DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: Dawn of Revolution
The Professor
Eight years before the coalition war began...
Professor Vinicus delo Severni stood at the classroom podium one fine summer morning, praying to all 500 gods he wouldn't lose his temper. He'd need more than 500 gods for this. "Students!" he barked. "Today's lecture must now begin! I ask you to settle down!"
Vinicus' twenty students did anything but that. The ever so frivolous young men and women kept chattering away, and two of them were actually playing Three Dragon Ante near the back!
"I said, settle down!" Vinicus demanded, but it was no good.
"We have all day, don't we, prof?" one student, a musclehead athlete named Lucius Bruto, said casually. "Besides, half of us were up late last night at a killer party downtown. We're not ready to focus just yet, y'know?"
"I think I'm still half-asleep," an air genasi girl, Nerissa, said with a yawn. "Can I come back this afternoon?"
Vinicus slapped hand to his open scroll on the platform. "The lecture starts now! We've wasted enough time already," he snapped. "Do you students think you can clown around all day? We are not yet done studying for the semester! Surely your revelries can wait until exams are over?"
"Well, I..." Nerissa started, then hung her head, fast asleep. How dare she!
"My buddies and I are doing strength training for this season of tackleball," Lucius put in. "Hey, prof, can I get the lecture notes tomorrow? It's perfect weather for training!" He glanced hopefully at the classroom door.
Vinicus shook his head. Normally, goliaths were disciplined and reliable people, but Lucius would rather waste precious lecture time on sports training! There would be plenty of free days for that during the midsummer break! "Stay in your seat, Lucius," Vinicus told him. "Now, everyone, to recap yesterday's lecture -"
Before he could say a word, one of the card players cheered as he won the match, and his opponent groaned as nearby students turned to marvel at the game-winning play.
"Did you see that, prof?" another hopelessly lazy student, Giotto, cried as he pointed at the match. "What a killer play!"
"You're killing me with your overdue essay, Giotto!" Vinicus retorted. "Is it even halfway done?"
Giotto gestured casually. "I'll get it done next week, prof. Is that cool?"
Nothing in the world was less "cool" than that!
A tiefling girl named Oriana raised her hand. "Um, professor Severni?"
Ah, a curious student! Vinicus nodded. "Yes?"
Oriana beamed. "Can I get a one-week extension on my essay? I'm kinda stuck."
Vinicus sighed and ran a hand over his face. It was because of students like these he was starting to go bald, despite his mere 40 years in this world! Then he heard the card players deal another hand and cheer themselves on while Lucius went ahead and left the classroom for strength training, so Vinicus made his decision. He rolled up his lecture scroll, stalked out of the room, and marched right out of the public university and into the dazzling Trassian sunlight.
The fools! Vinicus raged as he wandered aimlessly through Umbetti's town streets. They do not value time at all! At least his wife was sympathetic when Vinicus told her about it later that evening for dinner.
"Perhaps you simply need a new way to communicate with them," Lorma said kindly as she served their stew and bread at the dinner table. She sat opposite her husband and took a sip of white wine. "They ought to listen! They have much to learn. But only if everyone makes an effort to understand each other more openly."
"It's a wonder they show up to class at all," Vinicus said with a heavy sigh. He took a bite of dark grain bread. "This is the most important topic of study for the year! But they think their studies are a jest."
Lorma made a helpless shrug. "It's this town, Vinicus. Such a sleepy and peaceful place, far from the intrigue of the capital. It's easy to lose oneself in the simple joys of everyday life." She smiled. "But at least we are far from the crowds of the capital."
Being born and raised in Quixan, Vinicus was more inclined toward an urban setting where you worked hard or found yourself destitute! But after taking on some bad debts, Vinicus and his wife had to start everything over out here in this town. Umbetti had its charm... and it had its temptations for waste.
That night, before turning in, Vinicus knelt before the bedroom window, hands on his thighs in prayer, imploring the god of time and education, Amento, to punish his rowdy students with his divine wrath! Vinicus went to bed feeling hopeful about tomorrow, when he'd deliver an afternoon lecture.
Ah, morning! Vinicus had a fine breakfast while his wife slept in, then took his usual walk around Umbetti, taking in the place, willing his mind to find inspiration for how to inspire his students! Surely, he would find it. Well, maybe it wasn't that, a tabby housecat leaping into the air to catch a bird, only to narrowly miss. Nor did he draw much inspiration from the two elderly men arguing passionately under a cherry tree, gesturing with their arms as they went.
"I can do this, I swear!" a lady's voice said. Vinicus turned to see a local wizard apprentice, a robed gnome woman named Hira, wave her staff around as he skeptical friend watched.
"You're gonna blow yourself up, Hira," her friend, a fire genasi lady, said skeptically.
"Here I go! Fireball!" Hira declared, striking the cobblestone street with her staff. She yelped as a sudden, small fireball flung her off her feet as her friend laughed.
Vinicus was about to hurry over and help when Hira sprang to her feet, dusting herself off. "I'm all right! I'm all right!" Hira cried.
Well, enough of that for now. Vinicus turned to the right and strolled through a pleasant neighborhood, where a frazzled firbolg mother chased after her giggling son and daughter, who ran around this way and that. After a few more moments, Vinicus saw a shadow pass over the street, and he craned his neck back to behold an emerald dragon lazily gliding on the warm air currents far overhead. Hmmmmm, if a great beast like that could savor this lazy day, perhaps Vinicus could forgive a little procrastination at the university. There was still a little time before the semester ended -
"Prof! I haven't started my essay yet," a student cried, raising his hand when the afternoon lecture started. "Will I get points off for that?"
Vinicus nearly choked. "What in -"
Nerissa raised her hand, too. "Professor Severni, may I leave the lecture a bit early today? I have to help my grandmother weed her garden."
"Well -"
Giotto raised his hand as well. "I was gonna work on my essay last night, but I forgot," he said. "Can I turn it in later?"
"Finish your essay already!" Vinicus snapped. He looked around. "And where is Lucius?!"
"He's doing strength training with his friends on the east side of town," Oriana explained. "I'll give him my notes later. Are we doing the lecture now?"
"Perhaps, Oriana," Vinicus growled, "if everyone would shut up and quit wasting time!"
No one decided to shut up. So Vinicus tried talking over the ruckus for ten minutes (Oriana barely took any notes) before he gave up and stormed out of the university once again. Blast it all! Every year around spring and summer, his students were like this, but didn't they realize they'd have more free time if they focused and finished their assignments first?! That's how time management is done! Someone ought to teach that vital lesson to them -
That's it!
Vinicus hurried across Umbetti's carefree streets and didn't stop until he arrived at the Temple of the Twenty, dedicated to the twenty most powerful gods of the Trassian pantheon. Yesterday's prayer to Amento had gone unanswered, so it was time for the real deal! Vinicus caught his breath, then marched right in.
It was nice and cool in here, with a few robed priests wandering this way and that, along with some worshipers. The Temple of the Twenty featured thick, polished stone pillars and marble statues of the pantheon's most impressive deities, all with exquisite paintings on the walls behind them. Vinicus reached the last statue and knelt before it, hands on his thighs and his head bowed as he desperately implored Raendus, the god of lessons, to bring about a miracle.
"Teach these students of mine a lesson," Vinicus invoked solemnly, his voice respectfully quiet. "Teach them to value each day as though it were their last!"
Vinicus felt a faint, electrifying whoosh wash over him, like a wave of air that was not quite air. He smiled to himself, knowing that the 500 had sent his savior at last. He departed the temple in high spirits, and allowed himself to take things easy for the rest of that day. Starting tomorrow, his students will not take anything easy ever again!
He slept well that night. Then dawn came.
Today's afternoon lecture would be his finest yet, Vinicus thought smugly to himself as he took another fine walk to stretch his leg muscles and mental muscles alike. On his pride as a professor, he had always hoped he'd never need the 500 to intervene, but this year, his students were testing his patience more than ever! Something had to change around here! Yes, today was going to be very different!
Well, the local housecats sure didn't think so. The same tabby from yesterday tried once again to catch a songbird, and in the same spot, too. Better luck in another hunting ground, little kitty-cat!
At around the same time, those same two old men were arguing again in the shade of that charming cherry tree, gesturing angrily as older Trassians tended to do. Couldn't those old fools give it a rest? The people of Umbetti deserved some peace!
"I can do this, I swear!" a familiar voice said. Vinicus turned to see the robed Hira foolishly trying to show off her badly-learned magic at the local wizard school, waving her staff to impress her fire genasi friend.
"You're gonna blow yourself up, Hira," her friend said.
"Here I go! Fireball!" Hira declared, striking the cobblestone street with her staff. She yelped as a sudden, small fireball flung her off her feet as her friend laughed.
Vinicus was about to hurry over and help when Hira sprang to her feet, dusting herself off. "I'm all right! I'm all right!" Hira cried.
Vinicus stared. The exact same as yesterday! How could Hira not learn her lesson? So, Vinicus stomped right over and shook his head. "You really shouldn't keep practicing fireballs in the town streets," he told her. "It was bad enough you nearly blew yourself up yesterday! Give it a rest, for all our sakes."
Hira pouted. "That was the first time I tried a fireball in two months, Mr. Severni! I thought I'd get it right after studying the theory. Guess I was wrong."
Vinicus blinked. "Two months? You tried that stunt yesterday."
"Did not."
"Trust me, I'd have heard it all the way across town," Hira's friend put in. "It's okay, Mr. Severni. I'll help her pick a safer spell for next time."
"Please do. Good day," Vinicus said shortly, then resumed his walk. It seemed no one around here was learning their lesson! Well, his students probably would, at least, he thought as he retraced his steps from yesterday. Then he heard two young children laughing and giggling, as a young firbolg boy and girl ran across the street ahead of him, with their frazzled mother chasing after them, her skirt lifted just enough so she wouldn't trip. What the...
Even that emerald dragon from yesterday was around here too, drifting high overhead. This couldn't be right...
"Prof! I haven't started my essay yet," a student cried, raising his hand when the afternoon lecture started. "Will I get points off for that?"
Vinicus felt a chill. Impossible. Raendus wouldn't do that to fix the problem... would he...?
Nerissa raised her hand, too. "Professor Severni, may I leave the lecture a bit early today? I have to help my grandmother weed her garden."
Oh no -
Giotto raised his hand as well. "I was gonna work on my essay last night, but I forgot," he said. "Can I turn it in later?"
This couldn't be! Vinicus checked the classroom and noted the absence of a certain goliath jock. "Sh-should I presume... that Lucius won't be attending today's lecture?"
"He's doing strength training with his friends on the east side of town," Oriana explained. "I'll give him my notes later. Are we doing the lecture now?"
Vinicus clutched his face in horror. "The lecture's canceled for today!" he croaked. "Go home, everyone!"
"Woo hoo!" one of the worst procrastinators cheered, throwing up his fists as he left the classroom with his friends. "Hey, who wants to hit up the Prancing Beholder for a round of spice beer? I know I do!"
Vinicus merely watched them go, rooted to the spot, feeling like the entire universe was spinning wildly around him on some dreadful axis. An axis centered around his foolish self! But he had to be sure...
Yesterday (if that's what it was), Vinicus had stormed out of the university about ten minutes into the failed lecture, and he had seen and heard certain things as he went from the university to the Temple of the Twenty. So, Vinicus counted the time in his head, then exited the university at the right time and made his way to the Temple of the Twenty.
All along the way, it was all the same as before! Down to the last songbird tweet and the rustle of leaves!
"What is this? What have you done?" Vinicus cried breathlessly, once again clutching his face as he stood before the marble temple of Raendus. "I needed only to teach them the value of their days! Now we live yesterday once again?"
Raendus' statue said nothing.
Blast it all.
Vinicus trudged back out of the temple in a horrified daze, dreading what he would see and hear next in Umbetti's summertime streets. He had half a mind to tell his wife or even flee Umbetti, but he could do neither. He kept the topic off his tongue as he merely ate his dinner with his wife that evening, talking about anything but that. He went to bed, shivering and sweating despite the warm night, knowing what was coming.
The cat hunting the bird. Arguing old men. Hira's failed fireball. The frazzled mother, the dragon. All of it! The same!
This was no longer Vinicus' world. It was madness!
Then it all happened on the "fourth" day. And the fifth. And the sixth! By that point, Vinicus was fervently scouring Umbetti's familiar streets for any clue, any sign that Raendus would show mercy and take back the prayer. He had already tried and failed to implore Raendus for it to stop, and he even prayed to twelve other choice gods, including Amento, to escape this temporal cage. But it was all for naught.
By the tenth day, Vinicus was worn to a nub, resigned to his self-imposed cycle, noting the twisted irony that his time, above all, was being wasted this way. By day fifteen, he was trying to like it, amusing his neighbors by openly predicting everything that was happening. By day twenty, he was reciting people's words alongside them in real time, as though performing a play.
By day twenty-five, he'd had enough.
"I've had enough!" he shouted into the streets. "Let this end!"
Vinicus didn't expect much. But against all odds, he saw something new. Something wonderfully unfamiliar and fresh! He saw it at the corner of his eye, and whirled to feast his eyes on the welcome unknown. But it was gone.
No, it had to be there! Vinicus hurried over to the cottage where he saw that thing, only to find nothing. Then he saw it again, a few houses down the street! Vinicus pushed aside a strolling man in his haste to find the enigma, and this time, he caught a glimpse of... was that a man?
It was gone again. But then Vinicus saw it again further along the street, a figure in dark robes, standing near a street lamp. It whooshed away as Vinicus chased after it, and on and on it went, all while drawing nearer to the temple neighborhood. Vinicus followed the figure right into the Temple of the Twenty, frantically scanning the familiar crowd of worshipers, looking for it. Who was it? Who was his new tormentor, his last shred of hope?
Down there!
Vinicus spotted his new friend retreating down a flight of steps in a corner of the temple's vast room, where only staff was allowed to go. This was risky, but even if things went wrong, Vinicus would get a chance to try again! He covertly slipped down the stairs, throwing open the wooden doors to the torchlit underhalls. He saw no one as he jogged through this unfamiliar part of the temple, his heart racing, his mind whirling. Where... where...!
Then Vinicus saw the dark being phase through a closed door at the hall's end, to the right. Vinicus skidded to a halt, staring at the door. What awaited him on the other side? His doom? Oh, what else did he have to lose? Time itself was against him!
He wrenched the door open.
Then he felt himself dragged forth by a great force, into the great cosmic beyond. Or at least, that's what it looked and felt like!
All around Vinicus' floating body were thousands of stars glittering in multicolored nebulas, a cool, dry breeze rustling past him. A sizeable asteroid lazily floated in the void's center, upon which stood a most dreadful creature, a humanoid in dark robes, with a squid-like head. Vinicus had seen diagrams of such beings in the university library - a mind flayer! Was it the herald of his doom?
"Are you... here to kill me?" Vinicus asked faintly as he gravitated toward the asteroid. He landed on his feet and immediately knelt, pleading for his life.
"The gods do not demand your death," the mind flayer stated, its own voice overlapping with another, more divine-sounding voice. "I, Raendus, disapprove of your foolish actions. Thus, you were brought here for admonishment."
"I only wished to teach my students a valuable lesson!" Vinicus cried. "It breaks my heart to see their bright minds wasted on foolish procrastination and games! My students cannot waste their potential like this!"
"As their professor, it was your duty to teach them that," Raendus' mind flayer proxy scolded him. "Yet you implored Amento and myself for aid. You have the wisdom to educate Umbetti's youth! It was your own potential you wasted. Hence your punishment."
Vinicus looked up at the mind flayer proxy. "Punishment? For me? It is my students who need to learn a lesson!"
"The 500 aid those who cannot help themselves," Raendus' mind flayer told him. "We exist to reward the faithful in their time of need. A well-read man such as yourself couldn't be ignorant of that."
"Forgive me, O Raendus, but anyone in my position would find themselves at their wit's end trying to teach those students. What choice did I have?"
"Your wit's end?" the mind flayer shook its head. "You have not yet journeyed to the ends of mortal wit and cunning! The mind is a powerful thing. I know this. You know this."
"But why the time loops?" Vinicus asked desperately.
"With Amento's and my power combined, your students received all the time in the universe to change their ways. More importantly, so did you."
"I..."
"Twenty-five repeats of the same summer day, and you learned nothing, Vinicus delo Severni. What other scholars would not give for boundless time to study and think!"
That time loop was supposed to be a gift? And how was it Vinicus' fault that his students kept wasting their time?! Was Raendus pranking him? No, that couldn't be it...
"Will the time loop end?" Vinicus asked cautiously.
"So long as you embrace the lesson I teach you, Vinicus. The necessary change is within yourself. Your students do not need me. They need you."
"They don't listen."
"They will, if you have the right words."
"If such words exist on this continent!"
"They do. Find them."
There was no arguing with that, was there? Even the gods only had so much patience, and Vinicus felt fortunate that Raendus' mind flayer wasn't already gobbling up his oh-so-foolish brain for lunch. At the moment, Vinicus' mind was whirling with mingled shock, curiosity, and indignation. Surely he had the utmost need for divine aid in that battleground of a classroom! But after he took a few seconds to let Raendus' words sink in, he admitted that it made a certain sense.
"I was arrogant, wasn't I, invoking your aid?" Vinicus asked. He finally stood, facing the mind flayer proxy head-on. "And insulting myself as a professor."
"Foolish. But not beyond hope," the mind flayer agreed. "You claim yourself a master of wit and learning. Yet your frustration took command of you. That is a problem for the mortal realm, not for the divine."
At least half of the Trassian gods were dedicated to minor, niche topics such as kicking down doors, ill-fitted pants, dizziness, and most famously of all, rusty forks. But as one of the twenty major gods, Raendus would not forgive such frivolous use of the divine. Only now did Vinicus see it! Foolish indeed.
But not beyond hope!
"I will do what I must," Vinicus said, bowing his head in reverence as the mind flayer watched him with his dark eyes. "I only pray for guidance and strength to complete this task."
"That, you shall receive," Raendus' mind flayer said. It gestured with a hand. "Return now to your world. Embrace tomorrow."
"I shall!" Vinicus put a hand to his heart to pledge himself to the cause. Then, in a flash of light, he was back in the Temple of the Twenty's underhalls, where he nearly fell over from the sudden gravity. He wasted no time in returning to Umbetti's sunny streets, his mind steeled with resolve. He would find a way, as a mortal man and nothing more!
Then he remembered what his wife had suggested on the eve of the time loop. What were her exact words? Ab yes: "Perhaps you simply need a new way to communicate with them. They ought to listen! They have much to learn. But only if everyone makes an effort to understand each other more openly."
It was worth a try, and Vinicus almost felt embarrassed to think back on all the times he had snapped at Lucius, Oriana, and the others in his lecture hall. If Vinicus' own professors had spoken that way, Vinicus wouldn't have been too inclined to listen to them, either!
Why ask the gods for aid when you can ask the one who loves you most? A fine lesson for any marriage.