The Test

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When the party returned to Flotsam they were surprised find that they were no longer unwelcome (see "A Dungeon and a Dragon (Part 3)"), but were now hailed as heroes for rescuing all the prisoners from Brightstone keep (see "A Different Keep on the Borderlands - Part 3").

About one week later, while most of the other party members were training, Arterion received a formal summons to take his Test of High Sorcery (commonly refered to as just "the test") at a nearby location.

Arti was well aware that this was to be a rigorous experience meant to test all his skills and abilities, and that failure often meant death. With that in mind, Arti left behind
some of his personal possessions, including recent treasure the party had found in Brightstone Keep. With little fanfare, he set off down the path of his own personal destiny...

Ten days later, Browyn the Red, who had been mentoring Arti in Flotsam, informed the party of his apparent demise. Browyn didn't know the details what happened, but had been informed by the Order that Arti had failed his test.
The Test is one of the few times that I don't mind killing PCs (the other time being combat with a dragon). The "lore" of The Test, from various novels and game products, always emphasizes the deadly nature of this event. To capture feeling in my game, I pull no (or few) punches when it comes to keeping PCs alive.

The Test itself is actually a bunch of smaller tests, some of which are just annoying, others are dangerous if approached the wrong way, and a few of which mean certain death.

Overall I thought Julian did a good job playing the character and trying to solve the mystery (he did very well at the logic puzzles I included) , but ended up missing a few important clues and got involved in a combat that took a bad turn.

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