Chained Darkness

Life in strange new places can be hard. Getting used to the new rules, making new friends; after heading north to try her hand at the Imperial Academy, a young sorceress has run into a variety of problems; an amorous nobleman who won't take no for an answer, absurd requirements for entry to the academy, and ultimately a criminal trial after she tries to solve one of them; with an unlikely solution.

Terra had never met her grandfather;  his blood in her veins was likely the source of her power, but she'd only heard rumors from others, stories from her mom. When she was on trial, with her death seeming all but certain, she didn't imagine that anyone would be there to help her, much less her estranged grandfather.

After all; who expects sympathy from a devil?

((This story has a variety of sources; and is a mashup of various D&D campaigns I've run over the years, alongside a writing prompt from reddit. While the world does operate on levels, most people aren't aware of this; one of the major characters does, of course, have the ability to perceive and assign levels/stats to things)))