<div align="center">(http://i.imgur.com/mrwCfuk.jpg)</div><br/>Zelara's Character Sheet (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=650386)<br/><br/>Undrek'Thoz.  If one asks a drow of the city, they'd say that their settlement spans over a thousand miles, and in a way this answer is true and at the same time false.  It is not one city, but ten, all lairing beneath the surface of Thay.  All of them connected together by a network of magical portals under a mutual defense pact.<br/><br/>The Eightfold Academy shelters itself amid the homes of the workers, artisans, and warriors of Undrek'Thoz.  Too proud to be anywhere near the Ward of Slaves nor too close to the noble houses to be at their mercy, this school churns out the next generation of Lolth's favored to enact her will in the world.  True to its name eight towers surround a central pillar, all connected by bridges of enchanted web.  A series of stone steps led up from the Crafter's Ward see witness to many young elven ladies pressed by their mothers into learning spellcraft, warfare, poison, and darker arts.<br/><br/>Zelara was one of these women, and although the odd charms and earth nodes were not unknown in the city, her innate highborn magical powers detected strong traces of all eight schools of magic (described by mages as "the Eight Legs of Lolth").  She was on her own, for not even the nobles traveled together.  There were many already here.<br/><br/>Some were clad in mithril chain accustomed for battle, (http://i.imgur.com/vHtTDTO.jpg?1) some were astride cave lizard mounts (http://i.imgur.com/gIommQY.png?1) carrying packs of belongings...<br/><br/>...and some were already assaulting each other with grapples.<br/><br/>(http://i.imgur.com/NmQMkm8.jpg?1)<br/><br/>"Dammit, Rizzid!" the receptive drow exclaimed as her book dropped to the ground.  Her hands were already readied for a spell, and the bespectacled one disengaged as she hopped away from her now-icy fingers.<br/><br/>"Hmmm, no trace of<em>mage armor</em>or deflecting spells," she mocked.  "Lenora, Lenora, when will you learn?"<br/><br/>"Much, now that I'm here," Lenora replied, picking up her spellbook with a<em>mage hand.</em>"And enough to enact a most proper revenge."<br/><br/>Rizzid laughed as she drifted away.  Already many drow, both newcomers and veterans of the Academy, were interacting and sizing each other up, although there was a visible tenseness in the air; none of it felt casual or carefree, even if it seemed so on the surface.  Darting eyes were picking up telltale gestures and cues: who can speak Drow Sign Language, who was casting self-spells and what tradition they followed by the auras and components, who was a divine spellcaster, who was highborn, who was a first-year and who was established.<br/><br/>Except for Lenora and Rizzid.  They both circled around Zelara, although their eyes betrayed pure curiosity instead of fear or anxiety.<br/><br/>A finger poked Zelara in the butt. (https://elliquiy.com/forums/dicebot.php?r=83187)  "Hmmm, the faint trace of a hard surface not bourne of a deflecting ring nor a hardening amulet," Rizzid said.  "Oh, you're wearing Bracers, right?  Did you craft that yourself?"<br/><br/>Lenora froze on the spot, worried at whatever fate may befall her 'friend.'<br/><br/>"I'm Rizzid, first-year.  Lenora too!"<br/><br/>Lenora seemed to almost shrink into the ground.  Metaphorically speaking.