Take On Student Debt

Everyone goes into a LITTLE student debt during their time in the academy right? And it’s not like the other options are much more preferable being a quest where you could die and a volunteer job where you WILL die.

Besides it’s not like you’ll take much, you’ll be able to pay this off in no time, you just gotta put your nose to the grindstone and do your work, whatever that work is…

You arrive at the financial office of the academy, a large castle that distends out into the void of space, numerous security golems patrol around this area, seeing it as a place of importance.

You head inside, spotting several other faces, some nervous and some confident, though you recognize none of them you can tell they’re all in similar shoes as yourself.

Some seem to be waiting for a line to open up while others appear to have just finished their bargain, reeling in one of the plush chairs from the terms of their deal.

At the counter of each booth is a kobold, signature stone collar wrapped around each of their necks, intricate glyphs scribed into each one as they sit slumped in their chairs.

“Greetings, you’re here for financial aid, yes?” Her voice is gravelly and hoarse as though she had over exerted her vocal cords long ago and never healed right.

“Uh… yeah… just a little though… enough to get me by…” you say nervously shifting your weight from foot to foot.

She eyes you curiously before scratching something down onto a ledger in front of her.

“Very well… head inside and you may discuss your terms with Overseer Magdalene.” she says before gesturing to the far right side of the counter where a heavy looking door opens up, leading into the recesses of the building.

Your anxiety builds with each step, a pit growing in your stomach as you walk along, the refined marble giving way to stone flooring and uneven surfaces, transforming your surroundings from a corridor into a cave passage.

The path shifts and bends, sometimes demanding you to drop down onto a platform below and other times leading you to a short cliff that you must clamber up to progress.

With each step you can feel the ambient temperature rise and rise, your physical exertion doing nothing to stop you from building up a sweat.

Finally as you begin to fear you’ll develop heat stroke the passage opens up, a massive chamber lay before you, stacked to the limit with treasure.

Glittering gold and jewel encrusted finery stacked up into lofty piles that resemble rolling hills and great mountains, painting an interpretation of the natural world that could only come from those of avarice.

Then, comes a rumble.

A terrible tremor that very nearly takes you off your feet as the delicate eco system of the treasury is disturbed, coins skitter off high stacks, into obscurity, jewels are buried under what must be metric tons of silver and gold and fine china is dashed and ground up in the maelstrom; like waves shattering on rocks.

The first you see of it is its front claw, a positively monumental thing, capable of shearing castle walls and crushing buildings into a fine powder.

Its form is the stuff nightmares and heroic sagas are born from, though it’s hard to measure the great dragon must stand as tall as the highest spires of the school.

She is the great dragon, Magdalene.

Her scales are the color of blood or wine, each rippling rhythmically, as she takes your measure, her large orange eyes locking onto you, looking upon you as you would look upon an ant.

She opens her mouth and the entire room seems to rattle, grains of stone fall from above and the coins seem to vibrate with each of her words.

“Speak mortal, my time is infinitely more valuable then yours…”

Shaken from your stupor you state your reason for being here as best you can, her steely gaze striking at you, filling you with a feeling of being judged, and the notion that should you fall short, you will leave here with nothing but nightmares.

“I… I come here with hopes that you’ll be willing to part with the tiniest amount of your great horde… which.. which I’ll of course pay you back with interest..!”

“Of course you will, because should you not, I’ll personally see to it that there’s nothing left for the necromancy labs to resurrect.”

Her words are spoken with a degree of hollow hospitality, her eyes driving the point home further than a threatening tone ever could as they narrow at you.

Your heart quickens, your mind doing nothing to alleviate your fears as it cycles through the many ways it could kill you without breaking a sweat.

“But let us not get ahead of ourselves, hm? I expect you to repay me in full by the end of the month, and as gratitude for my benevolence, I expect you to bring me 50% interest in coins, jewelry or finery.”

50%?! That’s extortion, that’s criminal! How in the abyss are you, a junior scholar at a mages guild supposed to pay this back? Conjure gold out of thin air? There’s laws against that, go out on adventures? What creature, other then another dragon could possess the gold needed to settle accounts for even the lowest amount of coin you need..?

Despite the great outrage warning inside your mind, her words are firm, leaving you with the impression that there will be no haggling today. Perhaps it would be best to simply leave..?