Nexus Heroes

[Taria]

A year ago from today, you remember first arriving at the glistening city streets of Academy. Despite the stories, one can't help but be awed by the most advanced City in Golarion. The trade bustles with all kinds of strange otherworldly exoctics, and the schools of combat and magic are constantly evolved to match the pace of ever-increasing threat of the outsiders. In short, it has been both a difficult and educational year, and you are glad to be upon the precipice of your crowning achievement. The official Planar Activities Citizenship Knowledge Enrollment Trial! The PACKET is a requirement for becoming a true Academian, and represents the most basic of knowledge that any citizen should have. It took several months of hard work just to earn the gold required to purchase a key component for the test. The Compact Automated Plane Encoder, or CAPE, is an important device in protecting oneself from the many dangers of interplanar travel. It's magically encoded libraries of information detect and reveal vital information on what one might expect in a particular realm. But, you're still not sure how the darn thing works really... (engineering check)

Either way! Today is the day. The four of arrive at the designated assignment zone near the outer portcullis. Might as well get to know your teammates for this particular test while waiting on the instructor, but it's not like the four of you are about to be thrown into some crazy adventure that redefines the entire world as you know it... so no biggie.

[TCELESBHSUP]

A bright, cheery smile was on Rhialla's face as she approached the team, donkey and cart in tow- a particular familiar face made it even brighter, of course. Decked out in her vestments and Church-given equipment (She'd been given an investment of two-thousand gold! That's more money than she'd ever even seen in her life!), she would approach the group with a slight bounce to her step, armour and weapons clinking lightly. She was entirely unused to it... Even the shield on her back was a weird feeling. In her arms, she held a holy text of Sarenrae, and around her neck was her golden holy symbol. One of the things she invested in with the money she was given. "Suzu!" She cried, beaming happily.

She was already on something of a collision course to hug her dear friend. It'd been too long!

[That_One_Guy]

Garian watched them all, a smile on his face. He wore the weapons and armor he had worked hard to earn as his time in blacksmithing and training to use them wisely. Since this was an Academic city, he also spruced up on other things besides fighting such as reading up on the Planar Landscapes and learning to talk to others, but that wasn't his main goal. He looked over at Rhialla with a smile on his face, his plan was much darker, but on a tone of his goddess. He'll learn what he could, do what he must, and hopefully he'll see his goal completed in the end.

"So, since we're all part of the same group, let's get to know one another. I am Garian, I worked as the blacksmith around here more or less for the year since i've been here." He told them. "Also trained in the arts of combat."

[Goryokaku]

Kal had arrived not long after the others she was humming to her self an old Dwarven drinking song, her entertainers outfit was fitting snuggly to her body as she looked at the others, Garian introduced himself first he seemed like a sound person and all that time he'd spent blacksmithing probably meant he could fix his own gear. Kal looked at the assimar next she was an interesting one seemed a little bubbly but you never know she might prove interesting on the journey, the other person looked to be a bard.

"I'm Kal dwarf summoner, spent the past couple of years learning various languages and working as a translator."

[TCELESBHSUP]

"A translator?" She asked, looking at Kal. She didn't look the part of a dwarf... But who was she to judge the life choices of another? After all, believing oneself to be a dwarf wasn't exactly an evil act. She didn't need to correct it. And, if she was happy with it, there was no issue! "I see... Very nice to meet you, Kal and Garian! I'm Rhialla, a priestess of Sarenrae." She introduced herself as she simply hugged her friend. She was happy to see her after so long, and no doubt Suzu was as well. "I hope we can all get along well. I'll be tending to any wounds you incur, no matter how small."

[Zender_Solarheart]

In the shadows near the main group, Marco sits cross-legged, meditating intensely. He was never a social being; quite the opposite, in fact. His cold, soulless demeanor was never a good social point, so he's always been alone in this world. No friends, no family, no romance...even business-related connections were kept brief and minimal. That is the path he walks: complete devotion to the mission, and only the mission. A negative extreme of selflessness, if you will. As for this test he's set up for, it is merely a matter of necessity; he will need this certification to further his role of assassin, which is the only long-term concern of his besides simple self-preservation.

[MiscChaos]

"Rhialla!" Suzu cries, returning her friends hug. Just how long as it been since she last saw her friend? Too long at any rate. "How's life been treating you, friend?" She asks, eager to catch up. It's only then that she remembers she has other people around here. "Right. My name's Suzu, a traveling bard. My dream's to have my songs known far and wide!" She decides to cut it off there. People have a bad tendency to laugh when she then tells them that she plans to donate the money to orphanages and such to prevent kids from growing up the way she did. Rhialla knows, so that's all that's important. "Nice to meet you all!"

[Taria]

A placid and scholarly looking elven woman slowly begins to approach the group, her attire displaying various magical babbles and intricate jewelry. By her stature and attire, she is clearly one of the higher-ranking members of Academy, and her warm smile only confirms her as your instructor. "Ah, excellent. You are all here I see. My name is Bia and I will be leading you on this expidition. Please follow me and we can begin heading towards the trial grounds." She motions towards the gates as they slowly begin to open, granting passage.

[TCELESBHSUP]

Still beaming quite happily at Suzu, she would count a bit on her fingers. Just to make certain. "Five years, Suzu. It's been five years... Wow, that's a long time." She seemed rather surprised. It wasn't that long to her, personally, but to others? It was a very long time, most likely! However, she was soon interrupted by Bia. Which she didn't mind in the slightest. Turning, she would curtsey to the woman, bowing her head at once. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Bia." She would say, sounding genuinely happy to have had the honour to meet such a high-ranking member of Academy, before following along. She would also lead her donkey and its cart.

[MiscChaos]

Suzu starts when Rhialla says it's been five years since they last met. That's entirely too long! 5 years is a lot of time for things to change drastically for someone! It's gonna take a lot longer than she thought to catch up with her friend. Giving her instructor a courteous curtsy, she says, "Nice to meet you, Bia!" Figuring they can walk and talk at the same time, Suzu asks Rhialla, "So what have you been up to?"

[Zender_Solarheart]

So, this "Bia" is the instructor for this task. Noted. Following her through the gate, Marco makes sure to position himself at an ideal location among the group. At least one of his flanks is covered by another member of the group at all times, while leaving enough room for him to engage in close-quarters combat with his dagger, should the need arise. His crossbow gives a ranged advantage, yes, but it is also clunky, and has a cumbersome reloading mechanism. For the time being, he will most likely save it for more tool-esque uses, as opposed to direct combat. He's far better built for killing without a direct encounter, anyway.

[TCELESBHSUP]

"I've mostly been at the temple, aiding the sick and injured." Rhialla seemed very happy, and very proud, of this fact. "I've been getting a lot better at channeling my faith to heal others, and with medicine. It... Feels really nice to help others." A rather sagely nod followed this statement. "Of course, I've also had to practice my swordplay... I'm not the best swordswoman, but I can fight." Her hand came to the scimitar on her belt, patting it lightly. "A lot better at reading, though..."

Her glance fell upon her holy text, which she held close to her chest. She'd had it there the entire time, the symbol of Sarenrae apparent on the cover, matching the golden symbol around her neck perfectly.

[MiscChaos]

Suzu nodded. That sounded very much like something Rhialla would do. Actually, she doesn't know what else she was expecting since that's pretty much the only thing she could think of Rhialla doing. Well, the swordplay not so much, but the healing thing is right up her alley. "Geez, you make me sound like a selfish hedonist in comparison!" She says jokingly. "I've been doing my usual: travelling, playing in anything from bars to palaces, helping out in my own way here and there as I see fit. Nothing special really, I guess." Well, there's general catch up. They can go into details some time when they're free. She can tell Rhialla about the family that took her in for a bit after she helped them out a bit with a pushover.

[Taria]

The five of you are lead down a winding and complicated path of stairwells and sidewalks. All around you there can be seen the tranplanar activities of several parties coming and going, some fairly coherent, and others quite diverse. One thing is for certain however, this is where all the interplanar activity within Academy takes place. Bia lightly gestures her hand toward a large, towering watchtower of many different levels, each chiseled by the most skilled dwarven artisans of stonecrafting. "Over there you will see the center of Academy, as I'm sure you all know, the Nexus." As the universe's most central and unifying object, each piece of the structure is home to the many different ambassadors of all of Golarion's races and countries. Really, there is no more diverse place in the world than here in Academy." Bia smiles politely at Rhialla. "One I have deemed you fit to explore the most elementary of planes, you will receive your Junior Hero commendation and your very own personal identification scry while be magically imbued within your body, granted you access to the most basic of our services. Please keep in mind that keeping your PIS up to date is your own responsibility, and failure to maintain an active license will result in your ostricization from the outer courtyard." Bia reaches what seems to be a giant stone gate etched with rotating puzzles of runes, and casually waves her hand over a single marking which then lights up with a translucent violet light. "Please keep to the path while traveling through the astral planes, withhold any unnecessary spellcasting and do not toss any trash or other belongings into the astral rift." After her practiced speech, Bia steps on through the gate and her form seems to entirely evaporate from view. Your CAPE lights up with a simple message reading "ASTRAL PLANE- secure portal, magically morphic."

[Goryokaku]

That was fun Kal thought as she'd followed the rest of them with Bia and listened to her practiced speech, it was quite something she thought to herself as she saw the dwarven masonary, it brought memories of her home. Still she followed on and listened to the need of Keeping their PIS upto date though she wasn't sure what visiting the toilet had to do with planar travel she assumed it must be important, what ever the case when her cape lit up with the message Kal boldly went where the other 4 were likely to go, through the portal.

[Zender_Solarheart]

The Nexus. The central foundational piece of Academy. Interesting how what is, quite literally, the center of the universe, is represented by a large tower. After being led through the gate, Marco stops when Bia takes her leave. According to his CAPE interface, the portal ahead of them leads to the Astral plane, and one of them has taken the initiative to be the first through it. Marco himself follows closely behind, not wanting to expose himself, but also attempting to keep their order tactically optimized; in the event of a dangerous encounter, he can maneuver more quickly than most others, whether that be by circling to flank a singular foe, or by backpedaling to regroup against a large mob.

[TCELESBHSUP]

"You know I love hearing your stories every time you come back." Rhialla gave a nod. Absently, as she looked at her holy text, she thought of her sister... All a result of remembering the nameless Tiefling samurai that had given her the book. She wondered what Kasidra was doing at this time. Would she meet with her again at some point? Her sister had gone to learn about magic and all other sorts of things quite some time ago. She didn't even remember if Suzu knew her! Ah well... For now, she had to focus on the task at hand. "See you on the other side!"

And so, she stepped through the gate with her donkey.

[MiscChaos]

Suzu absorbs what Bia has to say and has these simple words as answer: "Should be fun!" With her thoughts given, she steps through the portal, hesitating only long enough to make sure Rhialla is near by when she does. Except the girl has rushed on ahead of her, so she should really start catching up. She does keep a nervous hand on her harp though. Just touching it always seems to calm her and besides that, if something does down, she's got her songs at her fingertips to help out.

[That_One_Guy]

As Bia talked, Garian was nodding in and out of the conversation, not paying much attention to it, though he got the important things down such as keeping his stuff up to date. The speech wasn't really something he liked listening to and when she disappeared through the portal he smiled and waited for the others to go through, looking around at the dwarven masonry as well as the portal itself before finally jumping through it with the others.

[Taria]

(Will save)
Garian:

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

You are fully aware of everything around you as you walk through the Astral Plane. The bodies of your companions seem to float ahead of you mindlessly, while you remain in full control of your action. You could easily wander off and explore this place, but the admonishments of Bia make you think that would probably be a bad idea right now. The spirits and bodies of many other adventures and heroes pass through this realm as portals lead them from place to place.

Everyone else:

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

You feel your spirit disconnect from your body as you pass through the Astral realm. Time here has no meaning as you are faced with images from your past, present, and possible future. You drift through this place in a dream like state until you are finally reunited with your body and your senses as you reach your destination.

(see roll20)
This next room is rather small, this dimension seeming little more than a bubble to contain this one area. Bia walks ahead towards the center of the room as she waits for everyone to arrive and gather their bearings. "This is a room of Quintessence, here you can see the many elemental properties of the planes you will likely explores." Bia motion towards each corner of the room in time with her word. "There is the element of water, cool and hospitable, the element of earth, firm and unyielding, the element of fire, dangerous and well, fiery, and finally the element of air, exhilarating and free. Every one of these elemental properties could kill you if you are not prepared, and this is why we here at Academy have developed a unique technique." Bia activates her CAPE through a console on her arm and begins to enter some kind of code. Soon her body begins grow at an alarming base until she towers over the rest of the party.