• Closed • Great Minds [Focus Event]

[Whisper]

57th Trial of Zi'da
717th Arc

In all of the drama and excitement that surrounded the Viden Academy over he past few trials, the door had mostly gone unnoticed. The room through which entry could be gained was, for the most part, inconsequential. A mere lecture room, really, and a sparsely used one at that.

It was intriguing enough that the Academy had been closed for four trials with no one able to gain entry to the institution (or exit, for that matter). If that had caused a sensation, there were few words to describe the animated scholars as they went from room to room and saw all of the exact, scale replicas of the rooms sat in the centre made from ice.

At first, they were in awe of the intricate designs, something to rival that of the Tienite Reavers. Then, after speaking to those who had ben stuck inside, it emerged that the prisoners to the locked doors had not spent their time in captivity locked into the Academy sculpting… nor had they seen anyone making or placing them. That in and of itself was a mystery keeping many people busy.

And then there was the door.

This door had still gone unnoticed, because what could be inside that inconsequential room that could be more interesting than everything else? The door itself was nothing exciting. A sturdy looking door made out of wood, much like all the other doors in the facility. Upon the door, written in the Common Tongue in large capital writing - and then below it in every other scripted language in Idalos, was “KNOCK TWICE TO PASS” carved into the door.

Immediately above the writing was a large door knocker made out of stone. Other than a small brass keyhole, the door had nothing else of not upon it. No door handle, no door knob. This might have been why it had been ignored thus far. That, or the remnants of snow and ice particles that still lingered around it. Maybe this door, of all doors, remained affected by whatever locked the main doors to the Academy. Maybe it still wouldn’t open.

!	Message from: Whisper
	PM sent out: please let me know what action you want to do so that I can give you a reaction to self-mod with my permission. Ta!

[Cuauhtemoc]

Cuau had spent quite a bit of the season getting to know the Academy. He liked just exploring. He was relentlessly curious and it didn't just extend to the subjects he studied. He liked knowing where things were inside the building. Sneaking around, familiarizing himself with whose lecture hall was whose, whose offices were whose. Where the living quarters were, where the cafeteria and training areas were. He liked people watching; mammals were interesting creatures and they acted much differently than his own people. Watching them in the Training Grounds had told him that while they had the same strong legs his own kind did, their lack of tails made them hideously imbalanced. They had ways of countering this, though. Some men he saw use the rapier were as fleet as cats. He didn't mind being locked inside the greater part of the Academy for four trials. Enclosed spaces made mammals run around like rats, they really hated not being able to get out. Cuau didn't mind; it was cold out there. He liked being inside where it was warm. No one was going to crumble to pieces over four trials, would they?

So it was natural that his curiosity would bring him to a disused lecture hall. He'd heard that a lot of the men who entered rooms like this had found exact replicas of the rooms in ice. Intricately detailed, beautiful scuptures that captured everything from tiny rips in a certain curtain to the number of floor tiles. That was interesting enough, and Cuau wanted to see one. Maybe there was one behind this door. Maybe there was something more behind the door than a lecture hall.

The door was a bit of interest though. It didn't look like your average broom closet. Cuau approached it, flaring his nostrils. Dust puffed up from around the woodwork of the door at his breaths, and he shook his head. Definitely more than a little disused. He ran his claws over the phrasing on the door. Knock twice to pass...on a door with no damn occupant? He glanced down at the funny writing and spent a little time tracing it with a claw. Some of these definitely weren't common. Some of them he'd never heard of. A lot of strange markings. He tilted his head, and looked at the knocker. It couldn't be that easy now, could it? It didn't have a knob. How was it supposed to open with no knob? He tapped his claws on the door, thinking. Maybe he didn't have to disengage the lock at all.

Cuau eyed the pins. Probably fairly strong construction. They were frosted in little remnants of ice and frost. The little keyhole looked promising. He slid a claw in. He might be able to feel around for the tumblers...but his claws barely entered the keyhole. He tilted his head. What? He lifted his tail and flicked the tip, putting the tiny tip of the tail inside the lock. Or tried to. Nope. It wouldn't enter either. He scowled. That was magic, wasn't it? It wasn't like his tail wasn't long enough to slide all the way in. A giggle resounded in his head. He glared at the door. "Legba if that's you...I'm trying my hardest here." he growled. The feeling the Harvester returned through the bond was a blot of confusion. It wasn't her. She wasn't laughing at him. She didn't like the door, either. She appeared for a second, shifting nervously on her hind legs.

Legba did not like the door. She tilted her head like he had, her tail flicking around like an anxious cat. She honked at it, making a sound like a nervous goose, and vanished. "What's eating you?" Cuau muttered, and eyed the door.

'I wouldn't do that if I were you.'

Cuau blinked. Was the door haunted too? He bared his teeth at it. "You're scaring my spirit, door." he growled. "And if she don't like you, I don't like you." He cracked his neck with a quick little turn of his chin. He had something to fix this door, if it was going to mouth off at him. He would have to go to the storeroom first. He left the disused lecture hall and headed down to the storeroom. All he needed was a little sulfur from what he'd heard. Sulfur and a match to light it. He didn't like the idea of filching it from the stores of the Academy but he had to know. He had to know what was behind the door. He grabbed a little lump of sulfur, roughly the size of a fist, and a match. He hurried back to the lecture hall with his prize, and set the sulfur on top of the lock. The wet, crumbly substance adhered like clay to the lock, and Cuau curled the tip of his tail around the match. He struck it against the floor, and lit the sulfur.

A loud sudden hiss flared against the door, and the distinctive smell of rotten eggs filled the room. Cuau coughed, waving away smoke as the sulfur burned down. When it was gone...there was a little mark on the door. That was it. No nice fizzle as the lock cracked open. No big blow up. Just a bunch of stink. He glared. He had to work on this chemistry thing. He glared at the door.

'That wasn't very nice.'

"Well if you'd fucking open!" Cuau snapped irritably. Legba was getting nervous. She wanted him away from the door. He growled at it. There hadn't been anyone else approaching yet...maybe he still had time to figure out how to open the thing.

!	Message from: Whisper
	As per a PM sent to players, Cuau told me his response and was given permission to self-moderate reactions as instructed by me.

[Tio Silver]

"Now this is marvelous! Absolutely marvelous!"

It was only fairly recently in his life that Tio had developed an appreciation for academics. It hadn't been until he'd first gained the power to bend the laws of the world that he'd started to take an interest in understanding them, but once he had he'd begun to realise that there were so many amazing things one could achieve just by understanding the basic forces that held the world together and how they could be manipulated. Now he could freely admit that he found science cool, and since he'd come to that realisation visiting Viden had been a part of his bucket list. The Scalvoris campus was great, but the fully fledged Viden academy was the pinnacle of science; a bastion of knowledge and understanding unlike any other. How could he not need to explore it at least once?

Under the guise of his Eidisi form, Taelis Selvar, Tio wandered around the halls of the academy, ogling the various bits of scientific apparatus and prototype devices about the place like a tourist (which, technically speaking, he was.) He'd taken the portal on Ishallr straight here and sneaked in to the academy, then snagged himself a disguise as some sort of an official scholar from somebody's office and walked about the place with the confidence of someone on important business; somebody who didn't have time to be disturbed. There was so much to see! So much to try and understand! It was hard to decide where to start.

And then he came across the door.

Perhaps it was inevitable that, out of all the corridors he could have walked down, he happened to walk down the exact route that led to it. Cassion's curse drew him towards adventure like a fish on a hook; it bound his destiny to anything out of the ordinary. Whilst checking out the icy replicas of the rooms that had apparently popped up out of nowhere one night he stumbled across it quite by accident; an Ithecal crouched down before a blue door with no handle, knocker or any other features besides a set of words carved into it in a wide variety of foreign languages. To make things even more surreal the Ithecal seemed to be arguing with the door, as if it could talk back somehow.

"Maybe you should try taking it out to dinner first? Or sweet talking it? Don't they always say charm opens doors?" He said with a hint of sarcasm as he approached. Something interesting was going on here, and he never could resist interesting things.

[Isen Fydar]

The Eidisian Necromancer hung up his gore covered apron on the wall of his work room. As he left the work area of his laboratory, moving to his washroom. He had been within the Facility for the past five Trials. He had been pushing the bounds of his current line of research and had been met with good results. Only sleeping a few hours within his office each night due to the sensitive nature of his work that needed constant attention. Every meal was brought to him by an assistant to the Facility within his laboratory. This is where he would eat it while working or reviewing his notes. After the analysis of the facts was completed, Isen figured that he could go home to his own bed for the night. Then return tomorrow to write his conclusion for submission to the archives.

Running his blood covered hands through the warm water in the wash basin. The necromancer worked each of his hands through the liquid. Working to remove the blood and pieces of flesh from his upper extremities. Taking the wash cloth off the shelf, the mage scrubbed every inch of his skin from the tips of his fingers to his elbows. His former master, along with other coworkers, often suggested that Isen use gloves for his work. But the researcher felt that the gloves interfered with his ability to manipulate items in a precise manner. So he was left with scrubbing his flesh to clean himself. A few breaks later, he dropped the wash cloth on its shelf and inspected his hands for any trace amounts blood, loose flesh, or even any red stains. Not finding any, the mage grabbed his cloak as he moved to exit the laboratory. He didn’t bother to clean up, as the assistants of the staff would clean his room. Taking care of the mess he had made within. Making his way from the fifth floor of the Facility and up each floor to the exit. Nodding to the sentries that kept their secret safe as he slipped out the obscure entry door.

As soon as Isen entered the Academy, he could sense something was wrong. Too many people were present. As he walked passed various people within the academy, he noted that most of them had dark rings under their eyes or appeared to be in various states of distress. Isen made his way throughout the hallways, moving from the entrance to the FRA to the front of the Academy. The mage kept moving past the various students, professors, and visitors that were roaming throughout the halls, noting that each one looked exhausted like they had not slept in a few days. Curious to what was happening, but exhausted himself, he did not pay it much mind. Approaching the entrance hall of the school, Isen found the door to be locked and secured, something that he had never came across before. Confused to what was happening, he figured this was why everyone had looked like they spent the night within the confines of the building, because they most likely had.

Retreating from the entrance hall, along with all those individuals that stood by the door. The necromancer decided he would go see what was going on. So that he could return home to find proper sleep. Passing one of the identical alcoves off the main hall, he saw it. An Ithecal off to the side messing with one of the doors. Moving to see what this creature was doing to Yvitha’s great academy, he was met with a soft flash of light, along with the overwhelming smell of sulfur. Furious that this animal had decided to try and blow his way through a door in his academy to escape the confines of the center of study. The Eidisi moved to interfere with this great reptile. “What in the name of the great immortals are you doing to this Temple of Knowledge!” Isen yelled towards the creature as he marched towards it. “How dare you attempt to destroy any part of this scarce building!” the mage continued. Through his anger he was able to hear someone speak the words “That wasn’t very nice.” Then heard the beast yell in the common tongue with “Well if you'd fucking open!"

As Isen arrived to the door, he found that there was no one else there. Glaring at the Ithecal as he checked over the door for any damages. Not finding any, he took in the whole picture of what he was seeing. The door had the phrase ‘Knock Twice to Pass’ in Common Tongue, then repeated in what appeared to be every language known including the Ancient Tongue and Leni. Looking between the door and the giant lizard, his analytical mind was able to put the pieces together. The door had spoke. But how doors do not speak. Well normal doors do not speak. Looking at the door he was able to feel the presence of a mind, like when looking into the eyes of others he came into contact to. Even though this was a door and he should not be able to feel anything by just looking at it. But he knew what he felt. If the door would not listen to the spoken word, maybe it would listen to the unspoken. So Isen decided that he could give it a shot and used his gift bestowed on him by Yvithia. “Open door! In the name of Yvithia.” Isen ordered the door through his mind speak. Not expecting a reply to his command, he was surprised when he heard a reply of “Didn't your mother teach you it's rather rude to have a private conversation when there are others present." Well then… Isen was at a lost of how to continue. Stepping back to stand next to the creature to watch the speaking indestructible door.

----- Isen's Speak ---------- Xypha Speak/Thoughts ---------- Other's Speak -----

!	Message from: Whisper
	As per a PM sent to players, Tio told me his response and was given permission to self-moderate reactions as instructed by me.

[Maebella]

/
The doors of the Academy had been frozen shut these past few trials and the cause was unknown, a total mystery. The young woman had been wondering about it ever since it had occurred and of course, she'd kept tabs on the situation, meaning that as soon as the place opened up again, she knew about it. Curiosity drove her through familiar corridors, through Wings that were not her centres for learning. She found the little replicas at the centre of each room, puzzling over the perfect scale models that appeared to have been carved from ice. It was said that no one had seen them being made, none of those trapped in the building having carved them or witnessed the act at all. Not that she really believed it, of course, as there must have been some culprit. It was a puzzle and a fascinating one.

She doubted that anyone was paying much attention to her, the situation itself far more interesting than a lone Eídisi woman wandering around and peering at iced-up surfaces. Maebella wasn't largely concerned with others around her either. Sure, initially, she asked questions of those she passed but she acquired very little information of use and thus, she gave up. They didn't pay much attention to her and she didn't pay much attention to them. Well, except until she heard the sound of raised voices.

The scholar followed the sound, finding others before a door that they appeared to be puzzling over. She said nothing as she approached, deeming it better to assess matters in silence and draw her own conclusions rather than simply declaring her ignorance by asking about something that could be quite obvious. As it turned out, the puzzle of it was obvious. The door they were examining still bore ice, appearing sealed as other portals in the Academy had been for so many trials. More than that though, there was no sign of a handle, that was clear as she drew near. There was a keyhole and a knocker but no sign of a handle. However, she was slow to see those little details as what caught her eye first were the words.

So many languages, most of which were utterly unknown to her, were etched into the door's surface. She picked out the languages she knew - Common, Ancient Tongue, Leni and Ith'ession - and they all seemed to say precisely the same thing: Knock Twice to Pass. She wasn't entirely sure about the Ith'ession, her grasp of it poor at best, but she was confident on the others. The choice of infinitive was ambiguous, unclear if 'pass' meant 'to succeed' in some sort of test or 'to proceed' through the door.

"Interesting. Can anyone else read multiple languages? I can read Common and Ancient obviously, as well as Leni and Ith'ession. Not certain on the Ith'ession. Anyone have any others? It'd be nice to see if there's any that clearly define the meaning of 'pass' although I suppose it doesn't make much difference," she commented, stepping into their midst and basically ignoring them as she drew nearer to the mysterious surface. She crouched to peer through the keyhole, moving after a few moments to fetch a candle to see if it would improve the view at all. The young woman hummed softly to herself, standing to one side of the door to examine the knocker from that direction, moving her candle to throw its features into sharp focus and submerge others in shadow.

Maebella placed a hand on her hip, taking a step back, eyes slightly narrowed as she considered the barrier. If this was a test then it could be to see if one could follow instructions or to see if the person before it would think outside the box. However, given that there was no handle on this side and it was a door then it had to open. What was the point of a door that couldn't be opened after all? So, it could be opened but not from this side. She theorised that it must open from the other side and that there must be someone in there. If there was no guardian on the other side then no one could open it, which was bloody stupid. So there must be someone on the other side and it made sense that they had to be signalled. All in all, it appeared to be quite logical to knock on the door really.

"Let's see if we can discover what's behind this, shall we?" Maebella announced, reaching up to grasp the knocker and rapping it sharply against the door two times.

Credit to Rose Greenwood

!	Message from: Whisper
	As per a PM sent to players, Bella told me her response and was given permission to self-moderate reactions as instructed by me.

[Whisper]

57th Trial of Zi'da
717th Arc

Not everyone who approached the door was of Videnese descent. It was the beauty of the city, that everyone - or, rather, almost everyone - was welcome. From the academically inclined to the downright eccentric, the door saw them all approach. The first, a reptilian mess of a man, decidedly trying to explode the door open, had been hauled away by passing Intelligence Authority Agents (those men didn’t even look twice at the door, seeing only a troublemaker who needed to be taught of the proper decorum in such a fine institution).

The second to approach, a wonderfully disguised shapeshifter in the guise of an eídisi, had watched the whole debacle with a smirk, clearly intrigued by the goings on. It was probably the bangs and shouts and cursing that drew his attention, but the door seemed to hold his attention after the same had been removed from the vicinity. “You’re clearly an intelligent gentleman, young sir,” the door replied as the Agents dragged the visiting student-come-arsonist away, “But I have to ask, would you follow through with the proposal? What do you suppose a door could eat?”

The next to approach had been locked in the Facility for the entire four trials the Academy had been locked. Even more remarkably, the researcher seemed to have not noticed his status as a prisoner, working diligently in a way only the eídisi could for trials on end and only leaving after the doors were already opened and students and academics milled around in awe of the inside. Isen took a much more offended view to the attempted desecration of the door, which was a better indication than anything that Tio wasn’t actually what he appeared to be.

Luckily, hopefully to Isen’s relief, the door remained undamaged, despite the reptile’s attempts at sabotage. When Isen ordered the door to act, it responded just as bluntly. If an inanimate object - talking or otherwise - could look smug, then the door definitely did. But it fell silent at the two stared back at it.

The last to appear was a female, eídisi also, only the best, of course. She took a more practical approach, examining the door in more depth, and seeming keen for collaboration as she asked the question of the others to ascertain what languages were written across the door. If any spoke any other tongues, they could agree that the words were the same, regardless of the script it was written in. “KNOCK TWICE TO ENTER.”

The door remained silent in front of this new arrival. Someone had to make a decision about their next move - how to get through, especially after seeing the snake try his damnest to force it open with violence and misapplied wiles. Finally, one of them made a decision. When Maebella bravely stepped forward to knock twice on the door, there was a mere moment’s delay before the disembodied voice spoke again.

“Who’s there?”

!	Message from: Whisper
	Apologies for the delay. This round is simple: answer the door's question.

[Tio Silver]

The door talked! Genuinely, properly talked! That was absolutely brilliant!

A look of pure, unadulterated delight spread across Tio's face as the door asked him what he thought a door would eat. He'd always wanted to meet a talking door! And to make things even better the door seemed to like him! Thoughts fired through his brain at a hundred miles an hour as he considered what the best way to play this was. He might never meet a talking door again, so he'd have to make his interactions with this one count!

"How about... monkfsh! I'm pretty sure everybody loves a nice bit of fish!" He declared confidently. He sasheyed over to the door and lent one arm against the wall next to it, shooting the door his best alluring look. "I know a great little place in Scalvoris Town with a beautiful view of the moon over the ocean at night." He purred in a husky voice. "It's got candles, fine wine, all the good stuff. How about I take you there sometime? My treat of course."

Then one of the new arrivals, a cute Eidisi woman with an icy aura, did the sensible thing and actually knocked on the door. There was a brief pause, and then the voice of the door replied. The second he heard the reply a wide, cheesy grin jumped across Tio's face, and he turned to look at the woman who knocked.

"It's a knock knock joke! I love those!" He exclaimed joyfully! He looked back over to the door again and sanguinely replied. "Etch."

[Isen Fydar]

The reptilian beast was escorted out by members of Intelligence Authority, who had agreed with Isen, that trying to blow up a door was an action that one should not take within the sacred halls of Yvithia. Sharing an equal look of discontent with the IA members, Isen was happy to see the beast leaving, though not on his own accord. After he was taken away, the researcher looked at the other two assembled with him at the strange door.

Both of his other companions were Eidisi, so at least Isen wouldn’t have to worry about them attempting to blow up the building. One of them was a male, who appeared to have a joyful face and a humorous attitude to the situation. He was very peculiar, in context to other members of his race. Whereas Isen and the majority of others were serious and straight to the point, when it comes to the majority of interactions. This Eidisi asked the talking door to dinner…. And then he laughed! This Eidisi was an odd one. Laughter was common emotion for his people, as they were not just mindless thralls, like the servant he used. But to make such a badly formed joke and then laugh at his own joke, this was very uncharacteristic for a proper Child of Yvithia. The second Eidisi was a female, whom was unknown to Isen, had arrived shortly after the researcher spoke to the door. The female asked about reading other languages, to which Isen gave her a sneer. Of course he could read more than common or ancient language, he was a proper Eidisi and one marked by the Immortal of Language herself. But pushing past her insult, he watched her as she walked forwards and knocked twice on the door. To which the door replied “Who’s there?”

The male with him then laughed and spoke out loud "It's a knock knock joke! I love those!" he spoke in a joyful manner to his companions, then he offered his reply. Isen’s face flashed in disgust at this Eidisi’s lack of formality or seriousness. Moving his facial features back to his normal neutral appearance, the necromancer stepped forward and spoke to the door. “I am Isen Fydar, one of the great Immortal Yvithia’s chosen and marked. As a servant to the patron of this academy, I request access to what lies behind this door.” Isen spoke with a deep and somewhat commanding tone, a voice he normally used with the research assistant that needed to be put in their place.

[Werewere]

Review Is In!

Isen

Knowledge:
N/A

Loot:N/A
Injuries:N/A
Renown:N/A

Points: 15 May NOT be used for Magic

Tio

Knowledge:
N/A

Loot:N/A
Injuries:N/A
Renown:N/A

Points: 15 May NOT be used for Magic

This thread did not have to much to chew on to comment. Though Tio did gave a good comment to Cuau about that door. It is also quite the scene to see someone clean off after messing with corpses Isen. But do doors like fish?

If any of the people come back please to the sight in this thread, please DM me for rewards.

Any injures are based on a 1d100 roll using applicable skills