TempusMUD

Year: 4270
Renold, Len and Gwen bid me farewell the next morning as I entered the basin portal to head back to my own time. Though I could not shake the feeling of being completely out of place in this past Calidan world, I began to miss my comrades. The hobgoblin raid would be one adventure I would not forget.
Professor Grange gasped as I exited the portal, dusting myself off.

“D-d-d-dear me!” he exclaimed. “You’ve made it back! I was worried.”

Dropping my pack and taking a seat, I gave him an “of-course-I-did” kind of look.

He demanded that I explain every detail of my story. From breakfast all the way to a lunch provided by the Soul Food Cafe, I told my story of brave, reckless adventuring and my own version of “getting the girl.” He was amazed, but after the shock of excitement wore off, returned to a gloomy disposition.

When I asked him what was wrong, he told me that the NEO Corporation was investigating the physics department. My trip through the time machine had spiked energy levels, bringing attention to the project. He feared an audit would bring ruin to his machine, let alone start some sort of diabolical project by NEO.

I began to clean my rifle of the hobgoblin blood, when the professor perked up, looking toward the stock of my gun.

He reached over and grasped something hard and white, stained in blood. It was embedded in the butt of my gun quite well. It took the two of us and a pair of pliers to finally loosen the object.

“It’s… a tooth,” he stated.

Duh, I thought.

He quickly rummaged through a drawer in his desk and pulled out the tooth he found from the E.C. Nuclear Power Plant.

“It looks like a match!” he exclaimed. “Quixen! You’re foolhardy, but truly a hero!”
I flushed with embarrassment. I didn’t realize smacking that hobgoblin in the face would deem me a hero.

“You’ve found a legitimate connection to the past. You’ve identified this mystery race! H…hobgoblin, you called it?”

“Yeah.” I replied. I couldn’t think of anything to say. I was still stuck on the “hero” part.

Al’Kaham.

After our discussion about the hobgoblin teeth, I asked the professor about “Al’Kaham.”

He replied that Mystran Magical studies were more of a specialty at the Cybertech Preparatory School. I thanked the professor for the chat and the meals and headed to the school.

Located southeast of Star Plaza, I entered the gates to the school and immediately toward a computer lab. I spent three hours reading about Mystra, old High Tower lore and magic, but found nothing on Al’kaham.

Shocked by the sudden noise and vibration of my phone, I pulled it out to check a message sent to me by Professor Grange:

NEO AT SCHOOL. COME.

I ran quickly, back to ECU.