Exam: Chamber 2 (RP)

Walking through the door in the force-field (how do they even do that?) you find...

... a crisp cool breeze on your face that makes your cheeks grow pink (for those of you with that ability). There is snow on the distant mountains surrounding the tree-lined glade.

Off behind you and to one side you see five people seated at a gingham covered table. They are each holding up a card to the rather large group of spectators who make appreciative noise. (Did you know you would be watched by the public? Does finding them here, so close and in such numbers, result in any stage-fright or anxiety?) Not bothering to show you what is on them they return their cards to the stacks in front of them, but you catch a glimpse of one and it appears to be a single large red letter or number.

Over the noise of the crowd cheering (at least they seem happy) you hear one of the judges say to her neighbour: "Not a very impressive spread." and the reply: "Yes. Too much garnish, not enough substance." But they have not told you to stop and seem content to let you continue.

---

The clearing you are in is surrounded by trees, but you have no indication as to what you need to do. Do you need to stay within sight of the audience (you have heard a 'tournament of three wizards' that had an underwater challenge and a challenge inside a maze, where the audience just waited outside, unable to see anything that was going on, surely no one would actually arrange a thing like that?).

What do you think you need to do?
What do you do?

- Abby -

The trees and grass are real... or mostly... some of them...

The mountains and the fresh cool breeze is not, you get the impression those are there to provide air-conditioning for the spectators.

There are large and small stones scattered every few meters around the area, some flush with the ground, some ankle or knee height, some shoulder or head height and some twice that. There is little more 'really nature' than 'stones', but something about these makes your nature senses... sad? You will have to get right up close to them to be able to tell which are suspect though.

What do you do?

- Hooligander -

After a few paces --less than half-way to the nearest suspect-rock-- something in the grass snags your foot and you hear a sound like a guitar string being stretched followed by a snap followed by a rumbling sound followed by the ground beneath your feet falling away, as you look down and see the gaping maw of a pit, a dull red glow emanating from inside.

Your stomach lurches as you begin to fall.

What do you do?

The judges look mildly impressed, and fortunately do not notice when one small boy in the audience protests: "But that big lady just picked him up! I want to see magic!"

- Ari -

The boy whoops in delight and starts to eat the snow. There is a general muttering of approval from the audience. The danger now is that you might have turned this into an interactive experience. Too many 'stage magician tricks' and you may blow your cover, so an attentive audience is an extra risk you need to balance. At least they are on you side.

- Abigail -

Mechanical as it is, your bird-spirit lacks the Wizard senses to pierce the illusions hiding the traps. The mountains are obviously fake to it, but everything else seems real and safe.

It seems it takes magic (of some sort) to locate these traps, unless you can use your familiars eyes and channel your magic through it, you will have to go there yourself and check.

What do you do?

- Abigail -

For now the common trope of Wizards seeing through their Familiar's eye disguises your use of Druidic power.

Your familiar is able to plot a route, through the many traps in the grass, up to the closest rock. The rock is probably large enough for two or three of you to stand on and you can't see any way for there to be traps set on the smooth surface on top.

You would need to get close to be sure it is a real rock and not some sort of sad illusion, though.

What do you do?

The closest rock shakes and shifts slightly towards Hooligander's ankles --possibly causing him to have to jump and avoid it. the near end dips as it reveals another pit below it.

Heavy as this rock appears you would guess that it would have protected you from the pit if any of you had stood upon it. Now, canted over and perched on three sides, it might not be as stable anymore.

The next circle of rocks behaved interestingly, though: One of them shook and shifted a little when the shock-wave passed, but the other three seemed to let it pass without effect and someone watching carefully might have seen dirt, dust and glitter pass right through them.

If the rocks are your safe path, this earthquake has revealed your next step. It is a bit of a jump (hard for some of the more nerdy members, trivial for the more buff) to the next rock if you wish to avoid the probably-trapped ground in between. The first rock is a little above ankle-height, the next more like knee-height, it would have been a tad easier to make the jump from rock to rock, but that might not be true anymore. Later rocks are significantly higher, so this may be more of a factor as the (unknown) game progresses.

What do you do?

- Abby and Ari -

You feel the ground around you start to crumble as you land in the grass. The safe stone is close enough that you can hop onto it if you want.

What do you do?

How do the rest of you get across?

Everyone makes it across this trapped ground to the safety of the elevated rock and you can take another look around.

The mountains are no closer --thought that is to be expected-- but the audience and the judges are also no further away, you did not see them move, but their pavilion and table might now be in a different place, or on different ground. It appears they will follow you.

There are trees off to one side, and open plain covered with protruding fingers of rock to the other.

Aside from that, it is still not clear what you are expected to do. Maybe working out the task is part of the task? It was last time. You have a moment to talk and strategise amongst yourselves and plan your next move.

What do you do?

- Abby -

The judges and the audience seem to be quite real to both your druid and vampire sense. You can hear and smell the 'juices' slashing around inside them in much more detail that would be needed for an illusion.

They gasp as you 'almost fall from the rock' to the dangerous ground below.

What do you do?

The judges look down, scribble something on their notepads, then look back at the contestants expectantly.

- Alakassandra -

The judges nod approval of your use of magic, and jot down a note on their pads. One of can be seen mouthing 'rock missile spell?' to her colleague, but they shrug and accept it for now.

As your missile strikes the fingers and one of them folds back and down there is a rumble from deep below ground. That definitely did something... but whether good or bad you can not tell.

Your boots start to smoke from where you are standing on the unsafe ground. Was this bit safe before, is it getting worse?

What do you do?

- Hooligander -

"He put a boxing glove on Mage Hand?" One of the judges asks their neighbor. "Yes. That's unconventional." "Someone to watch I wager." They return to their notes without comment to you.

The gloved mage hand shoots out and smacks dab into the top center of the finger tipping it over with a whooomp.

There are three fingers standing, and a 50/50 chance of a slightly rude sign next round followed by a 50/50 chance of a very rude sign the round after...

What do you do?

- Abigail -

You suspect that you also have to move people over to the next stone where Ari is.

Most of the stones are not large enough for everyone to stand on at one time, so you can decide if you want to be among the first to hop over there --and how, but that one seems fairly close. Then someone will have to find and move to the next-next one before the others can come over.

What do you do?

"Was that from Harry Potter?" One of the judges asks another. They are watching closely for any more non-Wizard shenanigans.

- Alakassandra -

That stepping stone was nearly as tall as some of your party members, and --like most stones-- made of stone. The next ones are even taller. That one you just threw may be the last one that you could conceivably get a grip on, let alone throw through the air.

It sails though the air --with appreciative oohs and aahs from the audience and judges alike-- and strikes a finger. The ground beneath your feet grinds and groans again, whatever is going to happen is about to happen.

Separate from that: The grass stalks on the ground you are standing on start to wind themselves around you feet. You probably have moments to get to a safe rock... but there is no space on the next rock along where your companions are [ref].

What do you do?

There are only two fingers remaining upright. As you moved the ones you have moved you all felt the arena react. This is definitely doing something, hopefully it is what you want.

---

You are all crammed onto a stepping stone that is not actually large enough for the whole party [ref]. There is danger of someone falling off onto the ground that seems intent on eating you.

You don't yet know which of the 'next' stones is real, and Alakassandra has burned your bridges... um, removed the known-safe stepping stones from behind you.

What do you do?

- Alakassandra -

The judges nod approvingly. In their view, that is Definitely Wizard's magic and they can all understand what you are doing.

You have bought yourself a few moments while the others make a plan and make space.

- Ari -

Your handfulls of goop pass through first few stones you throw them at, but then --fortunately before you run out-- splat into the top of one that is real. Hopefully it does not leave the surface too slippery when people jump to it.

That stone is chest-height, but only wide enough for one person at a time, or maybe two if they are prepared to be rather intimate. If the ground weren't shaking so, you may have been able to try balance one or two more on it.

The air around you also crackles with pent up energy and you will need to release it before you can attempt any more Wizard spells.

What do you do?

- Abigail -

Your familiar passed right through the first stone you try and is briefly engulfed by the something below it.. possibly the earth? It is hard to tell as your view is blocked by the stone-illusion.

It is not lost forever, but you will need to do something to free and retrieve it.

What do you do?

- Hooligander -

Do you need any help getting across the gap to the next stone? Maybe Ari can help? Do you use magic?

- Abigail -

It could have been worse. You can still sense your familiar in there, panicked but mostly-unharmed. Whatever is in that trap is clearly more risky than the ones that just hurt you or make your boots smoke, it seems to completely cancel out your spell and nothing happens.

What do you do?

- Ari -

With a pop the familiar is sucked though the 'hat' and flutter over to Abigail, the build-up of energy around you rushes out in the other direction.

The audience is enthused by your showmanship --though some look askance at the 'disappointing rabbit'-- but the judges are more critical of how much this looked like the wrong sort of magic.

What do you do?

- Ari and Hooligander -

The stone you stand on is still slippery from the testing-goop, it is also high enough that falling could cause injury even if the ground does not try to eat you.

If you huddle together on the non-gooped edge you should be able to avoid slipping, but you will definitely be right up in each other's space.

What do you do?

Alakassandra is on the dangerous ground, the shield Spell will not last much longer. Abigail is on the rock recently vacated by Ari and Hooligander, within jumping distance of those two, but also withing jumping distance of a few other, untested, stepping stones. There is room on Abigail's pillar.

Ari and Hooligander are the closest to the two remaining erect stone fingers. Closing them has definitely had some effect on the arena, but you still don't know if that is a positive or negative one.

Which fingers remain?

What do you do?

There is a creaking and ticking sound from the 'dud' thunderstone as it rolls off the stone pillar, then it detonates with huge explosion. Ari is thrown high up into the air, clothing singed and footwear smoking, and arcs towards the remaining fingers.

Hooligander's position is obscured by clouds of blue smoke, but little granite chips rain down on Alakassandra and Abigail.

"Ooh! That is unfortunate." A judge says. "Don't play with magic you are not ready for, folks." He seems to be trying to turn this into a PSA, but the other judges look visibly rattled by the events.

- Ari -

As you arc down towards the fingers --your Slowish Fall keeping you aloft for a long time, at this height, and giving you time to study things-- you see the hand the fingers are attached to move, the closed fingers snap back out, and you get the distinct impression of a hand about to swat a fly... and you are that 'fly'.

What do you do?

- Ari -

The stone hand darts out but misses you as it swipes at one of your mirage forms. You are still descending in your leisurely arc and have nothing to push off of to divert your direction of travel.

Your current trajectory will put you right on the fingers, but landing there will probably be risky. The ground around the hand --where it was not all torn up when the hand emerged from the soil-- is probably trapped like the rest, but there are stone pillars --these ones taller than your head-- dotted around it, surely some of them should be safe.

What do you do?

Everyone sees Ari blur into many Aris and doge the hand's attack. It appears, though, that they are still heading towards the fingers and may need help diverting to a safer landing spot.

What do you do?

- Ari -

As you prepare to jump from the finger, the hand makes a grab for you. Fortunately the other finger that tries to pinch you is covered with goop and slips off, only knocking the wind from you a little bit (and smearing you clothes with said goop).

You are able to leap to a nearby pillar, still falling slightly slowish but speeding up as that spell wears off. As you pass through what you discover is the illusion of a safe stone and make your ironic comment, you have a split-second to do something before landing on the --probably-trapped-- ground.

What do you do?

Ari's hamster ball Shield carries them to the base of the next safe pillar of stone and clangs against it --confirming it is real-- before dissipating. They are now at the bottom, and the pillar is above their head.

The stone turns over and that hand appears to 'look' at both sides before shaking itself to shed as much of the goop as it can. This buys you all another moment to make a plan and do something to finish this.

What do you do?

- Abigail -

It seemed to be rather lethal to Hooligander, but all you saw was stone dust, so it is possible his explosion was actually a hidden illusion. Ari might have some thoughts on this if you asked them about 'trapdoors'?

While the tests are, surely, not meant do be life threatening, publicly failing them famously has dire consequences. You have never heard from anyone who did fail them... or at least not those who did so through Wild Magic.

If you have any mind-reading abilities you might get uncomfortable-feeling thoughts from the judges as you raise this question.

Abby: You are definitely getting the feeling there is more going on here. The tests have been puzzlingly easy for you, even without proper Wizard abilities. You suspect that, if you were allowed to use your actual abilities properly and openly, the 'tests' would be completely trivial. This is not to say they are not still dangerous, Hooligander got blown to bits, but that was the result of his own devices not the test's design. All this forced control and fear of Wild magic might just be to keep those in power in power. But is this the time to explore such radical ideas?

Ari: From your vantage point near the hand you can see that it is protection something. There is a ruby-red dome that puts you in mind of the force-field from the previous chamber, but you can't see through this one very clearly. It appears like there is a table in there, but there is nothing large or significant visible on that table.

Alaks: You are sure you were on the right track with changing or moving or repositioning the hand. The hand also does not seem to know which way to defend from, now that Ari is on the far side. This distraction might allow someone to get right up to it? The hand seemed strong enough that it did not care much about Ari's weight, and you doubt most people would be able to wrestle it.

What do you do?

- Abigail -

The blood-coloured dome near the base of where the hand extends out of the earth seems to be the key. It feels similar to the one you all had to pass though to end the previous test, but not quite the same. If you could get over there --past the trapped ground and the defending stone hand-- you might be able to penetrate it and discover what lies within.

This force-field is not for temperature, though, so you may need to experiment a bit and get a better feel for its function and quirks before you can deal with it. Maybe the others can buy you the time you need?

How do you get there? What do you do once you do?

- Alakassandra -


"tap-into-magical-essence-spell?" One of the judges says. "Sounds useful. I must look that one up later." But they seem to believe it for now, and anyway you don't hear it, because...

The explosion is tremendous! Either it is suped up by the magic permeating the zone, or your departed collector did not know what they had picked up. A weaker person's bones would break from the force of the rocket-jump if they were not lightened or as tough as you are.

As you soar towards the hand at speed with clothes flaming, a combination of the explosion, your approach, and Ari's nonthreatening passivity cause the hand to orient towards you, ready to fight. It is expecting a weakling wizard, though, so it may be in for a surprise?

What do you do?

Ari's sparkles cause the hand to try to split its attention again, only half paying attention to Alaks' approach. It seems it barely has the focus to track two, and may be blind to a third assailant.

"Stage magic?!" One of the judges says, sounding scandalised.

---

Alaks slams into the stone hand like an irresistible force meeting an immovable object. It appears the object --unable to move-- must break, and the for the third time today bits of stone fly into the air. The hand tries to reform and push back and squash the irritating 'gnat', but is struggling with the sheer, unadulterated, physicality of the assault.

"What is she doing? Just attaching it?" One judge asks another, making a note.

---

Abby is able to skip from stone to stone to the base of the red dome. Bits of stone patter around her, and ping off the dome, not penetrating it at all. Inside there appears to be... furniture? Definitely a table or desk, but with nothing obvious on it visible through the obscuring dome surface. This field feels different to the one from before. It might not be as easy to get past.

What do you do?

- Alakassandra -

The hand is not done, it still tries to fondle you, in an aggressive way. But you have it on the back-foot --so to speak-- and, for now, it is unaware of Abby down beside the dome by its wrist. You can keep up the fight at this intensity and give her time to do whatever she is doing.

- Abby -

It is definitely a desk inside, on its top lay sheaves of papers and a few quill pens. Very fancy and old looking, but not useful to you here on the outside.

What do you do?

- Abby -

The Spell sparks and you feel your hand press a little deeper into the surface of the field, the judges nod in approval. This looks like what you are 'supposed' to do, but your meager grasp of 'proper' Wizard Spells does not appear to be strong enough to overcome the level of the Spell they have put in place.

That is not your forte anyway, maybe you can use your strengths and your own power while making it appear your are casting a higher level of Harm?

What do you do?

The force-field is sucked into a red nimbus around Abby and vanishes.

The moment she steps forward into the circle the stone hand waves goodbye to Ari and Alaks and descends into the ground (it is just possible that, at the last moment it flips the bird towards the muscle-girl who hit it so hard, but no one notices).

There is a grinding and a whirring from the underground traps, the judges confer for a few moments before leaving their table and making their way over to the little desk in the middle of the arena --still majestically surrounded by the image or snow-covered mountains and forests.

The desk itself is old, and definitely very real. On it are parchment certificates, one for each of you. The audience wanders out, bored now that the action is over, but the judges stand around applauding as the representative of The Department of Wizarding Practitioners makes a speech (definitely not worth remembering or repeating here) and pompously explains that this is the desk used to sign the first Wizard Certificate and every one since. They indicate where you should each sign your acceptance on the one with your full names embossed in fancy writing, and then signs each one in turn, shaking you each by the hand and welcoming you into the Fraternity of Practicing Wizrds[sic].

---

Do you follow the procedure or cause a disruption?
Do you ask anything?

---

What do you do next? Feel free to provide a vignette of the next few day/months/years of your life as a Wizard... Definitely!