Chapter 1

The classroom was silent, the only sound the faint creaking of the door. I stepped over to the podium and looked down at the audience. The room was capable of holding over sixty people, but only twelve of the seats were occupied. Nine young girls, of which three possessed pointed ears and other visible signs of elven blood, and three boys, the slanted eyes and somewhat yellowish complexion of one of them indicative of his origin in the far south-east, all quiet and somber, all clean and clad in simple dark robes and soft leather shoes.

“Well met, fellow aspirants to-be. I am Loric Sunstar, or at least that is the name I adopted after arriving here, the Scepter Tower of Tanelorn. Like you, and unlike many other aspirants, I was directly summoned here by the wishcraft of the Lord of the Scepters, selected due to our inborn talent for arcane magic. I grew up on a farm in Cormyr, so I can assure you that this was probably almost as much of a shock to me as it is now to you.

“It is traditional that one of the summoned aspirants who will soon rise to being a Scepter provide you with this first introductory lecture. I hope that many of you will have the chance to do so. But first, how old to you think I am? Come on, you, just guess,” I pointed at one of the elfin girls, notable for her bronzed skin and golden hair, thus clearly of sun-elf blood. The other two were very pale, with blue-tinged black hair, of moon-elven descent.

“Ah, maybe twenty something?” she responded after a moment of hesitation.

“No, I am in fact fourteen, and I arrived here a mere six years ago. And I am not necessarily exceptional, three of those who arrived with me are already scepters. You see, one of the advantages aspirants have are access to the resources of the Towers, which include a number of rituals. Just about all scepters go through a minimum of three as soon as they are able to afford them, and I went through the Mind-Body Optimization ritual a few months ago. This particular ritual dredges the potential of your body, mind and soul, making you stronger, faster and healthier both physically and mentally. I was over a head shorter, I assure you,” I smiled at their facial contortions, they were too obvious in their expressions of disbelief.

“The other two rituals are draconic empowerment, and one that is still secret from me. Knowledge access is based on status, which is merit-based. Meaning, based on your skills and contributions. Now let me explain about how you can afford such things, as the economy of the Towers is of vital importance to you, if you choose to stay. And yes, it is very much your choice, until you take the oath. I suppose I should leave economy for later, and explain your choices first.

“You see, you were summoned here due to your innate potential, your intellect and aptitude for magic, but potential is easily wasted. It is your hard work and dedication in the next five to ten years that will determine your future. You have two years to achieve the very basics of wizardry, with excellent teachers and an expansive library. With the abilities of those summoned, the most anyone ever took was eight months, so it is not a difficult task. I managed it in four, and I was fifth in our group.

“Then you get your choice, whether to swear service and loyalty to the Lord of the Scepters and embark upon the path of the Aspirant, or make your own way. You’ll have plenty of time to understand what you stand to gain and what would be required of you should you make the oath, which can only be taken willingly and with such understanding. Should you choose to leave, as a beginning wizard with great potential you’ll have plenty of places to go, from the church of Mystra to royal or commercial service, or whatever you wish and are capable of. You wouldn’t be sent off empty handed, or so I was informed six years ago and now impart to you.

“Taking the oath grants you the status of aspirant, and two magical items. A tower ring, which initially has three functions. Initially, because it can be upgraded, as well as an aspirant robe. I won’t detail powers and such, as it’s all written down in your introductory pamphlet. If you can’t read, that’s the first thing you’ll be taught via a memory implanting ritual, the language, reading and writing. No, it isn’t painful,” I addressed the almost panicked look of one of the girls, “you’ll have a bit of a headache the next day, but the knowledge is smoothly and easily integrated. I’m speaking from personal experience and that of others, so there’s no need to worry. You won’t be deliberately placed in danger unilaterally. That is to say, without your approval.

“The duty of an aspirant is to learn and improve. I wish I could say that it was confined to learning magic, but much more is expected of the scepters we aspire to become. The basic duty of the scepters is to ensure our survival by eradicating threats to our way of life, be they demons, undead, priests of doom or simple bandits and monsters. All who would prey on us and our works. Accordingly, scepters are battle wizards first and foremost, and the circumstances of battle don’t always allow for magic. Be it a beholder’s central eye, a ray of antimagic or a dark monk squeezing the life out of you, you need to learn how to handle yourselves in a fight, which requires much more than just magic. A weaker and ill-educated wizard with great battle experience can frequently slay a more powerful and better equipped wizard by dint of that experience.

“Three days every tenday, you’ll have four hours or so of battle training. Weapons, unarmed combat and actual battle practice in a special battle arena, against summoned monsters and such. It’s not as dangerous as it sounds, your lives are important so the risk is very low, and frankly it can be a lot of fun once you get used to it. It also means that scepters are not as vulnerable to those who use typical tactics against wizards, and our bodies are not weak. Strong bodies make for a stronger spirit and mind. It’s hard work, but it makes us more than we would otherwise be. Scepters are wizards, and thus expected to be polymaths. That is to say, to be knowledgeable and well-versed in several fields, from healing and the human body to planar lore, botany and arcana. The bedrock of a wizard’s power is knowledge.

“Besides that, each of us studies a craft of our choice. The most popular presently are jewelcraft, my personal choice and that of the lord himself, tailoring and alchemy. The first two are popular since crafting mastery works splendidly with the study of enchantment, a master craftsman who is also a wizard is capable of making an enchanted item from raw ingredient faster and more cheaply than an enchanter who works on an existing master-crafted item. It is generally well-known that the Towers hold mines in the elemental plane of Earth, so gems and precious metals are easily available, and many items can be crafted as jewelry, including wands, scepters and even belts. See mine, for example,” I pointed down to my thick platinum wire and sapphire belt.

“Tailoring is obvious enough, and alchemy is potions and elixirs. The Towers own a number of alchemical manufactories for more common stuff, though we cannot compete with the College of Alchemy, but if you invent something worthy of being made in large quantities, you’ll quickly become rich. There’s also clockwork for machine-crafting, carpentry, painting and other arts, there are few restrictions, and many fields to assay. Let me segue a moment back to the matter of Tower monetary exchange, before returning to you choices.

“As apprentices, you cannot ordinarily become part of the economy, but understanding it is vital to your future. There are two forms of currency in the Towers, the common one of cold metal coin, held in common with the kingdom and much of the world, and the other, generally more important to us prospective scepters, contribution points, which cannot ordinarily be traded, only used. When we produce a magical item, we draw upon Tower materials by means of either currency, of which you will initially have a certain amount of contribution points based on how quickly you graduate from apprentice to aspirant. We can do three things with such items. First, keep them for ourselves. Second, trade them to others, aspirants or scepters, for other items we cannot make ourselves or for coin. Not for contribution points. Third, we can submit them to the Tower for sale or use, and receive a tenth of its worth in coin, and a certain amount of contribution points.

“There are many other ways of receiving contribution points, through personal achievements in learning and improving ourselves, and through services we provide to the Tower. For service example, taking care of magical beasts or plants useful for enchantment or alchemy. Assisting a lecturer, lecturing or tutoring, helping with a ritual, doing research or administrative work, and many other means, which are listed in Mission Hall. Contribution points can be used to pay tutors, resources, magical items, specialized knowledge and more. I’d recommend that you reserve and use them for those things you cannot ordinarily buy with coin, such as the special rituals reserved solely for aspirants and scepters, access to restricted knowledge and tomes and tutors for special casting techniques and deeper specializations.

“As for achievement, we are periodically assessed, and improving our knowledge and abilities grant us benefits, sometimes impressive benefits if you show staggering advancement. As for the specifics, the Lord of the Scepters granted the Towers means to quantify our abilities. Let me show you mine and explain what it means. Such is recorded in the ring you will receive.”

I raised my arms and cast the spell theatrically, an illusion of the status encoded (other than a detailed list of the elixirs, scrolls and wands I owned) in my Scepter Tower ring appearing in mid-air, writ large.

Loric Sunstar Male Human, Age 14, Height 1.82m, Weight 76kg Void Wizard 8 | Sage Sorcerer 1/Ultimate Magus 5 Spell Specialization: Abjuration (counterspelling, dispelling), Divination (mind probe, combat insight, danger sense), Enchantment (sleep), Evocation (force, elemental) Spell Techniques: Mobile Spellcasting, Flight Spellcasting, Mounted Spellcasting, Extend Spell, Potent Spell, Finesse Casting, Material Compensation, Fine Control, Double Cast, Penetrating Spell, Pattern Reading, Lingering Spell Combat Techniques: Staff Adept, Dagger Proficiency, Crossbow Mastery, Rapid Reload, Deadly Aim, Unarmed Proficiency, Combat Reflexes, Battle Awareness, Dodge Adept, Power Strike, Arcane Strike Special: Arcane Prodigy, Reveal Weakness, Void Awareness 3, Arcane Spellpower 2, Augmented Casting 2, Expanded Spell Knowledge 2, Shatter Resistance, Body and Mind Optimization, Iron Will, Insight Aura Weakness: Elemental Skill (earth) Skills: Master Jeweler, Jewel Enchantment, Knowledge Adept, Alchemy Proficiency, Perception Adept, Proficient Healer Contingency: Tower Recall (gem-link) Str 15, Dex 22 (+4), Con 20 (+4), Int 29 (+4), Wis 16, Cha 14 Gear: Scepter Tower Ring (upgrades: improved sustenance, aerial agility), Circlet of Intellect 4, Agile Belt of Vigor 4 of Many Pockets, Flight Focus Bracelet, Ring of Defense, Armor Focus Bracers, Adamantine Dagger of Sharpness, Channeling Staff of Striking, 2 Mithral Flying Daggers, Improved Bracelet of Health, Scroll Vest, Battle Wands, Aspirant Robes, Eyes of the Void

“Name, age, weight and height are self-explanatory. The next is very important, detailing the basics of my power. Void is a wizardry tradition originally taught by the lord himself, it is an esoteric element, and the most popular specialization among the wizards of the Towers.

“Let me first explain the nature of magic as we understand it, note that this is the bare basics. The actual source of magic is unknown, and we spellcasters draw on its power through the magical weave that is Mystra, the goddess of magic, who serves both as an intermediary between raw power and us, and as a limiter preventing mortals from becoming too powerful. Read up later on the fall of the empire of Netheril to understand.

“How is magic accessed, and what form does it take? Priests receive their gods’ divine power through the weave. Wizards and sorcerers use their souls to contain energy patterns that interact with and through the weave to create the variety of effects we call magic. We carve spells using a special rune-language in our soul space. Wizards redraw the spells they use, by means of formulae written in spell-books, while sorcerers have a limited number of spells they can use until exhaustion of their energy, their soul space mostly similar in size. They do this drawing upon an inherent bloodline of magical or eldritch beings, or certain spiritual awakenings. That is the basics of it, the practice is much more difficult. There are an unknown number of other traditions, ways and means to manifest arcane and divine power, as there are few limits to the mystery that is magic.