After wading through the crowds toward three consecutive inns and finding that they are all completely full, it occurs to Quintus that the party may have no choice but to stay at his parents' house. Though they no longer live in the mansion he grew up in since losing their fortune, their new residence ought to at least have room for six guests to stay relatively comfortably. That can probably wait until later in the day, though.
With Tarkus expressing a desire to enter the tournament, he and Quintus travel together toward campus, while Val likely remains in town for now in order to find a bookie ((roll Gather Information for that, in case you missed the edit in my last post. And remember that Gather Information and Knowledge Local are essentially the same skill in this campaign, except that one uses Charisma and the other uses Intelligence (as per the campaign rules at the beginning of the thread). For this instance, you would use Charisma.))
Sarm, Suvne, and Evaneth might go either way; that's up to them.
Quintus finds that making his way toward campus is much easier with Tarkus in the lead to "gently" push people out of the way, so he is content to direct the half-orc from behind, and before long they are passing between the two giant statues and into the wide-open gate of the Emerald Bay Academy.
The sizable campus is surrounded by a tall, stone wall, with gates in the south and in the north. It is much, much larger than the tiny campus of the Seminary of Pelor; there are numerous buildings spread out for at least a few square miles. The campus seems to be split off into two sections; one half is dedicated entirely to the magical arts and disciplines, while the other is essentially a training ground for aspiring martial combatants. The vast majority of students here choose one route or the other, and most of them know where they want to be before ever setting foot on campus.
Although there are still quite a few people out and about, everything is significantly calmer and more orderly within than it was outside.
Once inside the walls of the campus, Quintus gives Tarkus a rough idea of where he should go, and then the two split up. Quintus heads toward the building that should contain the office of his old faculty sponsor, Master Specialist Ridley - whose specialty just happens to be Divination magic. Ridley happens to be in his office.
"Quintus Mallory," the old man says pleasantly from his desk, without even turning to look as he is approached. "I've been expecting you. Let's see that pile of clothes, shall we? There is little I take more pleasure in than using my talents to hunt down criminals, in particular those who have cheated former students of mine."
The fact that Ridley already knew Quintus was coming, and for what purpose, is no surprise to the young wizard. Ridley has always made a habit of using his uncanny talents to preordain his own future. When Quintus hands over Rubio's shirt, the old man gets to work, casting the 8th level Wizard spell "Discern Location". The ritual takes about ten minutes.
"Here," Ridley says, his eyes closed, motioning for Quintus to come closer. When he does, Ridley touches his shoulder, and shares his vision with Quintus. In his mind's eye, Quintus sees the gnome, Rubio, laying out on a beautiful beach in designer swim trunks, flanked by two gorgeous, bikini-clad women - one tiefling and one elf (nobody that Quintus knows). The name of a town floats to the surface of Quintus's mind: Southport.
Ridley opens his eyes and terminates the spell. "There you go, my boy," he grins. "One troublesome gnome, ready to be brought to justice. I trust you'll do the right thing. So, how have you been over the past year? You must tell me of your adven---"
Ridley stops mid-sentence as he notices Quintus's hand. "What's that?" he says suspiciously, and immediately casts Arcane Sight upon himself. "By the gods, boy - what is that you have here? Its aura is unlike anything I've ever..." He trails off as he leans in to examine the Hand of Vecna closer. "This didn't show up in my vision of your arrival," he says wondrously. "If I didn't know better, I'd say there was some.... Oh my. Quintus, whatever this is, it's infused with some fiercely powerful dark magic. I'm amazed you're still... Ohh, I see. Protection from Evil, eh? Clever boy. Still, I'd be wary about keeping that thing on too long. With that level of power, I wouldn't be surprised if some of that corruption wormed its way through your protective barrier if given enough time."
The old man sits up straight again, and leans back in his chair. "As I was saying," he continues, "You must tell me of your adventures since leaving the academy. I'd be especially interested to know where that gauntlet you have there came from."
-----
Tarkus attempts to follow Quintus's directions, but still ends up wandering around a little bit until he finds the registration booth for the tournament. There is a line, but it's not too long, and after a few minutes he finds himself staring at a number of sheets, each one for a different tournament. There are quite a few more than were listed on the flyer; most of them are small side events, but there is one major event that seems to be a late addition: the Team Tournament.
Taking place toward the end of the last day (after the Open Admission singles event), the Team Tournament is a single-elimination, one-on-one series of matches. The teams can consist of anywhere between one and six members.
The prize structure seems to be bloated compared to the other events, as well; while the winner of each other major tournament earns 100,000 gold, the winning team of the Team Tournament gets a whopping 300,000. It's also noted that there is no entry fee for any of the tournaments; the event seems to make most of its money through ticket sales and concessions.
:slow clap: