Stelm: Well now that you've seen both sides of Jet (Zuvejjet). Time to put it back in Mage Mode. It'll be that way for a while. Since I'm still in the beginning stages of the story I'm open to suggestion to anybody reading the story.
Sands of Elsweyr
"Names Zuvejjet most people call me Jet though. Stinks to stink and all but I feel you." I said shaking hands with this burly Orc who claimed he was planning on being an Imperial battle mage. They had a little conversation. We were sort of alike. For one I was one of the three Argonians who attended the college. While the their were one other Orc. The Orc's name was Durabo. He was part of this elite merc family. Most of his family members were either dead or out doing mercenary work. He was the only one he knew in his family who practiced magic. He got here via the septims his uncle made during his mercenary work.
"Hard out here for minorities I guess. Too many fucking high elves around here, don't know the business side of a sword from the other." The Orc said looking up at the teleporter as he nodded in his direction, "Guess I'm up."
A few seconds later Durabo blew up in a flash of light. We had to wait a minute or two for the teleportation mages to recover. We had gotten a ring at the beginning of the year and it cost a hell of a lot to buy another one. So most people just kept it with them, I was one of those people.
Damn there a lot of empty restore magic potions back there I thought as I looked behind the platform. These guys must be drained for them to have to use all of those. I could sympathize with them though. I was pretty drained myself. The death of Jeeli left all of Jummeja in mourning. It was a bitter sweet Sundas though. We had lost Jeeli but got a large pile from the ship hijacking job. With the new ship we also got connected into the smuggling business. I went to the college Sundas night and prepared for my alchemy exam.
Exams throughout my stay at the college were always brutal. I guess that the heads of the college new that even if they hadn't found a dragonborn they would make a damn good mage. My alchemy exam was alright. We were told to make a six ingredient prolonged invisibility spell. One guy made an explosive potion so large him and three other students had to go to the restoration center. Another guy froze himself solid and a Khajiit girl spilt her potion in progress and made the whole room smell like sour milk.
Archery was brutal. We had to hit a table sized target from 90 meters. If it sounds hard it sounds just about right. Of course our teacher taught us how to enchant each arrow. Some of the alteration buffs were able to use telekinesis to guide the arrow to the target easy. I wasn't that buff in alteration so I had to settle for skill. Something Argonians weren't too blessed in. When would an Argonian have to use it? I'd rather just drown somebody or slit their throat. So after 6 tries I hit my mark. My Khajiit teacher told me I got a K (Knowledgeable). I swear she has something against me.
The Destruction Exam was fun for me. Our whole test was a duel. We were set up against powerful spectral mages. All by ourselves, nothing but magic. It was fun for me because a quick barrage of fireballs and the test was over. Quick and easy M.
That left the Illusion test. It was a tough one I have to admit. We had to go through this obstacle course/dungeon without sounding an alarm. It was located in this old fortress not too far away. Our first test was to find it via clairvoyance. Afterwards one by one we would enter the fortress. The fortress contained a group of hired villagers who were posted as listeners. If we one of the villagers sounded the alarm we would fail. Points were taken off for tripping over traps and/or gaining the attention of the guards. I had a little fun. I got a guard to look over a ledge (via magelight) and then used muffle to sneak behind the man and push him over into a hay stack. It cost me my M+ (Mastery) but I was happy with an angry farmer and a P+ (proficient).
I was thinking about my current task when the teleported finally caught his breath and me and a few other random third years got onto the platform. We held hands and the teleporter did what he did best. My head felt like balloon for a split second until I found myself surrounded by other recently teleported third years. I already knew where we were, Elsweyr.
Usually I would be threatened but I knew that the Dragonborn College of Magicka had reputation and any Khajiit not knowing we were present was either a hermit or an idiot. All of us knew why we were here. We were here to prove ourselves to our families and to the heads of the college. If we failed this it was almost impossible to recover. I already knew who was in my team of three.
Ever since that little shouting contest the heads of the college made up out of mages from each province told me that I'd would be watched. I thought I would be suspended from the college but they decided in the midst of the dragonborn rumors that I should stay. Just in case I discovered my powers early or something.
So as expected I was put in a group with some of the best mages in the school. A Bosmer male named Gordi who had broken the schools record for the number of weapons enchanted in one sitting. 78 was the record before, he got it to 82. Crazy right? I got in trouble for sneaking into the girls' dorm and had to spend my Sundas enchanting weapons for the college to sell. I got to 60 by the end of the day. It was one tiring job, couldn't imagine doing it professionally, ever.
We had this other guy a Khajiit named D'Sado. Says he's related to the Arch Mage of the College of Winterhold, J'Zargo. He was alright; he's in my destruction class. He usually prefers to conjure two swords and cast a few fancy fire spells here and there. I figured he was just a really good show off.
The last person was in my alchemy class. Her name was Shade. She was a Dunmer. I don't know but ever since the little Riften attack I was wary of any Dunmer I saw. Who knows maybe the guys who attacked me had an inside guy/girl. They definitely seemed to be professional when they attacked me and Jeeli (may his soul rest in peace).
Well anyway she was pretty pretty for a Dunmer. She had pure white skin and beady red eyes. She had long crimson hair and a nice figure. It wasn't like she was the only female in the school with a figure but she was definitely the best looking Dunmer.
"Shade!" I said a little bit louder than I wanted.
She turned around quickly; I knew I was too loud. "Jet, you're in my group right?"
"Yah us, D'Sado, and Gordi. You know what we are going up against?" I asked though I knew nobody knew except our professors what was waiting in those endless hills of sands. Right now we were in this red palace looking place. Real big ceiling. Could fit 300 people in here easy I thought. Ss I talked to Shade I noticed she was nervous, last time I saw her in action she was like this. Never worked with her but it should be fun.
"Did you see that explosion in alchemy class?" She asked and I noticed her beautiful smile. Perfect whites; nice.
"A blind man could see that thing. Heard the guy has this big scar now. How was your restoration exam?" I asked genuinely interested. I would need to know if she was any good, wouldn't want to jump into a situation and get a broken leg just to find out that she could only cast a lesser ward and call it a day.
"It was insane. Eight people got sent to the restoration center. You can only take exams twice or you fail you know. I got it the first time. We had to take a stab to the shoulder and heal before we bled to death. They didn't let us get that close though. I passed that one easy, the second part was kinda hard. We had to hold a constant ward under the force of a simulated unrelenting force shout. If we stumbled or fell we failed." She said courageously, she really knew her shit. I could even see a little pride in her eyes.
"Well if I ever get violently stabbed I know who to go to." I said and she laughed I did too. I guess I don't just crack myself up.
It was then did someone start calling names. Groups I soon realized. Our group was the 5th one to be called. We went up to the man who called our name. Old Khajiit, all he did was point me to a small dark room with a light in the center. Shade, D'Sado, Gordi, and I went inside warily. As we all got in the small room we saw that a magelight dimly illuminated the room. As we all entered the room the door closed behind us and the mage light expanded and before you knew it we were blinded.
As soon as I recovered my eyesight I saw that we were in the middle of a desert. I looked at the others as they got their sights back. They looked just as confused as I did. As soon as I was about to speak a loud voice spoke to us.
"Group 5 third year middle season exam." The booming voice bellowed and everybody could hear it clearly. It was hard to ignore a voice like that. The only problem was nobody could see him.
"This is a test but you are to attack with lethal accuracy or you will fail. You die you fail, simple. Your objective is to kill the leader of a band of necromancer Khajiit vampires. Your exam starts… now." The voice said and the sand seemed to get looser, it got a lot colder, and the sun set in three seconds.
Everything now seemed so real. I was glad I stole back my orange cloak. I would be freezing without it. The whole death thing sounded serious. I only guessed that our professors were getting a real kick back home, scaring us like this. I figured that there was a teleporter somewhere in the darkness. Maybe they figured that by not telling us what was happening that we would be shocked or something.
"So this is what they put in front of D'Sado. D'Sado will make it easy. D'Sado votes to let the lizard serve as a distraction. Then D'Sado will kill the Unholy Vampires." D'Sado said and I nodded looking up over the sand dune they had to scale if they were to see what they were up against.
"I see fur ball. What's your name again?" I asked playing with the cat. He started to say something but Gordi stopped him.
"Fuck this entire beast race against beast race shit. What we need is an illusionist, somebody who can stalk from afar. Somebody who can see in this damn darkness." Gordi said getting the group of mages in a circle. D'Sado groaned.
"Okay D'Sado will conjure up a bow and arrow then send out a scouting report. Give D'Sado 10 minutes, and D'Sado will communicate with Gordi when D'Sado is finished." D'Sado said and in seconds he had a bow and arrow equipped and a second later he had completely disappeared with the exception of his glowing eyes. We saw the sand getting shifted as he walked and we waited. 10 minutes he said.
It ended up taking him more than ten minutes longer than 10 minutes. Damn Khajiits. The report was thirty-two lightly armed thralls, fifteen vampires, and the leader was supposed to be located inside the tower.
"Okay now all we need is a demolition expert. We need a really big fireball, one that will rile the fort up. Once panic settles in throughout the fort the remaining two will come in and heal the other will fight alongside the demolition expert." Gordi said proudly as if he had thought this plan through thousands of times before.
"So I guess I'm the fireball guy, Shade's the healer, and you're gonna help me. Right?" I asked and Gordi nodded.
"Well then I need to know where the cat is. I surely wouldn't want to burn him up." I said sarcastically. Seriously though if the cat could do anything it was fight and I didn't want to fail because we were short on men (or cats in this case).
"He's on the outskirts of the fort. Waiting for any enemy reinforcements. Once he has seen that we've started the assault he will join up." Gordi said and he patted me on the shoulder and gave me a smile that said 'give em hell'.
So with that I stumbled my way up the hill of sand. I could see a dust storm coming from afar. We had to hurry. So with that thought I rushed, and fell…twice. I could hear the laughing from downhill as I got on all fours to try to climb my way over the rest.
As I scaled (no pun intended) the hill I saw that the fort looked pretty torn down. It looked to be made mostly out of clay. It was an ancient skeleton color; the tower was the only thing that looked modern. It was made out of bricks. The whole thing was on a steep hill so the buildings were made on top of each other. Ladders were set so one could get through the place. The elevation also made it easier for guard to see a large force coming their way. Good thing we came by ones.
I figured I'd aim for the tower. It seemed to be the easiest target despite it being the farthest structure. It had a wooden top so I figured if anything I'd be able to burn that off. So I aimed for it. I gathered a good bit of my magicka into this one fireball. I had brought two potions of extreme magicka. Should serve me well, I thought as I let the fireball fly towards the top of the roof thankfully. It hit home and the top quickly went up in flames. The brick part however only shifted a little. I bet that little was enough to wake up the ole arch-vampire, that's all that mattered. I heard a loud horn sound and before I could move two arrows hit me in the shoulder and I fell back stunned. Twas my second time this month being hit by arrows, I'd have to be more careful.
As soon as I went down I heard people coming behind me. It was Shade who quickly removed the arrows from my body (a lot more painful than it sounds) and healed the wound. Guess our college did make pretty good healers; I thought as I got up and readied a few more fire spells.
Gordi made the second move throwing a few fireballs at the buildings and I heard a few people shriek. Khajiits I thought as they started storming out of their houses raining destruction magic at us. Before I knew it I heard a shout from behind me.
"STRUN!" As I turned around I saw it was Shade. I knew that shout, it was storm call. As soon as I remembered the shout rain started pouring down. If that didn't put the necro-kitties in a frenzy then I didn't know what would. Lightning bolts came down randomly and I even saw one of them lit a cat up like a tree. All of it seemed so real. These weren't an illusion, the college had sent us to kill actual necromancers.
"Lizard, duck!" I heard D'Sado said and I complied now knowing this was a serious situation. Next thing you know I heard, "WULD!"
I looked up to see a flipping fur ball fly right pass me. When he got a few yards ahead of he stopped and looked in my direction, "Does D'Sado have to kill them by himself?"
That's what started the onslaught. Shade and Gordi provided a good bit off assistance but the real battle for enemies killed was between D'Sado and me. He killed a group of thralls with a fire ball and I hit a vampire and three thralls with firebolts, four at the same time all head shots. Fire type spells were the only ones used; we all knew that was a vampire's true weakness.
As we climbed the ladders among ladders to get to the top I saw Shade check the rooms for more enemies. I'd say it took an hour before we got to the stone flat floor that led to the tower. D'Sado and I collapsed to the group and Gordi shook his head.
"I guess the battle never ends huh. Shade. Heal them before we go in." Gordi said and Shade went to work healing up our multiple wounds.
We did a good job I thought as I sat on the stone platform that would lead to the tower. It was the only nice looking part the whole place. Bet the arch-vampire was a real prick, letting his entire vampire army sleep in rags while he slept in his castle.
"Whew. Think I could go vampire hunting for a few more weeks!" I said triumphantly stretching my arms out as Shade healed me. Damn I got tore up back there.
"Don't get too happy we are not finished yet. By now you can see this is the real deal. Maybe we can get this guy to come out, save energy. What you think?" Gordi asked me and I shrugged. If he came out or not we would still have to kill him. I was surprised he hadn't come out already. I saw Shade use clairvoyance and she nodded at Gordi. Obviously there were fears that the vampire had escaped while they battled but no. He was still there.
"D'Sado thinks we should keep attacking the tower until the vampire runs out." D'Sado said and I nodded.
"First good one of the day." I said and Gordi shook his head and smiled.
"Sounds like a plan." Gordi said helping me up as he readied himself. He cast courage on everyone and we all started to use intense flames to burn up the tower. It was a good minute until the whole tower exploded. I saw that Shade was the one who put up a ward on us before it happened because she was the only one who didn't move when everyone else was flung back. I hit the wet wooden roof of one of the vampire homes and it broke from under me.
So I ended up in this shady room could hardly see anything around me." Out of nowhere I saw a figure come rushing at me. As it got closer I could see that it was a Khajiit. The brown furred creature closed in on me fangs flashing. I used my intense flames to burn the vampire to dust, while bearing my own teeth for extra measure. I then remembered a trick my alchemy teacher taught me. I got a handful of the dust and put it in my mouth. I had to hold my mouth to keep it in. It tasted dog shit terrible but as soon as I looked at my hand I knew it worked. I was invisible.
Figuring that I better get back to the tower I ran out the door to get back to the tower. I climbed the latters quickly and saw the others start on their way back too. I did what I could to stay undetected while invisible, made sure not step in any of the puddles that formed in that storm shout.
As I got up I saw that Shade was stuck under man's boot, the shoe was on her stomach and was digging deeply. I saw that I was still invisible but I knew that it wouldn't last for long. So I decided to act fast and sent a fire bolt right at the man's head. As soon as I released the bolt of fire my invisibility wore off. A quarter second passed before and the Khajiit vampire traded a ball of fire for a head. The vampire made great efforts to extinguished and succeeded but it was too late I had flashed a few meters from him Shade coughing a fit behind me. As soon as the Khajiit moved to engage me a fireball exploded on his back flinging him towards me. I thought fast and conjured up a spear to impale the vampy. I sent the spear into the cat's heart and I heard a cry of pain follow. The cat wouldn't quit though before he took in his final breath his fingers dug into my face.
I cried in pain and staggered back. As I backed up I lost my footing and fell of the stone platform and onto another roof house. It was another wood roof except this one was hard and calloused only adding to my pain. I groaned loudly and as soon as I looked up I saw Gordi. He shook his head and smiled.
"Still think you can do this all week?" He said but as soon as he did the world seemed to slip from under me not like the roof but like everything. Felt more like how plays depict death. Saw a lot of lights and crap like that and before you know it D'Sado, Gordi, Shade, and I were back in the room with the mage light, definitely not
Sovngarde. The door was still closed. Acting one instinct I lit my own light a little bit more effective I might add recognizing that now for the first time we had seen that there was a Khajiit in the corner. I almost thought he was an assailant before I saw his mage robes.
"Congratulations D'Sado, Gordi, Shade, and how you say…. Ummmm….Jet. You have just witness the future of your college. You may have thought that you were just out in the sands of Elsweyr, that we teleported you there, or maybe that those vampires were real. None of these things are true. You never even left this room." The mage explained and my jaw hit the floor. I felt my face and felt no scar there. Damn if it wasn't real what is it?
"I see the surprise on your face young mages. The answer is simple. A thing we like to call simulation. The light you see in the center is just a sort of knockout orb that puts you all in a college created and peer connected dream. I am also proud to say that you have all passed with flying colors. If oyu want to know your exact grade you got an M+. From here you will go back to the teleportation room on the other side of the palace you were in previously. Have a wonderful day." The Khajiit mage said pointing us to a wall that as soon as we got close opened. Everybody on this side seemed to be as surprised as we were.
I looked at my teammates in awe. We were all shocked. Never knew we had such new magic at our disposal. I could only hope it was going to get better next year. I started talking to Gordi about how next year would be like when a booming voice roared over the crowd of third years.
"Attention young Mages. You may have not went outside of this building in combat but that does not stop you from taking your three day vacation!" The Khajiit said and the college students roared in approval, "School will start on Tirdas. Students who do not want to endure fun time at our luxurious beaches can report to the teleportation crew to my left. That is all mages of tomorrow. Make sure to report back here before sunset Monday or we might just leave you here." The Khajiit man said chuckling as he turned his amplification off and the crowd went crazy. I was going to go to the teleportation crew but Shade stopped me. She told me that she had never gone to an Elsweyr beach before. I told her that Argonians were generally disliked in Elsweyr she said they would go to Orcrest first and that we could buy a hotel there then go to the beaches by mid-day.
After a few minutes of persuasion she had me and we headed out of the palace with the rest of the third years. As soon as we got outside a large line formed for spending septims and a map to Elseweyr. There were several carriages and caravans that we could take to certain cities. Seems that the Khajiit really did appreciate our presence. We also had our rings checked there; didn't matter I always kept mines with me.
Stelm: Well there was the exams hope it wasn't too confusing. Next chapter will be super good I swear it. You may however want to brush up on your advance destruction and illusion spells. Just sayain'(DB ref.).