Frostgrave RPG Campaign: The Bursar's Tale, Chapter IV

The Bursar's Tale

Chapter IV

In Which Much Chaos Afflicts the Invisible School and We Mourn the Loss of an Old Friend

As midnight was marked by the periodic silence of the Old Som bell, Neulien and her party of mages and proctors were able to manhandle the Arch-chancellor out of the Echodrome.  The party pursued them.

Claiming they were protecting the Arch-chancellor, a line of proctors held the party at bay.  Some members of the party tried to evade the blockade while others tried to force their way through.  This led directly to violence as the proctors aggressively counter-attacked.

The Assistant Chief Proctor, a ex-soldier named Blakensopp, proved to be a formidable opponent, even wounding and driving back Dame Roswith.

Neulien's group was stopped in the street by Ril who threw a dagger at the Chief Proctor, a Dwarf named Frossmounder.  The blade struck him in the eye, killing him instantly.

Anvarr had teleported himself and Greg the Bear forward as a further block on Neulien's progress.  Urkmaas used his Brambles spell to surround Neulien and the Arch-chancellor with a thick hedge of thorns. While this stopped Neulien for the moment, the party could not take advantage of the pause, Neulien's minions putting up stiff resistance.

Braanx tried to extricate the Arch-chancellor by grazing upon the torn brush.  This had the unfortunate effect of terrorizing the already shaken and none-to-courageous Arch-chancellor into an absolute panic.  The mage began trying every spell he knew, ultimately teleporting himself out of bramble and into the crowded square.

Sir Emerick used his Gem of Construct Control to command Neulien's large golem to attack several of her subordinate mages.

To break the impasse by creating a larger distraction for the proctors, Urkmaas ran to Moon Square, now filled with the bustling midnight crowds that were a fixture at the Invisible School.  He leapt upon a huge barrel being borne by two large constructs and knocked off its staves.

Unexpectedly, the barrel fell upon a passing Eritherean and was impaled upon its tusks.  The resulting cascade of beer caused an immediate tumult among the passing student body.
  

Anvarr, who had broken away from the overwhelming attacks by Neulien's group, was quite eloquent to inciting the students to riot by claim that the beer was not free and reserved from the Bursar.  That part of the mob which did not have access to the frothing barrel immediately began attacking the nearest sign of authority, overturning one of the scribes' Automotive, and setting small bonfires.

At this moment, Braanx thought it would be a good idea to clear the square by using the traditional rangifer maneuver of the antler charge.  With his head down, he had trouble seeing where he was going and struck a glancing blow on a passing elephant (not to be confused with the sentient Eritherean).  Braanx's trajectory continued nonetheless and he smashed into the operating globe on one of the Automotives.  This magic device, now unleashed, engulfed Braanx' head in a wave of magical energy.

Anvarr and Greg continued their struggle against the Neulien's group, unaware that the Illusionist had teleported away in pursuit of the panicked Arch-chancellor.

A desperate duel began with an Elementalist and one of the more rugged School Porters.

Redmane's apprentice, Thisby, recognized that the Arch-chancellor had been teleported into the midst of the rioting crowd at the far end of the square.  She used a Leap spell to get to the top of the Moon Tower to get a better view...

...startling a fairie who was perched there.  In the ensuing earrings-off fight between the two female mages, Thisby had the better of it, driving the fairie off.

Thisby spotted the Arch-chancellor, once more in Neulien's grasp.  Thisby summoned Redmane to assist in capturing Neulien and freeing the Arch-chancellor.  However, the crush of the crowd around the beer barrel prevented them.

Professor Reichfield was having a less than successful night, taking pot shots with his magic blunderbuss but doing little more than adding to the confusion.

Braanx, whose head was suffused from the magical energy from the exploded Automotive's engine, suddenly heard an internal voice command him to kill the Wraith-Slayer.  Against his volition, he turned and began pursuing Atlantia in furtherance of this order.

The Wraith-Slayer escaped the fearsome rangifer only by using a Leap spell to get to the top of the library.  There she observed the frenzied mob of students marching on the Bursar's office.

Suddenly, a number of tubes emerged from under the eaves of the Office's roof.  A white gaseous cloud spewed out of the tubes and soon engulfed the angry mob.

Obviously it was some form of magical potion in aerosol form.  Within moments, the crowd was transformed into a host of harmless animals: puppies, kittens, toads, the odd flightless bird, and feces-obsessed lesser apes.

The rest of the student body was still struggling over the beer barrel.  With great difficulty, Bozydar forced himself through the crowd toward Neulien and the Arch-chancellor.

Just as the captain was about to pull the Arch-chancellor from her grasp, the  enraged Eritherean decided to plunge across the square, the barrel still stuck on its tusks and the crowd still eager for the contents. Bozydar was carried along by crowd.

Meanwhile, the battle between Anvarr and the Neulien's minions reached its tragic climax.  To the party's great horror, Greg was struck again and again, ultimately succumbing to these fearsome attacks.  Anvarr himself was struck down and his unconscious form taken up by the porter.

A modicum of vengeance was obtained by Ril, whose bow shots swept through the remaining mages and proctors.  Sir Emerick and Dame Roswith were able to destroy the porter and rescue the unconscious Anvarr.

As Neulien dragged the Arch-chancellor toward the Acropolis, Urkmaas, who had hidden himself near the dormitories after unleashing the great chaos in the square, threw another Bramble spell upon them. However, when the party approached, Neulien chastised them, claiming she had been intending to take the Arch-chancellor to a place of safety to protect him from the evil Bursar.

At this point, the party realized that the Arch-chancellor had once more teleported himself out of the bramble.  They caught a glimpse of his panicked flight into one of the buildings on the Acropolis.  With much consternation, Professor Reichfield exclaimed that this was the old Distortionist Building.  If they wanted to get the Arch-chancellor back, they would have to face the shattered reality of the structure known as The Bender....