A Clandestine Meeting With Your RA

Something didn’t feel right about this, nothing you could prove, only a feeling like despite her poker face Nika was hiding something.

Reaching your dorm, you tap gently on the door, there’s no response, opening the door you step into what appears to be a forest.

Lush shrubbery box you in with a single pathway leading you forward, in the distance you smell the scent of burning torches.

You step along the path, arriving at what appears to be a tribal village, crude walls make up the perimeter, made from logs with sharpened ends, buried at odd angles and tied together with rope.

The entryway to the village lay open with a pair of straw effigies flanking either side, depicting headless and injured trespassers.

You move past the gates, examining the interior of the village, finding the contents of the village matching your expectations.

The buildings are largely consisting of teepees and mud huts, made from sown together leaves and tied together branches.

The only paths through this primitive village are wide patches of dirt that have been trafficked so frequently that grass refuses to grow anymore.

Peeking in a couple of the huts you spot very few furnishings, several tribal fetishes hang above the front entrances all made from a variety of monster parts and carved beads.

In the center of each domicile is a small pit, that holds a fireplace and that looks to have been recently used, the embers still smoking.

You move deeper into the village coming across a large bonfire that blazes like an inferno in the center of a sort of cal-de-sac.

Sitting at the fires edge on an overturned log is Nika, across her lap sits a thick tome, no doubt filled with arcane inscriptions.

Or so you had initially thought, as you approach you announce your presence at which point she slams the tome closed before setting it aside.

An awfully strange desire for privacy if all she was reading was some stuffy old grimoire.

“Greetings, let us get down to business, shall we?” She says as she gestures for you to take a seat on a chopped up log.

Using it as a stool you sit a few feet from her as she gazes into the fire.

“I regret to inform you that I’ve brought you here under false pretenses…” her tone is cold though you don’t feel it’s directed at you.

“I couldn’t allow us to be overheard in the dining hall… too many listening ears… too many prying eyes…”

“What’s this about Nika…?” You ask leaning forward a bit, feeling the heat on your face grow slightly.

“Guldrick Jultim… a fellow RA at the academy who oversees another floor… he’s become… an obstacle…” her eyes narrow slightly as she stares into the flames, no doubt reflecting her true emotions.

Before you can inquire she elaborates her statement. “He comes from an old dwarven family, his parents, grandparents and great grandparents all served in the war of the hoards, earning fame and wealth by slaying goblinkind…”

“I’m sorry to hear that…” you say hoping to offer some comfort when she turns her head to you.

“Make no mistake, this isn’t a childish attempt to ‘get even’ for a war that didn’t impact me in the slightest, I take umbrage with his foolish desire to carry on the family legacy”

“During the last three assignments I’ve led he’s purposely sabotaged my efforts to succeed”

“During rituals he started whispering nonsense to me, breaking my focus when I was trying to conduct a seance”

“During war magic he used an illegal move to paralyze me so I could not protect myself from his attacks, the ONLY time on my record I had to use the resurrection labs.

“And during alchemy he slipped the larvae of apis mellifera into my potion of dragons breath”

“How… exactly do you know he slipped that in…?”

“Because the potion of dragons breath is meant to allow the drinker to spit flames, not VOMIT LIVE HONEY BEES!” For the first time in having known her, you can see unbridled rage in her face, you’re taken aback by the sudden shift in mood.

Upon noticing her outburst she settles herself onto her log taking deep breaths.

“I…. Apologize, that was unprofessional behavior…” she says before staring back into the flames.

“It’s understandable to be upset… I’d be upset too if I were you…” you say hoping to reassure her that her feeling are valid.

You don’t get a response, she merely nods slightly, as though letting your words sink in.

“My plan is simple… I’ve procured a vial of fairy dust… you will sneak into his room and plant it in his bag…” she says pulling a small vial of glittering blue powder that glows faintly before tossing it to you.

You fumble slightly but manage to recover it, slightly taken aback by the shift in tone, you’ve never been near **** before, certainly not anything as serious as fairy dust!

“You… you’re trying to get him expelled…?” You ask staring down at the luminous blue dust.

“No, the faculty don’t care what the students do as long as it doesn’t interfere with the curriculum”

“Then… what’s the point of this then…?” You ask looking over at her confused.

She turns to look at you her eyes are dead and emanate a coldness tempered by a pent up rage.

“Old dwarven family, remember? If they hear that their son was caught with elven **** in his possession, they’ll disown him”

“Do this for me and you’ll be rewarded, if your not up to the task, I understand, but I expect you to not breathe a word of this to anyone…”

This is getting intense now, you came to this academy to learn and now you’ve gotten yourself wrapped up in a plot to frame a racist dwarf.

Technically speaking you haven’t done anything yet, you could walk out of this mess and keep your head down while this shit blows over.

Though, doing so would likely close off any chance of getting closer with your RA.