Crystal Academy Squad Opal: Second Year - Episode 4

## Summary

The Empire of Mowen, one of the three major kingdoms of A’lune, created in secret a school called the Crystal Academy. Threadtouched youths could hone their abilities in all aspects of the Thread, and in exchange for these three years of free schooling, food, and board, the students pledged to devote three years serving in the Mowen army after their graduation.

In 1216 A.S., five teenagers attended the Crystal Academy, together forming dormitory squad Opal. Caiteor, Mariska, Milo, Ohros, and Umber became fast friends. Their first year was a blur of excitement—attending classes and learning about their Threads; romantic relationships and making a boyfriend from body parts; releasing eleven devils and destroying a Hell Gate; the death of the dean; giving in to an inner evil that went on a rampage and killed fellow students; and the unfortunate expulsion of Ohros from the school. The rampage and devils had been erased from the minds of most faculty and students, though Squad Opal covertly protected their memories. Now the four remaining squad members had to continue their schooling while knowing that not all was as it seemed at the Crystal Academy. Far greater challenges would face them in the Second Year.

In this episode, the squad held up a mercenary group, split up, and faced death.

## Clumsy Heist

Previously, Squad Opal played their hand against Dean Cacian by backing Dushah Uloreen of Inzet. It hadn’t worked. It appeared that Cacian knew some secret about Uloreen that prevented any sort of retaliation for the cult of Vilithk or the Hell Gate that had existed at the Crystal Academy. They also revealed to Cacian that their minds hadn’t been wiped. The squad realized they gave themselves away, but were not sure if Cacian figured it out. Though they believed he was up to no good, he had tasked the squad—along with Prefect Orique, a third-year student—to find blue honey in the Highland Rise. It was a necessary ingredient in a ritual version of the spell Mariska had performed to rip a soul from the Astral Sea and implant it in a body, creating Chad Internship. Chad had since fallen apart, though Cacian had agreed to help Mariska learn how to bring him back.

Having spotted blue bees in the forests and followed them north, the squad found four mercenaries at a hive filling clay jars with the blue honey. The mercenaries were Espen Cray, a Tabaxi druid trying to reunite with a long lost sibling; Warren Quince, a Bearfolk who was known for ripping out the teeth of his opponents; Pettle Pentresk, a Half-Elf Half-Orc sorcerer whose fiancé had disappeared on their wedding day; and Vaugn Sweets, the leader of the group, a wholesome Tiefling barbarian who was great with children.

As they worked, the mercenaries talked about how they would soon be rich. Pettle was eager to use the funds to find out what happened to her husband while Vaugn said he’d be able to give his daughter the things he never could have. Warren couldn’t believe that Dushah Uloreen was paying so much for blue honey. None of them realized that they were being watched; Squad Opal waited in the foliage, planning a heist.

Milo didn’t want to hurt the mercenaries too much, so Umber led with intimidation. He ran into the clearing with an awkward war cry, Milo following quickly behind.

The mercenaries were more confused than scared. “Can I help you?” Warren asked.

Umber pretended to have been stung, and when Vaugn offered some salve, Milo used Minor Illusion to create a fake sting on Umber’s side. While Vaugn was busy, Mariska cast Infestation on him to make it look like a swarm of blue bees had attacked. The bees from the hive stirred at this, joining the attack. Vaugn fell, bees pouring into his mouth. Milo hopped on Vaugn to perform the Heimlich maneuver, forcing the Tiefling to spit the bees out.

Pettle held out her hands and shot two Ray of Frosts, one at Milo, one at Vaugn. The magic did minimal damage to them, but froze the bees, which dropped to the ground. As Mariska’s Infestation had ended, it was evident that only half the bee bodies were on the ground. The others simply vanished.

Caiteor took the opportunity to turn invisible, intent on sneaking to the cart and stealing the honey; however, his ring from Uloreen began to glow. The ring was meant to alert Caiteor to when he was being watched. He cast See Invisibility, though he didn’t notice anyone except Femur looking at him. He chose not to worry about it, tiptoed to the cart, and grabbed a honey jar. But as he ran away, he bumped into one of the mercenaries and instinctively apologized.

Espen released a chant, and thorny vines grew around Caiteor. But Milo said there was no need to do that and introduced his ally, saying that Caiteor was just trying to help since blue honey could randomly start floating and fall out of the cart. While Milo and Umber bluffed that they were Foultrappers hired by Uloreen to collect blue honey at the same five-gold-per-ounce rate as the Riot House mercenaries, Mariska cast Invisibility on herself and attempted a honey heist. It went just as badly, spilling honey to the ground.

As the mercenaries prepared for a fight, Umber pulled out his sword and threatened the pots. “Nobody gets paid if there’s no honey.” When the mercenaries backed off, he called into the woods, pretending to have backup besides Orique. Then he ordered the mercenaries to surrender. They complied.

The squad tied them up and stole their bedrolls and rations, but Umber also gave them eight ounces of gold as an apology. Then the squad left.

## A Bonding Night

Milo hid the group’s tracks to make sure the mercenaries didn’t find them. Mariska watched his technique and thought it was brilliant, though Milo said she was more impressive, making a boyfriend and such. She appreciated the compliment. Milo then brought up the massive spell Mariska was planning and how it was frowned upon by the Vanguard and the Trinity Kingdoms in general. He asked if she thought Cacian was manipulating her.

“Absolutely,” she said.

“Oh good, I was worried you were stupid,” Milo said.

“No, I’m highly intelligent, but I want my boyfriend.”

Milo asked how she planned to protect herself. Mariska said she was thinking of either killing Cacian or selling him out.

“Sell him out to the devils?” Milo joked.

Mariska thought that was a great idea. At the least, pinning the release of devils on Cacian would be a good plan.

Afterwards, Umber and Milo set up traps to alert them if the mercenaries came close. Umber’s work was superb, the trap excellent. As they set up their traps, Milo said, “There’s something about your devil sword that I didn’t mention before.” He had wanted it to be a private matter. Apparently, the devil sword needed a code word to activate, which Umber could provide after giving the sword his blood.

“So don’t say something silly like nipples,” Milo said.

Umber laughed and said he’d keep that in mind and would inform Milo of the secret code when he made it. It would be their secret.

While they talked, Caiteor took Mariska aside. He cast Sleep on Femur, then told Mariska about how it seemed that Femur could see him when invisible. Femur had been around Cacian and was worried that this unexpected ability was a sign of something wrong.

Though a wizard, Mariska hadn't done any studies particularly about familiars, so she couldn’t say whether familiars could normally see invisible things. She immediately dismissed Femur, then cast the Find Familiar spell to re-summon him. Femur was annoyed at that, apparently feeling irritated that his agency had been taken from him.

Mariska said it was probably fine. Femur was technically from another realm, so it was possible that he could see things others couldn’t.

Caiteor accepted it. Femur went off and started pecking the ground, eating bugs.

As the group settled to sleep without a campfire to keep a low profile, Umber transferred the blue honey to waterskins and buried most of the honeypots. He volunteered to keep watch, though after the others had fallen asleep, he thought about hunger and how their friend Luden Wilde reacted to being able to eat his fill for the first time at the Crystal Academy. Umber chose to stealth back to where they had left the mercenaries, intent on giving them some rations. When he arrived, he found that they had untied themselves and were planning to retrieve the honey.

At that moment, Femur landed next to Umber. The raven opened his mouth; Umber heard, “Cinder, come forth.”

The code phrase to summon Cinder, the evil residing in Umber, had been spoken; Umber felt his consciousness slip to the back of his mind.

## Devastating Defeat

### Battling the Roc

The next morning, Umber awoke where he had been keeping watch over his camp. He felt rested, better than he had felt in days, and wondered if he simply dreamed about giving the mercenaries rations. He awoke the rest of his allies and apologized for falling asleep on watch, then explained his confusion about possibly sneaking out of camp.

While no rations were missing, Milo said they could sneak up on the mercenaries again and see how they were doing. Caiteor, Orique, and Mariska decided to stay at camp, expecting to not be needed in the recon mission.

When Milo and Umber arrived at the mercenaries’ location, they found scattered weapons and the cart for the honey, but no mercenaries. They thought this was odd, and Umber said he would help Milo solve the mystery. A part of the Whodunnit Club, Milo pulled out his pocket magnifying glass, held it to his eye, and looked to the sky.

He immediately yelped. Four half-eaten corpses hung from the trees.

The two investigated the bodies, thinking that they looked like some kind of warning. Milo tried to cast Message to Mariska, saying that there were weird things going on and they should meet up, but she was too far away.

At that moment, Umber’s ears picked up the sound of wood breaking from the north. He told Milo that they needed to hide.

Milo continued to Message futilely while he and Umber hid in brambles. He also cast Minor Illusion at the center of the camp to create the sound of a drumbeat.

Soon, they both realized that the sound was of wingbeats. Large talons descended from the tree line, branches breaking as the massive claws wrapped around trunks. It was a gargantuan carrion bird that Milo recognized as a roc. A single talon was as large as the entire Halfling.

As the roc picked at the strung-up flesh, Milo tried to Message Mariska to tell her about the roc. The roc flapped, causing the entire forest to sway. Milo and Umber stayed hidden under the brambles, following the foliage wherever it went.

Milo dropped the illusory drumbeat and considered making the sounds of a baby roc, but Umber pulled out the paralysis wand given to him by Cacian. Milo pulled out his own paralysis wand and shrugged, then gave a thumbs up. They counted down from three.

Both shot rays of paralysis at the same moment. The roc sensed the impending strike and turned its keen eyesight right at Umber, but—it froze. Umber immediately ran west as Milo ran to the east.

Back at their camp, Mariska, Caiteor, and Orique felt the large breeze caused by the wingbeats. They looked at each other, confused, but suddenly an echoing shriek filled the air. They saw the wings flapping on the horizon and heard the shattering of lumber.

Mariska recognized it as a roc and said they needed to run, but none of them wanted to leave the rest of their squad behind. They waited at the camp.

Meanwhile, Umber was running, but the paralysis lasted only a few seconds and the roc was soon on his tail. Umber only had time to grab three doses of Greeze Cane from his pocket before the creature caught up and grappled him with its talons. It ripped into him with its beak, though Umber shoved the Greeze Cane down its gullet. The drug would make the creature feel calm and amiable, but it would take time before the effects began.

Hearing the roc attacking Umber, Milo stopped running, turned, and dashed towards his ally. By the time he arrived, Umber’s left arm had been consumed. Milo drew his shortbow and screamed at the roc to leave his friend alone. He let fly, the arrow connecting right at the joint between leg and talon, causing the roc’s claws to seize and drop the ragdoll of Umber’s body. The bird stumbled and turned, crushing through trees as it faced Milo.

Milo dove into brambles, scrambled under a hollow tree, and pressed himself against another tree. The roc was right behind him, decimating the hollow tree, thinking Milo was still under it.

As Umber slipped closer to death, Caiteor, Mariska, and Orique could only listen to the destruction.

Milo wracked his brain to find a solution that might scare off the roc. He used Minor Illusion to create the loudest sound of an angry dragon he could think of, which sounded like a roc but throatier. The roc perked at the sound and moved some thirty feet away, scratching at the trees and ground.

Milo ran over to Umber and tried to patch him up, but he was rushed and didn’t know what to do. Within seconds, Umber stopped moving. He was dead.

### Mariska's Relivify

As the roc rubbed against trees and nested on the ground, relaxed from the Greeze Cane, Milo dragged Umber towards camp. The roc didn’t follow.

Hours later, Milo arrived, carrying Umber’s corpse. Mariska and Caiteor ran to help. Milo told them to get the honey, saying that Mariska could help Umber, though Mariska didn’t know how to do the spell.

The panicked Milo grabbed the honey regardless, rubbing it in Umber’s mouth. Caiteor blamed himself, saying that he should have gone as well, and started pouring honey on Umber as well. Milo said that he had tried to Message them, but had been too far away. He started to pray out loud.

Mariska flipped through her book, trying to think and knowing that resurrection magic was legendary and far beyond anything she knew. Milo yelled at her to save Umber, and Mariska chose to attempt replicating the spell she used to create Chad Internship. She knew that it would use all the blue honey and could cost her dearly to stretch her magic like that, but she was willing and began the spell.

Mariska remembered how she found the soul of Chad Internship, then focused on Umber and his soul, drawing on Toll the Dead to attempt calling the spirit. She poured her energy into healing, calling, and retrieving as the honey boosted her strength.

Her nails began to bleed. Her eyes became unfocused, mouth dry, hands clammy. Hair clumped and fell out as moisture drained from her. Her constitution was permanently damaged.

But Umber’s eyes flickered. Mariska felt the soul of Umber returning. The energy flowed from her fingertips into him. His skin regrew over the nub of his left arm.

Then he spoke: “No one’s safe now.”

It was Cinder.

Orique asked, “Who’s Cinder?”

## Unknowns

* Where did the devils go?
* Who is the invisible woman?
* Why is Billy ben-Rubie the only ghost haunting the Crystal Academy?
* What do the red crystals do?
* What is an effective method to get rid of devils?