Witches and Demons [Players Wanted] (http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=94252.new#new)<br/>Witches and Demons [OOC] (http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=94372.new#new)<br/>Witches and Demons [Characters and Rules] (http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=94371.new#new)<br/><strong>Witches and Demons [IC] - The Wizard Tower</strong><br/>Witches and Demons [IC] - The streets of Lakeshire (http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=95356.new#new)<br/>Witches and Demons [IC] - What lies below (http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=99348.new#new)<br/>Witches and Demons [IC] - The western forest (http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=96539.new#new)<br/><br/><hr/><div align="center"><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;"><em>The Wizard Tower</em></span></span></div><hr/><br/>Despite the rain clashing down on his head, Drackson left his hood hanging down his shoulders as big steps hurried him over the muddy road towards the council's tower. Thick, gray clouds covered the night sky, hurling the town in darkness, except when every few minutes the flash of lighting briefly illuminated the town, followed by the rolling thunder only a second or two after. Most citizens were in home, lying in their beds, sleeping if the thunder didn't keep them awake. Oil lamps ahead and on the roads and alleys besides him informed him of the location of some of his men, patrolling the city while they kept their eyes open for those ghastly appearances that everyone seemed to be talking nowadays.<br/><br/>As he arrived at the council's tower, a tower that was about thirty feet in diameter and a good fifty feet high, directly connected to a large mansion, his fist bashed several times on the thick, ironclad door. He never liked having to do this. Not because of the wizards themselves. Nazhun was a good friend of him, and he never had any problems with any of the other wizards. It was because whenever he came here to bash on their door, he was asking for their help, which basically meant that the captain was saying he couldn't deal with the situation himself. However, given the situation, he saw no option but to put his own pride aside and see if the wizard could help him out another time.<br/><br/><hr/><br/>Nazhun was not surprised to see Drackson's face as the door slowly opened. It was the only man the wizard could imagine knocking on his door in the middle of the night. Knowing the man must have had a good reason to have done so, the man, frail from old age, turned around and headed inside. "I beg you welcome in my humble home." the wizard told the soldier, even as he walked through the hallway towards the large living room located in the adjacent mansion, his bent back towards the soldier. "What requires my attention on this forsaken hour?"<br/><br/>The captain of the guard took no offense and stepped inside, throwing the heavy door shut directly behind him. For a moment he wondered how the frail old man he saw shoving forward in front of him, barely able to stand without his quarterstaff, had managed to pull that door open. He shook his head, which shook droplets of rainwater out of his hair in all directions. This was after all a wizard he was dealing with. More water dripped down from his soaked clothes as he followed after the magus, occasionally glancing at all the weird objects that were scattered around the hallway and living room's ample amount of cabinets and shelves, ranging from books and potions to skulls, weird plants in pots and a wide variety of small critters locked in cages or jars.<br/><br/>"We're fighting a losing battle here, Nazhun!" Drackson got right to the point, waiving all formalities. "While more and more monsters appear on our doorsteps, the numbers of my men recede every day. This afternoon, we lost the Blacksteed farm to the barbarians, and another half dozen of my men in their defense." Drackson had to swallow once before continuing on. Some good friends and fine men had died this day. "We can't cope with it ourselves anymore, we need the wizards, and if the council has become too weak, then we'll have to rely on your apprentices. You've been training them for two years already."<br/><br/>The old man shook his head as he sank down in his chair, knewing that this conversation had to come around one of these days. "Drackson, I've already explained to you, and I will do again, with no offense intended whatsoever. They are not ready! I've only begun to explain them the possibilities and requirements of using nature's raw magic. I haven't even started on training them how to tap into the power. Wielding magic is not the same as swinging a sword. It will take decades before they are ready."<br/><br/>"We don't have decades!" Drackson yelled back. Surprised by his own raise of voice, he continued in a calmer tone. "Sorry, my friend, I did not mean to get angry at you. Yet, the situation is clear. Without any help, we shall fail. And you will not have the decades to train your apprentices as the city will fall within the year." Drackson looked down at the man, appearing ever so frail as he sat there in the large chair. The guardsman himself remained on his legs, close to the door that led him into this room. He regretted to push his problems on the shoulders of others, but this time, he saw no other option.<br/><br/>Nazhun let out a sigh, as he thought of his options, or rather, his single option. The girls had quite a bit of training. They understood the basics of magic and even knew in theory of the ways to wield the power of magic into the effects that they sought. It was accessing the source of their power that they lacked most, and which would have taken the most of their training. To bring forth the magic energy by your own power was an insanely complex task, and when done ever so slightly wrong, could result in one's own death or even worse. There was however a single option to bypass this problem, and all but a few years of required study, and that was tapping into the energy of another creature, rather than having to bring forth your own power. There was only one type of creature that could provide someone with power in this way.<br/><br/>The arcanist shook his head. This decision was so in sheer contrast with his own beliefs and teachings that he couldn't really imagine taking it. But Drackson was right, they had no other option. He let out a sigh, before looking up at the captain, who was almost spooked by the look on the magus' face. "Fine..." he eventually stammered. "I'll see what I can do." Drackson had the feeling Nazhun was aging by the second when the old man slowly rose again from his chair and turned to address the armored man: "Have my apprentices brought here, and let them wait here until they are called for. Have everyone else, including your own men, leave the building the moment you can. And pray, pray that this is indeed the right decision to take!"<br/><br/>[Drackson leaves towards the streets of Lakeshire (http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=95356#msg4147268)]