Serzajes the Delver of the Planes

Role

Chapter 3

The din of the public house faded into the background as the old man subtly
motion for Serzajes to sit at a table far from him. Focusing their attention,
and whispering the words, the two men cast what seemed to be the same spell.
Only someone watching both of them the entire time would have noticed
anything odd, as the two never maintained eye contact. The old man muttered
quietly to himself, not uncommon for as impoverished and senile as he
appeared. As expected, Serzajes began to hear his voice, without even looking
at him directly. The sound was quiet and garbled at first, but grew more and
more clear as the minutes went on. As he tested this connection, his face lit
up for a moment upon realizing that the old man could hear him as well.

"This will not last long, so I must be brief," the voice drifted cleanly
through the chaotic pub, "your uncle was a student of mine. You probably knew
a much different side of him, but he was researching something with me, and
we were not careful."

"What does this have to do with how he died?" Serzajes barely knew better
than to share his suspicions, and felt wiser for keeping a few cards in his
proverbial hand. Quickly glancing towards his informant, he watched as he let
out a deliberated sigh.

"It would be a disservice to your uncle to fill your head with dangerous
ideas, or feed your ego some half-truths to quest for. If you're anything
like him, it will be your downfall."

At this point the act of innocence was backfiring. "I know more than you
think," the petulant words blurted out before Serzajes even realized what he
was doing. The boy would earn his demeaning monicker afterall. The old man
looked directly at him, apparently startled by the outburst. Serzajes
regained his calm. "I know he didn't kill himself. So someone did. What was
he getting into with you?"

"Is that what they told you?", the man groaned and rubbed his drooping eyes.
"It was an artifact of great evil. We heard rumors that the Cult of the
Scarab was looking for it, and we were trying to find it before they did. I
don't know who killed him, but that would be my guess."

"What did you want with such a thing?"

"It is complicated to explain, but it was important to our research. We had a
similar artifact of a holy power, and it was important to have --", a shrill
ringing sound deafened both of the men as a plate of empty glasses shattered
on the ground. It began to echo between the two channels, causing the two to
cringe in pain for a few moments. A hooded man stood up, startled by the
commotion, and darted out of the building.

Everyone in the house stopped talking, staring at the two strangers. Serzajes
ran after the hood to get a better look, but lost track of him. When he went
back inside, people still staring, the old man was gone.

Role

Chapter 2

The conjuration guilds throughout Thera are dominated by a culture of
secrecy. So much so that knowledge itself is a currency far greater than the
Sultan's gold. Early on, Serzajes observed that most of his seniors were
making easy mistakes that though taught and warned, it had been quickly
forgotten. Just as his uncle's warnings would have predicted, these careless
ones were adherents to one severe ideology or another. You have your lovers
of Order, who, everything in its place forget that it is not the perfect form
and alignment of symbols in the circle which contains the unbound creatures,
but its combination with the presence and magnetism of the summoner. Although
not necessarily worse off, the chaos mages in this guild put their complete
stock in fate and the strength of their own will to subdue an agressive
servitor. Such students will surely live a short, but exciting life.

These thoughts began to coalesce as he walked through the foyer of the Hamsah
Mu'tazz guild, observing the students and studying the artwork in silent
reflection.

"You are the el-Ermes boy, aren't you?" Serzajes spun around, too surpised to
be offended by the term 'boy'. The elder man turned away from the same mural
that Serzajes had been studying for the past twenty minutes. He nodded curtly
in greeting.

"I am, do you know my parents? How did ...", Serzajes was interrupted.

"Your uncle was a good man," Serzajes' face paled, the emphasis of the man's
words suggested more than a mere condolence. The man began walking towards
the entrance, past Serzajes.

As he moved by, he leaned in to whipser, "I've been meaning to speak with
you. Meet me at the Drunken Efreeti after sundown," and walked off.

Role

Chapter 1

I felt apprehensive, but I wasn't sure if it was because I was somewhere I
shouldn't be, or because I was afraid of what I might find. My uncle died
recently. They say it was suicide, but I know he had very strong feelings
against this. I've come to his room in our attic to see what I can find. He
and my mother, his sister, had been arguing a lot the past few days. They keep
their words hushed, but all I could gather is that he was under some kind of
investigation from the Sultan. Something about his.. practice, but he only had
a small store selling useless trinkets. What could possibly be wrong with
that? We had always been close, and he certainly has an eccentric manner.
He was prone to waxing on about fanciful tales that lie somewhere between
fiction and pure, but real, magic. Perhaps it was this that angered someone
powerful in this city.

As I carefully rummaged through papers, mostly uninteresting financial
documents, I noticed a loose board towards the corner of the wall. I finally
braved sticking my hand inside the hollow, but there was nothing there.
However, on the underside of the board was the very distinct sigil of the
Guild of Conjuration. I knew a little about their ways, but I also knew how
dangerous and illegal they were.

My parents are moving the family west in three days. We are resettling in
Galadon, supposedly to distance ourselves from the memory of my uncle. No one
in my family will speak of him, but maybe the guild has some answers.

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