Dinvyre

Every night at midnight, the purple clouds came out to dance with the blushing sky. They would follow the descending ridge to the north right into a predominantly human city, Dinvyre. The city loved the happy colored clouds for the first few days, but when the clouds became huge and so dark they were almost black the city folk became worried. The people of the city started calling it a curse.
When the huge purple and black clouds first covered a portion of the outskirts of town the citizens retreated further into the city. The few that stayed were almost completely trapped in their homes by the odd substance that fell from the sky. It was far from regular water. It was purple and it was as thick as molasses. The substance was quickly named 'the Ick'.
It took hours, almost a full day, to get to the citizens that were trapped by the Ick. It took just as long for the family's that got out, but needed to go inside their candied house for their valuables. It took nine full days for all of the houses to be opened just enough for the residents to get inside. The roads were covered in the purple goo too, along with trees, bushes, vehicles and anything else that had been left outside. That part of town was just abandoned.
The clouds continued to grow and follow the ridge north, but the winds always carried it west. West was open land for miles, east was Dinvyre and then a few other cities behind it. The University of Dinvyre, with an addition of several other universities, decided to send a team into the mountains to find what was causing the purple clouds. Their hypothesis was a build up of magical energies that would eventually dissipate with time. The findings were more ominous than that.
High in the mountains the team of scientists found a spot, perfectly circular, that would open every night at midnight and shoot a fine mist of chemicals into the air. After collecting a sample and testing it they realized it was a potion to cause clouds, but it had been tweaked. There was something invoking death thrown in the mix. The culprit could only be the Dwarves that were rumored to have lived in the mountain range. But they had been thought extinct for over a century.
The word got back to the military and they started to prepare for war. They sent their own teams to scout and investigate the claims. Based on the response, what they found was not good. They instituted martial law and declared a curfew of 7am to 7pm. They then began to draft the young of the city. Everything turned towards the war effort.



Jason Diggs was born after the war started. He knew nothing but fear and violence. His mother held on for as long as she could, but the cancer metastasized to her blood and she quickly lost the battle. His father had died in the war. The war that Jason would soon be joining.
It was the 5th day in the 2nd season, Age of Perilous the 1st, and it was someone's birthday. The special boy was to report to the Registry to fill out his papers. The military was already his life, though. When his mother died he was sent to a military school. The one good thing about that was the magic that Jason excelled at.
Jason was a born magician. He could conjure fire and water from thin air. As he got older his power over the two elements rose to such a degree that he could summon a wall of fire or freeze a lake solid. His mentors thought he would be very useful towards the war effort. And they were right.
Jason signed his life away at 11:09 on a Tuesday morning. He was then shipped to his advanced school for magical aptitude. The first perception was a large hanger meant for aircraft, but once inside it had a warm rustic cabin feel. Just inside the door was real wood lining the walls. There was a wooden ceiling and floor, too. The wood led Jason down a hallway that opened up into a large room covered in wood and stone. There were rows of benches with the first few full of different people.
Most were human, but there were several Orcs and Elves. And they all seemed to be his age. Then he realized this was today's round up of eighteen year olds. He settled in behind a large Orc and waited for whatever came next. He looked over the others as best as he could from behind the green behemoth.

"Attention recruits," the silence was broken, "I am Captain Huella," a short man, wearing a military uniform covered in medals, stepped out of the shadows in front of them, "All of you are here because you are the best, of your age, at magic. Some of you may know that our enemy doesn't fight themselves, instead they send out mechanical men to fight for them. We can shoot them and blow them up all day, but if we don't pierce the gem inside, we don't win. Y'all, on the other hand, can disrupt their magical properties and finish them with ease." The Captain then pointed at the Orc sitting in front of Jason. "You there, hiding behind the Orc, what is your name?"
'Damn it' Jason thought to himself before answering as he stood up, "Jason Diggs, sir."
"What can you do? Come show your fellow classmates." Captain Huella motioned towards the front of the benches.
Jason bowed his head and made his way down the aisle before turning around. He cleared his throat, spread his hands out passed his sides and closed his hands into fists. White and light blue mist started pouring out of his hands. He waited for it to reach a healthy stream and then started spreading it everywhere in a seemingly choreographed dance. Once the mist made a ball around him it solidified. There was now an almost clear spherical shell around Jason. An orange light started to grow inside the shell and soon the ice began to melt. The figure inside stomped and cold water exploded over the room leaving an aura of fading flames.
Everyone was now covered in water. Jason held his breath as his classmates paused to look at one another. The largest Orc in the back started to laugh and then the rest followed. The Captain was even amused by the show of power. Jason then tried to return to his spot behind the Orc.

"That was nice and all, son, but I was hoping you could show us something deadly." Captain Huella asked as he grabbed Jason by the shoulder.

"Sure."

This time Jason put his hands out in front of him and began to concentrate. The water that covered everyone started to collect on their bodies and begin to flow back towards Jason, leaving his classmates and Captain completely dry. Before collecting into a tight ball the water turned to ice. After every drop turned to ice and collected into that ball it changed shape into a spear and jettisoned itself at the wall. It made a deep thud as it dug itself into the wooden wall. The classroom erupted in applause.

"I can make and control water and fire." Jason declared to the class.

"Now that is what I like to see!" The Captain yelled, "Now take your seat for roll call."

After everyone else was introduced and declared their powers with a quick demonstration they divided the group into the healers and the fighters. Jason obviously went to the latter. Then the fighter group, now down to 6, was divided into 1 vs 1. Jason was paired up with Gorleth, or Goliath like he grunted, the giant Orc he had tried to hide behind earlier.

"I's sorry for hurting you now." Goliath said before getting into a fighting stance.
"Good luck, Goliath." Jason replied as he turned to the side and raised his hands in front of his chest.

Goliath laughed as he charged at Jason full speed. Jason just threw his hands forward, releasing a torrent of water. When Goliath was sufficiently covered in water, throat to toes, Jason merely made fists and the water turned to ice. Goliath was trapped.

"You think ice stop me?" Goliath grunted before struggling just a bit causing the ice to crack, "Ice not stop Goliath and ice won't stop mechanics man."

Goliath launched himself at Jason again. Jason created a quick bubble around him, like earlier, which stopped Goliath. The giant Orc began beating down on the shell of ice which surrounded Jason. Though faint, the rest of the class could make out the blurred image of Jason charging an attack. Cracks formed where Goliath was pounding down on the top and the bottom appeared to be crumbling too. The spherical ball exploded, like earlier, but instead of going everywhere it focused on the Orc's hands and feet and made him pause. The water turned to ice and just before Jason released his charged move the Captain appeared out of nowhere and redirected Jason's blast at the wall.
The wall caught fire. It even began to spread over the walls. Leather prints caught fire and burned to ash. Then the fire was just out and the wall and leathers were back intact. A few students clapped at the magic and looked at the Captain to see if it was him.

"Magical building." Was the Captain's reply before turning back to Jason, "We don't do death blows here, Mr. Diggs."
"It wasn't a death blow," Jason said, "I was going to cover him in lava and then freeze him in it."
"That would be a death blow, Mr. Diggs, Goliath is not immune to lava." The Captain yelled as he threw the hand he still held towards the ground.
"Yes, Cap'tan, I know magic" Goliath grunted.
"Yes, what? What do you mean Goliath?" The Captain asked with an intrigued smirk.
"I's immoon'd!" Goliath grunted proudly.
"You are?"

The Captain was interrupted as Goliath started to yell. It was less of a yell and more like a harmonious tone. His body started to glow a pure white and radiate heat in all directions. The temperature stopped rising and Goliath shut his mouth.

"I's immoon'd to evray thang!" Goliath grunted as he beat his chest.
"How about we jump a few days and get straight to the arena?" Captain Huella asked, rhetorically.

Captain Huella gathered the 6 fighters and had them follow him out a door that magically appeared in the wall when the Captain got close. The door was plain, but behind it was impossible. They stepped into a full military base. They were outside, it appeared, and they were standing next to a seemingly insipid building with a sign stating REGISTRATION. They could see 5 buildings spread out in front of them and a dirt circle far out to the left of the building they just left.

"Um … what the f…" Someone started.
"Luck be our maiden, the field is free," Captain Huella said before addressing their confused faces, "It is a magical building. Stop acting like you have never been in one before."
Several people mumbled something along the lines of "I haven't".
"Well, now you have been," Captain Huella stepped towards the dirt circle and lines up his recruits, "On the count of three we are going to race to the circle. You can use your magic to aid you in the race, but you may not use it to hurt or hinder your classmates, understand?
Resounding "Yes, sir."
"1 … 2 … 3"

The Captain cleared the 200+ yards in seconds. Goliath was behind him having started off with a monotonous howl. Then there was a tie between what turned out to be twins flying on the wind it seemed, an elf named Lykinos having transformed into a full sized dragon, a human named Samantha running at full speed, no magical aid, and finally Jason, with no magical aid. When Jason eventually arrived to the circle everyone was making fun of him.

"I guess when you have two amazing abilities with no effort, you don't have to keep in shape." One of the twins hissed.
"You want me to show you the effort I put in," Jason growled back.
"Excellent idea, Jason," the Captain said as he approached with a devilish grin, "As I was telling your … faster classmates, this ring is just as magical as this building. Inside this ring," Captain Huella motioned to the rune covered stones that made up the divider, "You can not be killed." He paused to look in each of his students' eyes. "As long as you are wearing the corresponding vest." He motioned towards a rack with over a dozen vests. "Everyone, go put one on."

The students obeyed the orders and fetched the vests. Once on they returned to a line in front of their Captain.

"I am interested in seeing Goliath and Jason Diggs go all out." The Captain smiled before ushering the other 4 recruits to the stone steps that acted like bleachers.

Goliath jogged towards the other side of the field, more than 100 yards away, and Jason just aimlessly walked around until Goliath seemed ready. He then started to jog at the near 7 foot tall green skinned behemoth. Goliath was making a new noise and heading right at Jason, a pure red aura lining out the giant as he stomped down his prey.
As Jason approached his classmate he began to shoot basketball sized frozen balls. The red line around Goliath grew in brightness each time the ball of ice got close. Jason watched as they melted before impact. A few ideas flew around in Jason's head as his giant classmate kept running straight at him, but he ended up pouring lava out of his hands and made a makeshift wall.
Jason threw up a few walls of cooled lava to try and get a second to think. A growl echoed around the magical compound and the walls crumbled in two swift fists. Now Jason was shooting lava straight at Goliath and like he said, he was immoon'd. He literally slapped the lava out of the air before it hit him. The monster reached his prey and leered down upon him. He raised his fists high in the air, smile plastered on his face, and brought them down in a powerful swing. Just before green flesh met brown flesh, Jason blew out over his pointer finger, nonchalantly, and quickly encased Goliath in a thick smoke. Goliath, now blind and coughing from inhaling a lot of smoke, fell over to his knees.
Jason blew the smoke away and jumped at the chance to smother the Orc in near sun heat plasma. He used four times as much lava this time to trap him. Jason stomped and the lava turned to rock. Goliath caught his breath after a few moments and started a hearty laugh. The laugh turned into another sound from the giant's throat. This time it started low and increased in volume, causing Goliath's body to increase in size. The igneous rock started to splinter and eventually shattered, leaving the even bigger figure to slowly stand up.
Goliath had a large toothy smile, making him even more intimidating. He then straightened to his full height, now over 8 feet, and leered, once again, down at his opponent. Jason accepted the fact that he was about to be hurt. He wasn't going to run from the beat down. Goliath was faster, so he couldn't even if he wanted to.

"Okay guys, that's enough," Captain Huella yelled over at them, "Y'all are at a standstill."
"Sir, Goliath has me," Jason interrupted, "He won."
"That is nice of you to say, Jason, but based on what little I have seen I am sure you would have attempted to trap him again, correct?" Captain Huella replied.
"I had nothing. My attacks were useless against him." Jason admitted.
"So that was your best?" The Captain asked.
"Yes, Captain, sir." Jason said, dishearteningly.
"Then we are going to have to change that, aren't we?" The Captain declared before turning to the rest of the class, "We will turn you into trained killers in no time, recruits. Next up, how about the twins?" Huella asked rhetorically again, "You two are fighting each other, got it?
"Yes Captain." came the reply in unison.

Jason and Goliath took a seat as the twins started walking into the circle, vests gleaming in the sun. The slowly shrinking green behemoth slapped the scrawny human on the back.

"U's fight gud." Came Goliath's grunt of approval.
"Thanks, but you had me fair and square." Jason replied as he watched the twins fly at each other.
"Secret," Goliath leaned over and whispered before lifting his right arm, which was clearly scorched, "My magic, run out."
"That looks bad, Goliath," Jason said, shocked he could have won with his mini sun.
"I's heal good … stronger!" Goliath growled as the twins were full out fighting, throwing punches and kicks in a rhythmic dance.

The two sat there watching the twins landing blows with the occasional blast of fierce wind. It wasn't long before Captain Huella stopped the fight and instructed the last two, Lykinos and Samantha, to enter the circle. Lykinos jumped up with a prideful yell and ran to the other side of the circle. Samantha reluctantly walked into the circle.
The new combatants squared up, 30 feet apart, before they both sprang into sprints. Lykinos transformed into a giant wolf, where Samantha gathered energy into the palm of her hand. Closing into less than 10 feet and Samantha threw the large pure white energy ball at the enclosing wolf.
The wolf yelped out in pain when it tried to evade the ball but ultimately got hit on the side, knocking him off his accurate path. The ball melted as it hit the side of a transfigured elf. Samantha was already charging up another when the wolf transformed into a massive dragon. Instead of the dragon he used earlier, this one was more like a giant flying snake.
The dark red flying worm-like creature slithered through the air and opened its large mouth and spewed fire towards Samantha. Her second energy ball became a large umbrella that redirected the flowing flame. They too, kept coming to a standstill, which caused the Captain to call it.

"Okay recruits, we are getting close to lunch. I will finish showing you around afterwards." Captain Huella stated as he motioned for the 6 recruits to follow him. They headed towards the long building in the opposite corner of the compound.