Hey all here's a fun little idea I came up with. It's a journal of adolecent Aonghas' that was found behind a rock in cell one below the circle tower. Ander's found the journal and decoded it and wrote up a transcript of it. Anders took the journal and transcript with him the last time he escaped the tower clutches. It should be interesting what Aonghas will do if he ever finds out Anders has it, eh? LOL

Enjoy as I delve into Aonghas circle tower time from his view as he lived it :)

The Secret Journal of an Apprentice Mage of the Circle Tower

I found a journal stuffed behind a rock in the wall of the cell one beneath the circle tower. It was in code but I didn't have much else to do while I was locked up. The following is a transcript of the encoded journal. The code was similar to a code used by scouts, so it didn't take me long to decipher it. Anders.

Entry One:

I have a friend here. I've never had one before; unless you count a squire who is only a friend to you because he has to be. I wish I was home. Mother must be worried about me. I miss Majestic so much. I keep waking up and expecting to be able to slip my feet under him to warm them. There are no dogs here. My friend says there are cats here to help with mice. I have yet to see a cat.

I have been here for three weeks tomorrow. Today we were reading about fire spells and then they let us try to do it. Nobody could do it. I had to pretend to try because I had this strange feeling that if I really did try I would be able to do it. I thought about showing what I could do to the mages who tested me when I first got here, but I feared that letting them know what I could do would mark me as a special case to them. I may be only twelve, but I know better than to draw attention to myself. The books they are having us read are so childish. I asked my friend about the bigger library but he told me that we can't go there yet.

We went outside a couple of days ago but I was watched closely by our dorm templar head guard. I think he knows who I really am. He looks a bit familiar but I can't really place him. I keep trying to think where I would have run into a templar. I want to ask him how I know him but I don't want to give my identity away. It's lights out now. Bye

Entry two:

Today we studied more combat magic; Fire was yesterday and today was ice. Again I pretended to try to cast an ice spell. I'm afraid if I try and am successful I might be put in a different class than my friend. I'm already ahead of most my age in knowledge. I think our teacher might be on to me though because he gave me a strange look when I faked trying.

My friend and I snuck into the other dormitory today and I looked through some chests but I didn't find anything worth taking. I can tell my friend worries about being caught but he seems to enjoy the excitement just as much if not more than he worries. I wonder what would happen if we did get caught. I shouldn't wonder such things but I can't help it. Lights out, Bye.

Entry Three:

My worst fear has happened. My instructor confronted me about not really trying and I got pulled into a private room with him. I won't mention his name here because I don't want to get him in trouble, but we talked and he said that he was going to change the way he does things so that it will be easier for me to pretend to learn things without giving myself away. When we got back to class he let everybody try to cast a lightning spell and I did things like usual and pretended. He then showed us how it was done a few times before allowing everyone to try again. Some of the apprentices even managed a few sparks. When it came my turn he gave me the sign we had agreed upon and I tried to cast the spell for real this time and it worked! All the students congratulated me and the mage exclaimed that I appeared to be a natural.

I didn't think anybody would help me here but I was wrong. The templars who were assigned to my classroom didn't even appear concerned as I cast the spell for a second time at the request of my instructor; so the others could see how it's done. Maybe things won't be so bad here. I still miss home. Lights out, Bye.

Entry Four:

Today I got caught in the other dorm rifling through other apprentices' things. I pretended to be confused; which got me sent to the infirmary. Big mistake, because the mage there wasn't fooled and she sat me down and told me plainly that if I was brought here again with a made up complaint she would have me locked up in the infirmary for a few days and the second time I would find myself locked up in the cells below the tower. I tried lying to her about really having been confused but she looked at me with a glare and told me not to waste her time.

She must not have told anybody else about my lying because nobody said anything else to me about it. Dang, Lights Out, Bye.