A Sudden Announcement

As you work out how to get back to your dorm for some much needed rest to charge your mana and rest your mind.

Suddenly the ground shakes as a voice rings out, filling every inch of campus grounds seemingly originating from nowhere.

“Attention all students, the headmaster calls you to the dining hall for a feast in honor of another cycle, attendance is MANDATORY” the voice is almost incomprehensible, like a thousand voices each trying to talk over the others while saying the same thing.

With a sigh you follow your fellow students, the walk is surprisingly simply, all you had to do was walk into any given class room and quickly back out of it.

The dining hall is packed to the gills, just large enough to fit the entire student body along 4 long series of benches.

Towards the front of the room you spit a raised platform, presumably used for times such as this, nearly a dozen faculty members stand upon the platform, each seemingly as curious about this as you are.

Taking a seat at one of the long benches you settle in, looking to the plate in front of you, your taken aback, laying on the ornate plate is a strip of jerky, hardtack and 4 dried berries.

That’s it.

These are traveling rations, the bare minimum required to sustain a humanoid creature for a couple of hours.

Far removed from the decadent, gluttonous feast you had envisioned on your way over, and the faces of your peers seem to tell a story.

Your fellow new comers are as shocked and upset as you are, the upperclassmen on the other hand while disappointed don’t seem surprise, as though having expected this.

Suddenly you smell ozone, you look around and find your peers have the same look on their faces including the upperclassman.

There’s a flash of light out on the stage and all the candles in the room flicker before going out.

The smell grows stronger, almost unbearable as a new figure appears on stage, a large, floating head, one that constantly changes faces every few seconds, from man to woman, from orc to human to elf to cat folk and on and on.

The head speaks, its voice coming from all around the room at every angle, its voice constantly changing with its face.

“Greeting students… WE ARE… ThE HEadMasTER… Of WinterMoor Academy!”

There are murmurs among the crowd of students each of them transfixed upon the head as its large eyes scan the rows.

It adopts the face of an elderly human woman, her voice soft and grandmotherly.

“Now, we understand that many of you are taken aback and yes, it’s true that it’s been some time sense I’ve basked in the bright minds of the academy”

Its face shifts, an angry looking orc, nostrils flared with a cold tone.

“BUT MAKE NO MISTAKE WE HAVE EYES AND EARS ACROSS THE ACADEMY GROUNDS, NOTHING HAPPENS WITHOUT OUR KNOWLEDGE.”

There’s another shift, to that of a wood elf, her tone steady, calm and calculated.

“Now, Have Ye Any Questions?” The eyes scan the crowd as various students stand, eager for answers.

“What’s the state of the kitchen…?!” Says an upperclassman, waving a slice of jerky in the air for punctuation.

The face twists, the orc rearing its head again.

“THE THRALLS ASSIGNED TO KITCHEN DUTY HAVE SOMEHOW BROKEN FREE OF THEIR BINDS AND HAVE BARRICADED THEMSELVES INSIDE.” Thralls? THATS who’s been preparing the meals here?

Thralls surely couldn’t be that big a threat right? What’s stopping the faculty or even the security from pushing aside the barricades and taking back the kitchens?

Another student stands, a frizzy haired halfling who stands on her bench to be seen.

“What about the Nephilim? Are they going to attack again?!” The elf takes over for this question.

“The Creatures That Attacked The Academy 4 Cycles Ago Are Little More Wild Animals, Curiosity Drove Their Actions, Nothing More.”

It seems that the student body isn’t exactly content with this answer, nevertheless they continue.

“And Should They Return The Golems Will Have Little Trouble Trouncing Them Back Into The Void, Just As They Had Last Time”

The room is silent for a long time before the questions continue, as they go on you start to tune it out, mostly frivolous nonsense like if the Abomination Ball tournament will remain on the same schedule or if it’s allowed to go to the islands for potion ingredients.

Suddenly you hear another voice, one much closer to you and when you turn, your surprised to see a familiar face.