The whole series of events passed over Doraad like a whirlwind, from the arrival of the winged elf (An inconsequential rabble-rouser, he decided, if only because she didn't seem to be able to stick with a cause for more than a few moments.) to the bard entering the tent and emerging with a somewhat ostentatious sign depicting that this was the place for newcomers to gather, to said bard also magically lifting the sign above the pair.

Doraad let out a whistle conveying his being impressed. Not for the use of magic, since even among his otherwise martial focused people that was a cheap parlor trick compared to what a fully realized duur'kala could do. But getting the materials and making the poster in about as much time as it took to go through a practice exercise was fairly impressive...

Well, the first part of the first step of a series of exercises. Sometimes Doraad wished he'd received his elementary magic training under a human or gnome instead of an elf. He got the feeling they didn't make students spend 5 years practicing the basics behind a single cantrip, which his master complained even at swordpoint was still far too fast a pace for learning magic properly. But they also turned out to be useful for meditation. A good way to forget about work on a particular spell and just focus on the general nature of magic.

Doraad had tried to find out more about this particular aspect of the exercises in the past, but nothing had ever popped up concerning the subject. Given how he was trying to find the answer, it was either a fundamental principle of elven magic that went so far back in history that you'd have to ask Aeren herself how it worked or complete and utter bunk made to retroactively justify all the time he'd wasted. Probably one of those things better left unknown in either case.

He turned to Frances and said:

"Good job! Got any ideas for while we wait or is it back to magic practice while we wait for dormmates to show up?"

Last edited by Jossar (2/15/2018 8:57 pm)

To say that Doraad was undergoing a crisis of conscience over this turns of events would be a bit of an overstatement. No one back in Volaar Draal would have cared for good or ill about the money, but someone who was this much of an idiot to go walking around without some measure of tact would've been thrown face first into the depths of Khyber just on general principle. In Darguun, the halfling probably would have been robbed blind and that was if one of the goblins from the Five Nations got to him before the native Ghaal'dar did. So it wasn't as if it was a sense of morality was holding Doraad back from taking advantage of this offer...

Then why was he hesitating?

At once, the answer came to the hobgoblin: the environment. He'd already instinctively picked up on the fact that Sigil Prep was the kind of place where you had to try and find a group or clique to really succeed in the long term, in addition to your classes. Who knew how things would stand in a week or two if he tried to take advantage of this kid?

Also, he did need to be heading that way anyway. You'd have to be a real evil or patient son of a lich to intentionally mess over your own schedule for that kinda thing.

"Depends how you were expecting to get there exactly, but it's not that far away. Probably a lot less than 100 gold even if I was to cast a spell to get you there faster."

Anna will follow Nadia happily, eager for relief from the "daystar"

Y'know what? Good faith effort. Besides, unless you were from Aundair or something it's not like spellcasting was that cheap throughout the rest of the multiverse anyway? Doraad figured it was a good thing he'd been focusing on noncombat spells anyway, figuring that even the dumbest of hotheads wouldn't get into a fight on the first day.

"Sure, why not? Hey Frances, gonna need you to hold down the fort while I take this guy to the dorms. Not too much of a change of plans right?"

With a moderate amount of effort (moreso than it appears at first, since Doraad isn't quite as strong as he looks), the hobgoblin hoists up the halfling onto his shoulders. He pronounces a word and makes a slight gesture and then proceeds to bolt off towards Azer Dorm at supergoblin speeds.

(x1 cast of Expeditious Retreat.)

DM Swift wrote:

(Note to RdMarquis: Could you post a link to your character, or at least a"Hi, my name is" in the Registration thread?)
A young boy in very simple clothes with a simple walking stick wander past Simon and his friend as they talk. A fat, sloppy orc walks by with some pizza boxes and hands them to the kid. "I gotta get back to th' restaurant before them idiots ruin it. Take these."
Immediately the boy shrieks and virtually tosses the boxes to Simon. "I can't own these!"

(Sorry. Forgot about that.)

Simon is barely phased, at first. It wasn't the first time someone had thrown something at him. It wasn't even the first "something possibly dangerous in a box". The contents smelled like food, though. He moves up the line to the registration tent. "Hi. My name is Simon Rigel. Can I get some help? I might need something to dump these into."