Off the grid: Thunderwave

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The Wizard

When I first opened my 4e Player’s handbook and discovered that magic missile could miss, I was mortified. I almost swore off of 4e right then and there, but was somewhat soothed by the variety of at-wills available to the class.

Thunderwave especially caught my eye with its large area (close blast 3) and the potential uses of a loud magical push.

Thunderwave

The auditorium sounded like a den of rats. One hundred and fifty-seven quills scratching away at parchment all at once. Majiston scanned the room row by row. He could see from the students’ faces who was doing well and who was in distress. Most seemed to be at ease, but one student in particular was a bit too comfortable.

Four rows up and three seats over was a particularly short young man in dirty brown robes. His hair was in a greasy disarray and he was having a great deal of difficulty keeping his open text on his desk and still have enough room to write on the exam paper.

“Excuse me, you there,” Majiston waved his hand at the student. “You are not allowed to use the text on the exam.”

The youth looked up at Majiston before turning back to his exam. He flipped through his book and then back again, but didn’t close it.

“You there!” Majiston shouted a bit louder. “You’re cheating! You are automatically diqualified. Leave the room this instant!”

The student put his quill down and began to review his answers.

“Are you done then?’ Majiston asked.

“Oh, yes,” The student replied.

“Well hurry up and get out of here. I will not evaluate you.”

“I’d like to hold onto my paper for a bit longer. I think it’s very clever.”

“You’ve got some cheek, boy. If you will not leave, then stay silent so that your classmates may finish their exams in peace.” Majiston locked eyes with the young man. The youth had a slight smile at the corner of his mouth.

Steadily the other students began to finish their exams. One by one they made their way up to the instructor’s desk and left their papers before departing. The cheater remained, his gaze and Majistons locked together.

Once all the students had left the auditorium, the cheater packed his things and carried his exam to Majiston’s desk. He held it with both hands and placed it down with great care, as if it were some delicate work of art.

“Don’t litter the room! I will not evaluate it. You are disqualified. Leave my class.” Majiston waved the youth away.

“Do you have any idea who you’re speaking to!” The young man retorted.

Majiston almost lost his hat. The audacity. “Of course not!” he began, his mind grasping at the insults to hurl at the arrogant, greasy, first year student. The student lifted his hands from the desk spread his fingers wide and brought his palms together. A clap of thunder shook the room. The shockwave sent all the exam papers flying and Majiston stumbling backwards. The instructor’s leg caught the corner of his chair and the old man fell to the ground, sheaves of parchment raining down on top of him.

When the storm of paper cleared, the student was gone. Majiston rose and began turning over each sheet of paper. “Give me a name! Oh, for the love of Bahamut, give me a name and I’ll boil that boy in oil!”

The cheating student has successfully used thunderwave to mix his exam with those of the other students. The spell did a light amount of damage to the instructor and provided enough force to push all the papers into a complete mess.

Majiston does manage to sort the exams and put the pages together for each exam with a bit of divination, but without a name or personal effect, cannot identify which test belonged to the cheater.