“Ah, wizard Rayid, the elves, and my nephew have told me about your odd witticisms.” Lord Traser said as he dismounted his own warhorse, assisted by two sets of helping hands, one holding the horse's bridle, the other steadying their lord. “We have been in council together all morning, we missed you there. I take it you spent your night among the common folk?” I nodded sagely, or at least as sagely as I could. “Handing out spells and useful wisdom I have no doubt.”
“Wizard Rayid is by far more powerful than any other spellcaster this town has access too, save perhaps your high sun-priest,” Salina said as the other elves filed in behind her. “I would accept his wisdom, and his decision to stay the night outside of your hospitality my lord, not as an insult but as a boon. No doubt whatever he did after he left your manor was a great blessing to your people.”
“In truth, I tried to find my sword, Sparks, to no avail. Though I am assured by your Steward that if it is found It will be returned. For that, you have my thanks” I bowed respectfully, but not obsequiously. This man was a town lord, not a king. Even if he was a king I probably still wouldn’t bow lower. My egalitarian roots ran far too deep to allow that.
“Then, my companions and I went and found a quiet piece of floor in a nearby tavern, and fell asleep almost the second my head hit the wooden floor, only waking this morning out the sound of a bell and the shrill voice of your cryer shouting your order for everyone to assemble here. I had no thought for niceties, I'm afraid. You will forgive me I beg Lord Traser? I fought three battles yesterday, the one here was by far the largest, but it was not the first.”
“Three battles? And you did not go mad? With how much magic my men report that you were using yesterday, a normal mage would have been at risk for such a thing, or so I'm told. You must even now still be exhausted.” Lord Traser said, handing his helmet to one of the two squires who had assisted him off his horse.
“Exactly why we found the accommodations on the floor of a dusty tavern acceptable. It was shady, out of the way of the workers working, and quiet.” In truth, I was still tired. But, my circadian rhythms are as hard as steel at times. When 4.30 am comes around I will wake up. Whether I go back to sleep? That's a completely different story. On days like today and nights like last night, it can be a real pain.
“The dreams of deepest sleep can help to ease the burden that magic has on a strained mind,” Lisander said from behind Salina’s right shoulder. “The body naturally seeks for deep sleep quickly, after a fight. That urge doubles when magic is involved.”
Lord Traser nodded, “Fair enough. No offense was intended, and no offense was received. Though you would have been welcome guests in my manors deeper chambers, and still are at but the uttered request.” He nodded to me and my companions in respect.
With that, Lord Traser stepped up onto the small stage and lifted his arms to the sky to gain his folk’s attention. The stage could fit maybe two or three people at once and was made of nailed together wooden crates covered in a white tarp drawn taught over it and nailed down. They couldn’t have their lord giving his speech from the ground or from some box filled with vegetables after all.
He began giving an impassioned speech about grief, the pain of loss, the mercy of their sun god Dominus, and the river goddess, Riceera, at least I think that was her name. She was a local goddess of fish and rivers I gathered before I got distracted.
“We met in council this morning with his lordship and several of his best knights,” Salina whispered to me. She kept the consternation at the word best, that I knew she must have felt, away from her tone masterfully.
“Yeah? How did that go?” I asked.
“Well, we believe we have located the Necromancer's lair.”
“Really? Where?”
“To the south-east at the base of the guardian mountains on this side of the river, are some old dwarven Dow’del ruins.” I gave her a funny look. “Oh right, I forget you are new to this, region, of the world.” Michif filled her eyes as she spoke. “The Dow’del are an old clan of wood dwarves who use to live lives very similar to the cutters of the hollow.”
“Except much longer.” I offered.
“Just so. They lived all along the river banks, cutting and planting trees and forests. The foundations of our own Lo’sar forest came from the small forests they planted along the great river as it flowed west, and harvested with regularity. They would harvest, plant the area, then leave to the next spot, in a constant rotation.”
“So…” I let the implied question sit, but she refused to take the bait. “What happened to them? I suppose there is a reason you are telling me all of this.” She gave me a particularly potent angry side-eye.
Pro-tip, don’t piss of a cranky, millennia-old archmage with the ability to bend space at her whim. Particularly early in the morning after a night where she didn’t get enough sleep. I took my own advice and stopped digging. See? I can actually be wise some times, I'm not always making it up as I go along. I thought to myself as I fought back the urge to run far, far away.
“They all died,” she said tersely. “Tragically, no one knows exactly why or really cares. No one really pays attention to this part of the world anymore. It's basically seen as a wasteland filled with barbarians and barely civilized settlers.”
“You’re talking about Laketown and Cutters Hollow?” I asked.
“No, I'm talking about Lo’sar and the Twins. Laketown and Cutters Hollow are the barbarians to most outsiders. If they only knew about the goblins, the horse lords, and all the other borderline psychotic groups of beings out there…” She trailed off shaking her head sadly.
“Point is, the Dow’dell were seen as the last real civilization in the area after the burning of Ti’kal, the Kobold Kingdom of Rainbows, the fall of Raw’bin, the lion-man's empire, and before them the genocide of the Pervolins thousands of years ago.”
“As each one of them fell, the outside world lost more and more interest. Anyway, the Dow’dell ruins are everywhere along the river from here to the Krag itself far to the north, where the river first forms. Their ruins are often inhabited by ancient evils, hibernating monsters, or can be found to be hiding ancient treasures behind deadly traps and constructs. The Dow’dell might have been wood dwarves, but they were still master crafters of the iron beasts who saw to their defense.”
I nodded. “Anything else?” I asked.
“Yes, the Lo’sar council has decided to send some five ranger squads to assist in the extermination of this creature. That's nearly half our forces, some forty rangers. Laketown can bring some thirty men-at-arms, around seventy militia that won’t be needed for the cities defense, and some twenty archers. All led by Knight Commander Tegan Traser, the lord's nephew.”
“We’ve met. I’m trying to recruit him. But the guy is stubborn, or held back by duty I think.” She smiled at me. It was a tired but genuine smile, filled with understanding. Understanding of what, I wasn’t quite sure.
“Already trying to bring people under your wing, are you? Tol’geth was right when he recognized you for what you were.” I raised my eyebrows in confusion. “A wizard. Wizards usually show up just before things start going badly. They assemble heroes from all, and strange walks of life, and then vanquish the great evil that plagues the land.” She said putting a hand on my shoulder comfortingly. “Or conversely, go mad and become or join the very evil they were tasked with preventing.”
“Oh, well, that's comforting,” I said wryly. “I will be remembered in song and story for either totally kicking butt and saving the day, completely mucking it up and failing at my one job, or failing so spectacularly that I go insane and descend into evil dark lordship.”
“That's about the whole of it.” Lisander agreed from behind both us. I turned my head and saw she was standing next to Tol’geth and had been listening. I felt a smile cross my lips at the sight of her and saw one tug at the edges of her mask of professional elven calm.
“Well, it sounds like an adventure. Cou
nt me in. Speaking of mysteriously vanishing people, any sign of the civilians that crossed the river?”
“No signs. Though the area is rocky, that many people would have left some trace, but the rangers are at a loss.”
“When do we leave to attack?” I asked, eager to be about the thing.
“As soon as this is over believe it or not. The Laketown folk are desirous to revenge themselves upon the foe. The knights regret not being able to properly fight the enemy in open combat, due to their responsibilities protecting the commoners during the Manor battle. Lord Traser has pledged to lead the calvary, some 10 lances, meaning about twenty riders, into battle himself. Noble of him indeed.”
“Yes, noble.” I nodded sadly and went back to listening to the speech.
We were eventually all called up to the stage one at a time, and in a ceremony that was both as rushed as it was pompous, given a medal, a blessing by the town's sun-priest and river-witch, the title of the priestess of the river goddess, and then quickly shuffled off with a proclamation of thanks and a quick listing of our services to the town. These each took maybe four or five minutes, and by the end of the speech and award ceremonies, and the short saber-rattling speech by Lord Traser, nearly an hour had passed.
When it was all done, the townsfolk quickly dispersed back to their assigned tasks, body disposal, building repair, or back to the boats to fish to feed the town. Once they were clear, the Laketown contingent quickly gathered in force. Each archer had a full quiver, each knight or town guardsmen, what few men were left from that broken institution, where each armed and armored with the best the town could muster.
They wore gleaming plate, supported by chain shirts and thick gambison that covered the exposed areas the plate didn’t cover. Large teardrop-shaped tower shields on each arm, spear in the other, and short sword or other melee weapons on their hips. The young Knight Commander Traser, inspected them, making corrections where needed in a booming voice that reminded me of drill sergeants back on Earth.
Lord Traser for his part waited atop his massive horse, his heavy cavalry forming around him ten men strong. The lighter cavalry, the squires to the knights, attended each of them. According to Lisander, they would fight as well, but their role would not be in the initial charge, but rather mop up and support duty. If a knight got unseated or was beset on all sides, it would be the duty of their squires to rush in and save the beleaguered lord.
While everyone else was mustering, Ailsa, Tol’geth and I rested. We conversed lightly with our elven and new townsfolk friends, and chatted amiably with those around us, sitting in a shady spot on the edge of the public “square,” that was far more like a circle. We sat together chatting under some trees next to the river. That’s where the steward from earlier found me.
“Master Rayid?” He asked trying to get my attention. I lifted my head up, I was lying flat on the ground trying to get out of the growing midday heat.
“Just Rayid,” I instructed him.
“Well, yes, sir. Well,” the steward stammered.
“Stop tormenting the poor man, wizard,” Salina told me, from her perch in the shady tree. “Let him do his job and stop being a pain in his rear end.” She said this in elven, to snicker's from the other elves higher in the tree, or laying with me in the shade.
“Fine, you can call me whatever you want. What is it?” I asked trying to be polite despite the man interrupting a rather pleasant nap.
“Well, good wizard, the repair and cleanup crews found a few items that might be of interest to you, and, our elven guests.” I perked up at the thought of loot. It was one of the few things I had regretted. The pace of the battle had required that I not stop and loot the bodies as I normally would have done.
“You had my attention, but you now have my interest,” I said as I sat up with a grunt of effort. “What did you find?” The skinny man, dressed in a black uniform trimmed in white, which must have been blazing hot in the ever-warming noonday sun, laid down a bundle that clinked as he moved it.
When it opened, I whistled. First, I found Sparks. It had been cleaned, sharpened, and oiled. I picked it up and quickly put it back in its sheath on my hip.
“Salina? Lisander? Do either of you two want to take a gander at these?” I asked. Salina groaned a no, eliciting a chuckle from most of the other elves around, but Lisander jumped from the top of one of the trees, landed on her feet like superman with no ill effects whatsoever, and knelt down to examine the other objects with me. She smiled at me and turned her gaze downward at the objects laid out before me.
Her sudden presence had startled the little Steward, but he quickly regained his composure. “These if they are of any use to you, are the fruits of combat fairly won. They are yours to do with as you want.” The man bowed to me. “If you need anything, please do not hesitate to yell for me, I will be attending the lords who are a horse at the moment.” I thanked the man, and he turned and left.
“Hmmm. These are interesting. You see these two?” Lisander pointed towards two amber crystals similar to the one my staff still sported. “They are crystals just like yours, except better. They can each hold more, this one close to eight hundred mana, or eight spell slots, and this one nearly sixteen hundred mana, or the corresponding spell slots. Far more interesting, however, is this,” She picked up a rough red crystal that seemed to pulse slightly with energy. “It's an elemental node crystal.”
“Wait, you mean like it's one of those things that in order to summon creatures, I have to connect too?” I asked confused.
“No, and yes. Node Crystals are crystals that form around elemental nodes, which are just lakes of mana, kinks in lay-lines where mana pools and becomes more concentrated. A node is formed when enough concentrated mana is compressed into a single elemental portal that connects that lay line even more strongly to the elemental plain that gave it birth. Ley lines, as you know, or should by now if you have been reading as you should, are flows of energy that come from elemental sources on Ethria.”
Lisander shifted slightly, sitting down next to me, instead of kneeling. “A fire elemental source could be something like a volcano, or a burning coal mine. Ley lines become permanent fixtures when they connect to nodes, which tie them to the elemental plain they are affiliated with. Now, these crystals form around active nodes. They are the discharge, for lack of a better term, of the oldest nodes, expelling impurities in the hearts of their mana. But these impurities are still encased in unbelievably potent mana. This!” She said holding out the red ruby excitedly.
“Now, none of us” She gestured to the other elves and Salina. “Have any use for this particular one. It's for…” She smiled at me almost wickedly. “... fire magic.” Once she said that the rest of the gear, several small daggers, one of the shaman staffs, now crystal-less, and a few other nick-nacks that were probably in some way magical, held no luster for me. Ask any man, from teenage boy to eighty-nine years old. Fire is fun.
It took a few minutes of convincing, and almost outright begging for me to convince her to fix and upgrade my staff. When she finally caved, like nearly everyone there knew would eventually happen, she laid my staff and the three new crystals out in front of herself.
Lisander closed her eyes, and after a few seconds, she began to sing. The trees the other elves where resting gently swayed to the song, the grass seemed to grow greener, the clouds whiter, the river bluer, and my staff began to grow.
First, the wooden casing that held the first storage crystal opened up, and Lisander gently pushed the branches aside as if she were molding clay instead of shaping wood, all while singing. The first of the new stones she put directly above and to one side of the old, the second amber crystal she introduced directly next to the first, this one was larger, but not by much. As she held them in place singing, the new growth wrapped itself around each, holding them tightly, the wood forming magical bonds. First to each crystal, and then between them.
Lastly, she pulled the red ruby off of the small cloth
in front of her and introduced it to the mix, at the very crown of the staff. Her singing grew deeper in tone, sounding more like a deep drum then the light song of birds as it had just a moment before. The new vines grew thicker, and deeper and richer in coloring, as they wrapped themselves around the last of the gems, and held it in place. When the last vine finished growing, she began to knead the entire thing like you or I might doe. She molded the wood, pushing the crystals together so they were touching.
Finally, the song came to a climax, and the head of my staff ignited in a small flame that didn’t go out. The song and her work came to an abrupt halt and she held it out to me beaming. “Here! What do you think?”
I took the staff, now with a perpetually burning head, into my hands and got the following prompt.
“Congratulations! You have received Wizards Staff of Elemental Fire. Special Effects: Spell Storage Slots Available, 29. +15 damage to any fire magic cast using this staff as a medium. +5 fire damage to any damaging spell stored in staff. This staff can be used to cast Jett of Flame 1 at will 4/day as if at the user's fire magic skill level.”
I looked at more of the details in the item description. It as the same as its previous incarnations in every respect, save what was listed on the prompt I had received. I looked at Lisander in near shock, then in a rush I wrapt her in a tight hug. “Thank you! This…” I didn’t really know what to say, so I just squeezed a little tighter before relenting.
Lisander gently pulled away “Well,” She said a little taken aback. “You are most certainly welcome.” Her cheeks flushed slightly red
I leaned back and said, “This is by far, one of the greatest treasures I have ever been gifted.” I checked quickly and found that the spells I had stored in the crystal had been eaten up in the upgrading process, but that didn’t dampen my spirits at all, I had plenty of time to re imbue my staff before we had to go into any danger. I wanted to run around and test it out, but I knew I needed to save the spells and the staff special abilities for when they were truly needed.
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