, I believe there's probably a good chance that we'd be heading south. May I ask what you're seeking?" Caston addressed the issue tactfully, he was the bearer of delicate news. He certainly didn't want the wrong people to find out about Dusk.

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I'm going to Rodell to assassinate a man named Horace Maxwell.

Aldrin thought it, but he most certainly did not say it. As he thought up a suitable lie, he answered the first question. "I was passing through whilst it was happening... I managed to sneak by, but not without catching a glimpse of the giant fighting off the Or'cara."

"And as for my trek south, I have business in Rodell that needs my immediate intervention. A friend of mine is caught in a gang war and cannot leave the city alone lest his desertion be discovered. Nasty business, I'm sure."

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