The End is Only the Beginning Chapter 4
It was not often that the full conclave met. Other than for routine meetings, it was rarely for anything pleasant. As eighteen wizards entered the meeting hall they all had the same question on their mind. What happened this time? What was so urgent that all of them had to come? As the wizards who constituted the conclave entered, it was apparent that the vast majority of them were human. There was at least one elf in all three of the orders. The male elf in black robes and the female elf in red robes had been cast out as dark elves. There were two elves among the white robes, one Silvanesti, and one Qualinesti. They were both female.
"I suppose you wonder why we have summoned all of you here," began Par-Salian. "There is a rather accomplished young mage from Oerth who has been permanently stranded on our world and seeks addition into our order."
"She is one hundred and forty," said Ladonna. "I hardly call that young."
"For an elf that is still relatively young, but not overly so," said the Silvanesti elf. "Please tell me she is one of their grey elves and not one of their wood elves, high elves or even worse a wild elf."
The elves on the conclave were the ones who dealt with the elves who came from other worlds on spell jammers.
"And if she came in on a spell jammer, why were we not notified first?" asked the Qualinesti elf.
"She did not come here via spelljammer. She was brought here. How and why I am not at liberty to say," said Par-Salian. "Though to be honest, I do not understand how or why she was brought here. She insists she has seen Paladine since coming here. She has been here for a year retraining so she can qualify to take the test."
"Why are we just now being notified, and why has the entire conclave been convened?" asked the elven black robe.
"She uses both High Sorcery and Primal Sorcery," said Par-Salian. "Also, given how different the world she came from is, and how different her life experiences have been, it is difficult to come up with a test."
"Primal Sorcery - there is a reason that was banned," said the elf in red robes. "It upsets the balance of magic.
"Her High Sorcery and Primal Sorcery are intertwined so closely that even the gods of magic could not pry them apart. Believe me, they tried," said Justarius. "She is what on her home world is called a Magus. They not only use both prepared and spontaneous casting, they blend it using one to fuel the other. In her case one stabilizes the other. I have seen her use this augmented casting ability. While her war-mage spells do not wear her out the way her wizard spells do, when she uses one to fuel the other it wears our her out faster than when casting wizard spells alone. She is in essence using two spells at once."
"What do you mean, war mage spells?" asked a human male in red robes.
"In Oerth apparently warmages spontaneously cast arcane spells and can do so while wearing light armor and carrying light shields," said Ladonna. "Before you ask, yes she has a chain shirt and a buckler especially made where she can cast both war-mage and wizard spells without risk of failure."
"I understand her wanting to keep them as mementos of her life on Oerth, but it's time for them to be put away. Wizards do not use armor, carry shields or use weapons other than a dagger or a staff," insisted a male white robe.
"You can be the one to tell her that. She carries a merciful elvencraft longbow that she will not part with," said Par-Salian. "I am inclined to let her keep it."
"What does elvencraft mean?" the other wizard asked the elves present.
None of them knew and one replied that it had to be an Oerth thing.
"It doubles as a quarterstaff," said Par-Salian.
"Cute," replied another wizard.
"I think our bow makers would want to get their hands on that to copy it," said the Silvanesti.
"So would ours," replied the Qualinesti.
"Fine, whoever gets her first will have copies of the bow sent to the other as soon as they are made," said the Silvanesti.
"Agreed," replied the Qualinesti.
Par-Salian told the rest of the conclave what they knew about her. After he finished, he then explained why he had summoned everyone. "The issue here is that we need to get her through The Test of High Sorcery, however, what sort of test do we pose?"
"Do you have a list of the spells she knows?" asked one of the white robes.
"We have prepared several copies of the spells all of the spells she is capable of casting. There are a few we have never seen before. The list includes a brief description of those spells, and any other spell beyond the list of commonly known spells," said Justarius. "This was facilitated by one of the spells she brought with her: a minor spell called amanuensis. It's a cantrip that copies text. There is a more powerful version of this spell in her spell book that can be used to copy spells from spellbooks. We used this to make three copies of her spellbook for the library here in Wayreth."
This got everyone's attention. Each member was given a list of the spells and their description. The next half hour was spent studying the list. The heads of the three orders noticed that everyone was making personal notes on their copy of the list.
"I have a suggestion," said the dark elf black robe. "Use an illusion to simulate tracking down a ring of slave traders. After the rest of his henchmen are dead, the ringleader surrenders and is taken prisoner. Make sure she has both disintegrate and smoky confinement memorized for this test. After the Rangers have him securely bound make sure the fool cannot keep his mouth shut. Have him run his mouth about how he has an understanding with the local magistrate. That he'll be a free man as soon as they leave town. That is if they are able to make it out of town alive."
"Killing a helpless prisoner is exactly what got you expelled from the white robes all the way into the black robes and labeled a dark elf," said the Qualinesti elf.
"As I was saying, what she does in that moment should determine the final outcome of her test. Which spell does she use: disintegrate, or smoky confinement? If she uses smoky confinement what does she do with the bottle," continued the dark elf.
"Why do you suggest this course of action?" asked Par-Salian.
"From what you told us of her life on Oerth, if slavery is not the thing she despises the most it is certainly on the top ten list. Also, I have spoken to a few elves from Oerth and Toril. I do not think any of us will ever understand the depth of the blood feud between the elves of that world and the race they call orcs," said the dark elf.
"You can always identify the elves from off world. They are the ones who double over laughing when we call those two dark elves," the Qualinesti commented dryly.
"I like the suggestion, however I would like to question her in person first," said the female red robe elf.
Eärlindë was sent for. When she entered the room she was wearing a green dress; her circlet of rapid casting; her belt of many pockets; I one pair of gloves, one of which was her casting glove; her ring of wizardry 1 and carrying her handy haversack. The rest of her possessions were tucked away in her belt of many pockets, her haversack, or in her secret chest. Her familiar Ashat was at her side.
"Before you are given the Test of High Sorcery, the members of the conclave would like to ask you a few questions," said Par-Salian. Eärlindë nodded.
"How do you view our order's ban on armor, restrictions on weapons, and robe requirements," asked a male in red robes.
"The formal ban of use on physical armor is pointless. Most wizards lack the ability to effectively wear physical armor. Physical armor comes with restrictions and draw backs drawbacks that spells like mage armor, greater mage armor, or a good set of bracers of armor don't have. Even if the armor does not make casting arcane spells more difficult there is always the weight to consider."
"I own a chain shirt I can safely cast wizard spells in, however, it weighs twelve and a half pounds. I found wearing it useful when I did not want to be immediately identified and targets as the party wizard. While exploring some ruins I managed to find some bracers of armor that are more effective, protected against incorporeal beings, and weigh less than half what the chain shirt does."
"The only weapons Oreth's wizards can use that you ban are crossbow and clubs. When you limit wizards to the quarterstaff or dagger, you fail to take into account people who rely more on dexterity than they do on strength. Such persons would be better off with a light cross bow crossbow than a quarterstaff or dagger weapons they would have no hope of hitting anything or any one anyone with.. Melf's Slumbering Arrow, excuse me Slumbering Arrow, is a very useful spell, however it can only be used in conjunction with a long bow longbow or a short bow. The spell whirling blade, while it can be used with any slashing weapon is best used with a longsword," she replied.
"Interesting, however using a weapon as the focus for a spell and using it as a weapon are two different things," countered one wizard. "Furthermore crossbows are a distance weapon, and not terribly useful in a melee or close-quarters combat, which is where you are most likely to need a physical defense right now and not have time to cast a spell or run away."
Eärlindë looked at the wizard and calmly said, "Life isn't that simple. I have been in combat situations where I needed a ranged attack and I had no offensive spells left. You don't run and leave your friends behind just because in a predicament just because you run out of spells!"
"You should have been more careful with your spells," replied the wizard.
Eärlindë favored him with an icy glare. If looks could kill, this wizard would have dropped dead on the spot. She regained her composure and continued.
"One last thing: have you considered alterative alternative clothing items to those, I'm a wizard please shoot me robes? They are well and good for ceremonial purposes and wearing indoors, but for out door outdoor activities there has to be a better alternative, if only for safety's sake. We would be here until dawn if I were to list all the potential hazards of formal ankle length wizard robes," she concluded.
"Where do you stand on neutrality" asked the Silvanesti elf.
"I am completely neutral on neutrality. If they are going to be neutral toward me, I don't see why I shouldn't return the favor," Eärlindë said in jest. This had every human and half the elves laughing.
"To be honest, I consider than that a personal choice that no one should be penalized for. Neutrality comes in three forms. The first form is those dedicated to maintaining the balance between good and evil. The second is those who have removed themselves from the struggle between good and evil to pursue some other cause such as law, chaos, nature, magic, or learning. The third is those who are indifferent to the struggle between good and evil. These people would risk their lives to protect those they care able and go out of their way to help them in need. Unlike a good person, they would not be so willing to do so for a stranger," she replied.
"As long as we aren't going into lawful stupid or chaotic stupid territory I tend to take a live and let life view with people who choose neutrality. To be honest, things are a little different on Oerth. There are people I knew on Oerth who maintain neutrality there, who if they came here would be forced in one direction or the other."
"What alignment would you consider yourself?" asked the elf in red robes.
"Good. I have a firmly ingrained sense of right and wrong. I have fought in the struggle between good and evil. The struggle between freedom and oppression is one that is just as important to me. Tyranny instituted for the good of the oppressed is still tyranny, and the oppressors will torment their victims without end for they will do so with a clear conscience," This statement took several moments to process. Finally, after more questioning, they had the information they needed for the test.
Author's notes
Definitions from sourcebooks for those of you who are not players
Elvencrafted: a modification to longbows and short bows designed by elves to make them sturdy enough to endure melee combat. Longbows with this modification function as quarterstaffs. Short bows with this modification function as clubs. This was introduced in the sourcebook Races of the Wild.
Ring of Wizardry 1 doubles first level arcane spell slots. Basically if your character can prepare and cast and/or spontaneously cast arcane spells it doubles the number of first level spell slots he or she has available. This does not affect bonus spells granted by school or attribute bonus, referenced in the Dungeons Master's guide under wonderous items.
Heward's Handy Haversack (or on Krynn mearly handy haversack) is basically an rucksack with three compartments each of which are bigger on the inside than they are on the outside. The center holds up to 80 lbs, each side holds up to 20 lbs. No matter how much you put in it it always weighs 5 lbs and the item you want will always come to the top. This item is from the Dungeon Master's guide
Bracers of Armor are what people who can't wear armor and can afford them use instead of armor. They are classified as wondrous items. They come in 8 numbered types the higher the number the better the protection 1 = padded armor 2 = leather armor 3= studded leather armor 4= a chain shirt 5 =chain mail 6 = splint mail 7= half plate 8= full plate. Unlike actual armor they do not decrease the effectiveness of a high dexterity toward your abilty to dodge attacks and they defend against the attacks of incorproal creatures which go right through physical armor
Comment by my beta reader chisscientist "Entertaining to see Silvanesti and Qualinesti agree on something for once!" I agree
"I agree, given the number of times Raistlin tripped over his own robes during Chronicles" to this comment I would like to add the time his robes nearly drug in down so that Sturm was half dragging him, half carrying him