In a spacious circular chamber a blood red glow illuminated the carefully carved stone walls. The glow pulsed like a soundless heartbeat, this caused a young apprentice to stir from his favorite place to nap, an old chair in the corner. The child seemed a bit slow as he wiped the crust from his eyes and rose from the surprisingly simple chair, surprising only if one was considering how ornate the rest of the chamber was. He scratched his butt for a moment before the glow actually registered in his simple mind.
"T-the Dungeon, it's found someone worthy!" His voice cracked as he spoke with the telltale signs of adolescence. He straightened his wool robes and quickly ran over to take a closer look. The object at the center of the room was a beautiful luminous orb, Lumena's Third Eye, a magical pearl birthed from the heart of the dungeon after the first challenger failed to successfully clear it. It was a very simple concept, if someone managed to gain entrance, the orb glowed red. If someone cleared the dungeon, it would glow like the moon, a peerless pearlescent white.
He turned and ran for the door, tugged a cloak off a hook to doff it about his shoulders, so the insignia for the Tower of Lumena was now displayed for the world to see. Though if he were honest with himself, he would readily admit that almost no one paid attention to the boy, as he was an apprentice mage. All he received were a few pointed glares as he ran down to halls, before they could stop him he'd shout, "Make way, Tower business!" Thanks to his perfunctory shouts, the mages did in fact move. Whether they were Apprenticed, Full, or Senior they mostly had more sense than the boy. The only thing that existed on the floor he came down from was Lumena's Third Eye, and if he was in such a hurry, surely that meant a new contestant had been selected.
In fact, the first person to clear the dungeon, was called Lumena. After clearing the dungeon she had wished for magic to exist and thus in the year 917 of the Great Cataclysm magic entered the world. It was an era transition and thus changed to Year 1 of the Era of Enlightenment. It was now 344 EE, so of course there was a lot of precedent for people entering. That was the entire point of the Tower after all.
The boy wheezed as he finally made his way to the Council chambers; it was impressive enough to blind a person. Gold plated this, diamond encrusted that, but he didn't dally and went straight to an ornate bell and rang it over and over. The room was large, so large in fact that you had to squint to clearly look at the far side, so many seats, but the most important were the ten behind him.
Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.
Men and women popped into existence one after another, all old and seemingly wise until all but one seat was filled. They patiently sat there, and waited for the tenth. They sat for over ten minutes before the most senior mage lifted his hand for the boy to stop.
"Worrisome."
"Indeed."
"Unprecedented!"
They all spoke in hushed tones after they finished repairing their hearing after the boy had near deafened them with the bell. They looked at one another with worry.
"Ser Jory of Mooncliffe. Missing? Between this and the Dungeon not taking a challenger in over twenty years⦠this does not bode well." said a woman whose eyes were sharp and lively but with gentle brows. The boy knew who she was, the head of this particular Tower and said to be a direct descendent of Lumena herself, Elizabeth Lumendate.
"Indeed. We High Mages is the Lumena Tower Council are akin to immortals. How could anything, much less anyone manage to kill one of our own?" The booming voice of this man frightened the boy, he had been the one that glared at him the fiercest when they wanted him to finish ringing the bell. He'd never seen the man before, to be honest he had seen none of them save Lady Elizabeth before, so they must have been from the other Towers.
A few voices grumbled in agreement. The shift in their moods was palpable, thankfully they were all masters of magic or else he would have to fear for his very life as magic can be drawn from the heart. He wiggled in discomfort as he tried to keep his own heart steady, he would die from the mortification alone if he were to leak a shock or scorch the rug beneath him that had existed for a number larger than he could even count.
"We don't know for sure that Ser Jory is, in fact, dead. Perhaps it is related to the last wish?" Another man spoke up with a smooth and alluring voice, his nose was large and hooked, but he had gentle eyes despite his hawkish appearance. The young boy grimaced a little, what a waste of a beautiful voice he thought.
They fell silent again in contemplation. The boy wanted to speak up, but there were a lot of protocols he'd be breaking if he just butted into their conversation. He could only sigh, a lot louder than necessary, and hope they'd take notice of him. The beak-nosed man turned his head ever so slightly in his direction and the boy was subjected to the full effect of the man's glasses. It was as if he was being stared at under a magnifying glass. The boy quickly stopped fussing about and lowered himself meekly.
"The person before last wished for the continent of Un'Dorr to become unified under a strong ruler⦠They said that their wish was granted⦠ever since then our ability to see the future has been stripped from us. But perhaps that person now knows the future?"
"Or perhaps they lied about what they wished for!"
Voices rose and fell as the High Mages began debating amongst themselves, it was now an entire candlestick worth of time since they gathered, and the boy's legs had long fallen asleep when a sudden silence swallowed the room. Since her first words Elizabeth Lumendate had not spoken, she had simply held her staff and sat at the head of the Council table with her eyes closed while she listened to the various points and concerns listed. It was only when the candle behind her had gone out that she cleared her voice once and only once, the effect had been instantaneous. They all stopped talking and looked at her expectantly.
"Now that we have all the discussion out of the way, we must discuss the summons." Her eyes remained closed but she accurately pointed to where the boy sat on the floor, he had dared to sit despite not daring to take a step away from his post. "Pigeon, you may speak." she said in her signature gravelly voice that reminded him of cookies and hot milk. He quickly stood and dusted off his robes so he could bow properly towards the Council Table.
"Council, this humble one named Pigeon has summoned you to the Tower of Lumena based on the protocol and rules laid down by our founders. Lumena's Third Eye has opened and thus the great ritual must be completed!" Despite his small frame and simple mind, Pigeon was fantastic at memorizing things and had a booming voice when he wanted to. It still cracked every now and again, but since he practiced his official lines one hundred times every day, how could he not do it perfectly. He bowed again once he had finished his routine and all the High Mages nodded one by one before turning to face High Mage Lumendate.
"As I thought. We only have until the sun reaches the zenith of the sky before it begins. Each of you knows what must be done, do things accordingly. Every challenger has more audience members than the last. And after the travesty that happened last timeβ¦" she let out a bit of her magic, causing the others the flinch, "Don't blame me if this old lady takes some heads." A cold sweat broke out over all their backs, she had gotten stronger again, curses!
She stood slowly and pressure in the room at the table had already increased exponentially, thankfully she had control or poor Pigeon would have died straight away! It was only once they each showed visible discomfort on their faces that she snorted and waved her hand releasing them. They quickly stood and bowed.
"We humble mages hear and obey!" their words boomed in unison before the disappeared just like they came, with a puff of magic. Pigeon didn't dare lift his head until he heard the door shut behind her as she toddled out leaving the faint smell of brown sugar and cinnamon cookies.