Reyleen Ach'Medarath, Elchmistress of the Elchandaar Tower, surveyed the assembled Mages on the field, in front of the place where the portal was to be opened. There were nearly 200 of them, 200 who had answered to the summons of the Purple Seal. She noticed the half-demon Pyromancer impatiently looking around. He was visibly displeased to be in a robe, but it was a formal occasion.
She wondered if it was the right time to send mages on exploration on another world. The Demon War was already heavily taxing the Tower's resources. The Demons... It was after an assault on one of their fortresses that they had recovered the old parchment which told how to reach the world where the mages were being sent. She was worried that it could easily be a trap, but it was true that the opportunity could not be ignored.
"I know it was a difficult decision, Your Highness." said Kerzon, the Grandmaster Diviner, "We both know that we will never see these mages again."
"You have seen the future, Kerzon. Are you sure there is no onther way ? These mages could make the difference in our current war."
"They may help us gain victory faster, but if we do not send them away now, the future of the Tower will look bleak."
The Elchmistress sighed heavily and nodded towards another group of a hundred Displacers. Their leader nodded back and they all started gathering the flows into the right shape. Tiny yellow particles of magic, like tiny grains of dust, began assembling in the middle of the group. A sphere grew there, as if it was fed by the particles.
As the sphere grew larger, an image could be distinguished in the middle of it : a forest bordering an expanse of water. The Displacers then began getting the portal into the right shape. Slowly the sphere thinned, until it looked like a lens. Then it sank slowly into the ground. Finally, the leader of the Displacers turned toward the Elchmistress and nodded. In turn, she motionned for the mages to enter the portal.
"Farewell", she whispered between clenched teeth.
=============================================
The army of mages slowly walked out of the portal on the other side. They were followed by a huge floating chest, at least the size of a man. The portal slowly closed behind them.
The appointed leader of the assembly, a Druid, smiled and took out a small enveloppe from his robes. He broke the Purple Seal on it and finally read the orders they were all expected to carry out. His smile quickly vanished and his face became deathly pale. The letter fell out of his hands, to be caught by a nearby Geomancer. He read out loud a very interesting passage of it :
"'Your orders are simple : assert the presence of the Tower and investigate the world. No help will be sent during the first ten millenia.' So it's a survive and survey thing." he commented "Well, since we will be here for a very long time, we might as well choose our leaders and-"
He interrupted his sentence and looked downward. There was a long stone spike protruding from his chest. He dropped dead without a further sound. All assembled Mages slowly looked at each other, while the 8 Runeblades, knowing full well what was going to happen next, moved away from the assembly. Then all Hell broke loose.
Fire, lightning, earthquakes, tidal waves and worse began killing the Mages one by one. Or ten by ten in some extreme cases. Calcinated, decapitated, dismembered, pierced, electrified, unnaturally aged to death, entangled then compressed and otherwise killed Mages began to litter the ground.
A few hours later a small wind rose from the sea and drove away the fog of the battle. A few Mages were still left standing. One of them, a Chronomancer, slowly looked around, picked up a stick and held it out. A few seconds later, another Chronomancer appeared at the spot where the stick was and noticed the above-mentionned item protruding from where his heart should have been.
"Trying to move forward in time, old 'friend' ?" said the mage holding the stick before his 'friend' died.
He then looked around. There were 15 other mages left standing and none of them was wearing the same School colors as the others. That was good. They were now enough to start a fresh leadership and to claim the titles of Grandmasters. Without talking to each other, they acted on a common accord and opened the floating chest, while taking good care of standing as far away as possible from it.
Something started to come out of the chest. It was small at first, then slowly grew larger. It ended up as a tall tower, and it came fully equipped with what was necessary to a mage in those foreign parts : laboratories, libraries and sleeping quarters.
================================
In the following days the surviving Grandmasters drew the roll of the first members of the Tower in this new world.
'On the year 187342 of the Tower Calendar the following people were appointed to the mentionned positions on the world of Seristis, newly placed under Tower jurisdiction.
Of the Principle of Creation
Elestris Eth'Vindelar, Grandmaster Hydromancer, Lost Elf
Akrashah Tal'Resh Kraroch, Grandmistress Healer, Leotaur
Athan Fyrkus, Grandmaster Binder, Highblood
Sekhfar Lalantis, Grandmaster Illusionist, Mixblood
Of the Principle of Change
Selene Tirmisthan, Grandmistress Displacer, Highblood
Jaleen Excelmarth, Grandmistress Aeromancer, Pureblood
Shugak, Grandmaster Transmuter, Gnome
Lithios, Grandmaster Chronomancer, Vampire
Of the Principle of Balance
Kirlin Ach'Verdath, Grandmistress Druid, Lost Elf
Sendar Goldsmith, Grandmaster Geomancer, Dwarf
Sirilanai Eth'Mertallar, Grandmaster Diviner, Lost Elf
Xanthis the Eraser, Grandmaster Psychomancer, Lich
Of the Principle of Destruction
Carvanil the Plagued, Grandmaster Necromancer, Lich
Werelath Ach'Orlindis, Grandmistress Illuminator, Lost Elf
Ostralin, Grandmistress Noctalist, Vampire
Dazhmar, Grandmaster Pyromancer, Mixblood
Of the Most Respectable Order of the Elchandaar Tower Runeblades
Karkish Rezhak Rohkarsharel, Leotaur
Partavel, Vampire
Morticia, Vampire
Inifius, Vampire
Gregor Travis, Graveborn
Joshua Verbasit, Graveborn
Alexius Sivrail, Highblood
Unroe Maxalli, Highblood
By the approval of those assembled and under the delegated supreme authority of Reyleen Ach'Medarath, Elchmistress of the Elchandaar Aurea Tower'
===================================
A few days later the most curious mages set to work. Sirilanai prepared a whole arsenal of crystal balls, mirrors and runes and set off to scrying the land around the island where the Tower ended up. He was planning to scry the flow of Divination magic to find if there were nearby settlements or places of strong magic.
First he prodded the south, as it was where civilization had appeared on their homeworld. This time, unfortunately he felt no unnatural bend in the flow.
Then he tried north, the direction which lets magic flow more freely. Again, no result.
The next direction was east, the direction of the unknown and of the surprising. Yet again, no result.
Finally, west, from where the Elchandaar Empire had sprung up and conquered the world. This time he felt a strong pull, a very strong one. There was something in that direction, and it was very powerful. It bent and twisted the flow. It warranted investigation.
He tried to survey the place using his mirrors and crystal balls, but unfortunately his power was not yet great enough to see over such a long distance. There was no way he could compare to Kerzon who could even see the far away future.
The west would require more detailed examination.
==============================
A few days later, two expeditions were assembled. One would head south, because it felt like a good direction. Elestris, Morticia and Karkish would go that way. They would blindly go where no one had gone before.
The other expedition would head west, to find out what causes the disturbance in the flow. This one would be larger : Jaleen, Sendar, Dazhmar, Partavel, Inifius and Gregor.
Both expeditions departed the same day. And both used the same way of transportation. Elestris used his mastery over water to create an iceberg, while Jaleen did the same using air. And they all set off to explore the unknown.
===============================
Selene meanwhile began to draw runes and circles on heavy stones set around the area which was now the Tower's. These runes would prevent anyone from teleporting in from outside the runed area. Later she would also prepare a large platform to serve as a support for portals, when they would need those to move around the world.
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((The main HQ consists of only one building : a single tower with a large entrance. The tower has a radius of 150m and a height of 500m. Images later. There is also a teleportation pad in construction on water. Images above.))
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