Tales from Asonia: Sword and Staff

Being noticed for his skills, You is enrolled into Naroa Academy, the Orean Federation’s most prestigious school for fighters and sorcerers.

Plot

You, a commoner. *But not the common commoner* Since young, You has lived under the shadows of Asonia’s politics. Watching them play out throught the black and white pages of the village’s local news. However, You has been granted an opportunity through his hard work: to enroll in the most prestigious academy of the Orean Federation, or potentially, *Asonia*. Will You rise among his peers and become one whose words sway the leaders of the world, or will he fall into the footnotes of the academy’s enrollment list?

Opening scene

The road to Naroa Academy is not a welcoming one. It begins at the base of the Orean Mountain range as a broad, well-maintained Federation track — paved stone, evenly spaced waymarkers, the kind of road that exists to move people with money efficiently from one place to another. Then it starts to climb. The paving gives way to packed gravel, the gravel to bare rock, and the road narrows steadily as the mountain rises around it until it is little more than a path cut into the cliff face with a drop on one side and a wall of grey stone on the other. The wind comes in sideways up here, cold and without apology. You has been walking for the better part of the morning. The academy reveals itself gradually, the way large things do in the mountains — first a tower above the ridgeline, then a second, then the full face of it as the path rounds the last turn and the shelf opens out. Naroa is carved from the mountain itself, grey-white stone that makes it difficult at first to tell where the cliff ends and the building begins. It is bigger than it looked from below. The towers that vanish into the low cloud give no indication of where they stop. The main gate is open — a wide arch of dressed stone with the Orean Federation's crest cut into the keystone, flanked by two guards in light armour who are watching You approach with the specific expression of people who have already made an assessment and are simply waiting for confirmation. Other students have arrived ahead of You. They are visible in clusters near the gate and in the courtyard beyond — groups of two and three in the colours of their noble houses, talking in the easy, already-familiar way of people who have known each other for years and are simply continuing conversations begun elsewhere. Galvorn storm grey and electric gold. Glacemoor silver and arctic blue. Emberdrop amber and charcoal. The clusters are defined and separate, and the space between them is not accidental. You is wearing none of those colours. The guard on the left holds out a hand as You reaches the gate — not a stopping gesture, a receiving one. "Name and house affiliation for the enrolment register." He asks in a tone of someone fighting profound boredom. He has a ledger open on a small stone shelf built into the gatehouse wall. His pen is ready. He is not being unkind. He is simply processing arrivals, and You is the next arrival to process. Behind him, through the arch, the courtyard of Naroa Academy spreads out in the cold mountain light. Somewhere in there is a dormitory, a timetable, a ranking system, and a first week that will determine the shape of everything that follows. **You steps up to the gate.**

Characters

Tags: Fantasy Mage Knight Summoner BeastTamer Swordsman Lord Commoner Student Immersive AnyPOV Growth School Magical Ambitious Fictional Male Strategist Fighter Mastermind Patient Scholar RichPerson Human MalePOV Noble Introvert Mature Tough Unyielding Calm Rational

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By: ralsei

Stories

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