In his native language, Joe spoke to Spooky in order to hide their meaning from Moes, “I guess the castle likes your spunk and doesn't want us to leave. Start establishing a government or, in six months, I will destroy myself! I’ll take my ball and go home,” Joe laughed to himself, “But, seriously, I didn't know you could bind people to an oath. And, how did you know he was a mage?”
“I didn't know I could either, honestly. That must be what my binding magic is for. I only wanted to hold him to an oath. That must have been when the binding activated. As for how I knew he was a mage, I mind-clicked him,” Spooky replied covertly.
Joe put his hand on his forehead and said, “Talk about a rookie mistake. I should have mind-clicked the moment I saw him. Oh, and feel free to be visible to whomever you want. It looks like we are sharing authority here,” Joe said.
“Yes, looks like we are. Though, for now, I'd rather keep my authority hidden if possible. Let’s have you be the face of our kingdom at present. I’d like to just let them think I'm the power behind the throne, instead of a part of the throne. Would that be okay with you?” Spooky asked.
“Sure, if that's what you want,” Joe agreed. Then, he looked in Moes’ direction and willed a mind-click.
Level- 58
Character- Moes Urgway
Race- Plains Halfling
Luck- 22
Profession
Alchemy
Gifts
Hide in plain sight
Magic
Master of spirit magic
Master of mind magic
Active Spells
Oath binding: Level 1
“I don't think I can see all of his information, but I can see your spell on him,” Joe said.
“Really?” Spooky said, as she mind-clicked Moes again to look at the new information.
From across the room, Moes turned toward them and bowed, “King Joe, you might not realize it, but a master of mind magic can feel when others push their minds on them. I would appreciate it if you stopped or, at least, asked my permission, your majesty,” Moes said, finishing with another bow.
“I appreciate the information Moes. We're still getting our bearings here. Admittedly, I'm trying to figure you out. Obviously, you're bent out of shape about the binding put upon you. I can't blame you, but you should know it was not done on purpose. That spell was the first piece of magic she had ever used. Again, sorry about that. Though right now I think I should be cautious, so even if we could remove the binding, we're not going to. We're also not going to ask you to do anything unpalatable. With that said, you should know that the king’s rule here is that people don't have to be polite or bow. Speak your mind without ceremony or fear of any punishment. I don't want anyone to cry out, ‘Help, help, I'm being repressed!’” Joe grinned, thinking of the old classic film.
Moes visibly relaxed, as he took a deep breath. “Thank you. I tend to say what I think, so your binding was making me feel like an overstuffed sausage. My tongue feels a little looser now and I can breathe easier.”
“So, you're a mage?” Joe asked, “That must be an exciting life.”
“What kind of question is that?! What are you going to ask next? So you’re a halfling, how's the weather down there? Void! I can't believe I got pulled into the summons. She is going to be furious,” Moes said.
Joe raised an eyebrow at this. Apparently this halfling was not a fan of small talk. In that moment, Joe made a decision to skip the pleasantries and get a little information out of this mage.
“It seems like you don't appreciate it when people are indirect, I can get behind that. Give me a brief overview of the magic system here. What magic choices are available? What are the limiting factors, and what do I need to do to start down the path of the mage? Also, is there anything special I need to know to get to the level of master, like yourself?”
Moes looked up at Spooky and frowned, “Is he serious? Again, with the irrational questions. You'll never be a mage. And, just so you know, your terminology is really weird. Magic system? Magic is not in any system. You're treating it like it's a simple thing anyone can use. If you want, I can give you a brief overview of the irrigation system my village uses,” Moes said sarcastically.
“Don't get hung up on his terminology,” Spooky said, “His question was not that difficult, talk a little bit about how magic works here. Joe might be kind, but you shouldn't try his patience.”
“It's a waste of time... but fine. You want me to go into professor mode, I'll go into professor mode. Most knowledge of magic is guarded. There are many books on the subject, though often they are hunted down only to be burned. The books themselves can be helpful, but just as often, they can lead you in the wrong direction. As I said before, magic is not simple. The reason I have objected to the term ‘system’ is because it implies concrete rules that can be easily understood. It's not something that is straightforward in its application or acquisition. Many have tried to apply rules and develop theories to understand and utilize magic more efficiently. The problem is, magic is like a language, where one word can have a thousand different meanings and the conjugation and spelling of those words can change depending on how you feel,” Moes explained.
Under his breath, Joe gave a slight cough covering his voice, “...like, English.” Moes, not understanding the reference, ignored him. As master mages go, Moes was relatively knowledgeable. When Moes said that magic was not a system and there were relatively few concrete rules, he had been right. Only, ‘had been’ is the key phrase here. When Joe and Spooky were summoned with their fantastical items, a UI was introduced into the world, or rather, moon. This UI was born from countless books and role playing games. It held more than enough information to categorize and systemize the magic of this plane. It would take time, but thankfully, the UI did not need to sleep.
“Magic can come from everything and anything. There are as many magic types as there are concepts or things in existence. Obviously, some things produce more magical energy than other things. For example, wind and water produce large quantities of magical energy. For some reason, like is drawn to like. These types of magical essences tend to be drawn toward each other and then form into rivers of power, called ley lines. Sometimes these lines of power intersect, creating nodes called places of power. These places of power can only be used by mages. Mages slowly absorb magical energy, called mana. This mana can then be channeled through whatever magical affinities the mage has. For instance, I have mind and spirit affinities. I was born with these specific seeds of magic already in me. All mages, like myself and Spooky, may increase the strength of their affinities overtime, but only with the magic they were born with.
“There are ranks designating the power of a mage,” he continued, “Novice, apprentice, journeyman, master, and illuminati. Most born with a seed of magic can eventually become a journeyman mage simply by the continual use of their magic. Novice, apprentice, and journeyman mages all use similar spells that somehow come to them instinctively. It is not the same with a master. Masters design their own spells. Because of this, a master may make a spell that is completely unique. I assume it is the same for illuminati, but I can't be sure as I've never met one. To become a master, like myself, you must commit to a tremendous amount of study and work. You must cultivate and grow your connection. Overtime your affinity can grow, enabling the master to design spells that suits his or her needs. A master, like me, can even filter and distill mana into their personal affinities. By doing this, I can create concentrated balls of magical energy,” Moes said, as he reached in his pocket and pulled out a tiny little orb of concentrated mind essence, “This ball can be used as a spell component, or as part of an item, or any number of other ways. The better the mage, the purer the magical essence. These are valuable, more valuable than gold. With that said, I will give this to you, if you answer one question,” he finished.
“Sure, go ahead,” Joe said.
“Why do you smell like the combination of a sleeping dra
gon's lair and an old expired elixir?” Moes asked.
Chapter 3 – Migration Set
On Gravin Moon.
In Gretchen’s Cave.
Day one, seconds after the conflux.
Gretchen looked at the empty ball-shaped hole where Moes had disappeared from. On her hands and knees she screamed like only a giant can. “Noooo! Not Moes!” she wailed while pounding the stone floor. Apart and entirely separate from Gretchen’s grief, other changes were at place in their world. The very foundations of the Moon began to shift. A great quake was felt by all and caused many in the cave to lose balance and cry out. Mercifully, before the cave collapsed and the people were crushed, the quake ended. Immediately forgetting about the quake, Gretchen looked around frantically and finally saw Ellena. Reaching in her pants pocket she pulled out Moes’ oldest spell book and handed it out to Ellena, pinched in her index finger and thumb. Ellena took it.
“This item has been in his possession for decades, it should be attuned enough to use a locator spell. Find him now,” Gretchen said with desperation in her voice.
“I will. My mana is not yet regenerated, let me use the intersecting ley lines to charge up,” Ellena said, stepping into the hole where the box used to be. “What? This is wrong. Anton come here. You should have to have enough mana for an analysis spell. Cast it on the magical node.”
Anton did so and then went pale.
“What it is it? Tell us,” Ellena said.
“Wait, no, let me cast one more time,” Anton said. He moved his hands in a complex pattern to form a more detailed version of the analysis spell.
“Tell us, Anton. I think I already know,” Ellena said.
“Yes, my lady. The power of these ley lines is gone,” he reported.
“The lines moved?” Gretchen asked.
“That is what I thought happened,” Ellena lamented.
“No, they did not move. That is not what I said. I said the power is gone. The lines are still here, they are just drained to almost nothing,” Anton explained.
“That's impossible!” Ellena said.
“It has never happened before,” Anton replied, “What could someone use that much power for?”
“They could do anything. They could create a star, if they were that skilled. How did this happen?” Ellena said with awe in her voice.
“Enough! We can talk about this later, how long till you have enough mana to cast a locator spell for Moes?” Gretchen asked.
“Sorry. One moment,” Ellena said. The elf then pulled out one of her lower power mana Regen potions and drank it. She then sat waiting for her power to reach the amount needed to find their friend. Soon she was ready and said the words while holding onto Moes’ book. The spell finished with the sound of a rushing river. “He is alive,” Ellena intoned, “Far to the west.” She took a drink of water, exhausted and in pain from emptying her mana twice in 10 minutes.
“The kingdom of Dollomar?”Gretchen asked.
“No, past that somewhere in the Wild Mountains. I cannot get a perfect fix. The mountains have always been a magical barrier as well as a physical one. There are paths through them, but they are cold and dangerous. Likely more so, after the conflux,” Ellena said.
Gretchen hugged herself as if for warmth. “It's so cold there, how will he survive? He has no provisions, and his mana won't last forever. I have to go to him. Now.” Gretchen said leaving that part of the cave to put together her travel kit. Anton looked like he was going to try to stop her, but Ellena raised her hand and he stopped.
“No need trying to convince her not to go; it would be fruitless anyway, especially since we will be going with her. And I recommend the same to all of you,” she said raising her voice at the last, so all could hear. Many shouted questions of shock and confusion. When they all quieted down, Anton brought to point the crowd’s most pressing question.
“Why should we follow? Would you have us become refugees?”
“The summoning we just performed was powerful. Much more powerful than we anticipated. It was so strong that Moes was somehow caught up in it. We don't understand what happened. We have no other leads then to go to where Moes was teleported. Maybe the Champion is there too. I don't want to go to the cold wilds. But if that's where our immortal Champion’s bind point is, the only place he or she will ever be reborn, then we have to go there,” Ellena said.
Anton looked at the place of power that was now so weak it no longer merited the name. In his mind, he was trying to figure out a way they could safely get to the Wild Mountains. If the cave still was a true place of power, they might have been able to teleport and get weeks closer to their destination. But, without a place of power to draw strength from, he would be hard-pressed to use his magic to move even a single person more than a couple miles. Much could be done with magic, but no well was inexhaustible. Ellena noticed Anton’s longing look at the former power node and realized his portal magic would be of little use for their journey.
Acid Lake, south of the Wild Mountains.
A few minutes after the conflux.
Two beings of energy congregated above the cold Acid Lake. They enjoyed the serenity of the deep blue body of water. It was so toxic that there was no life for miles in any direction. This stillness was pleasant for the life-sensitive beings.
“That was an impressive quake. It doesn't usually happen after a conflux. Did you get the power boost you were hoping for?” asked the being of gravity.
“I did indeed. I am thinking of pretending to be a god and forcing a few kings to destroy something,” said the being of contention.
“That is so played out. Every time the conflux rolls around, you use all the power you've gained to break something. No one's going to remember what you destroy this time either. It doesn't matter what you were told,” said the being of gravity.
“Hey, what goes up must come down,” Contention said.
“I believe I made myself very clear when I said that I did not want to hear any more versions of that joke,” said Gravity, as it left the company of Contention.
Even as the being was leaving, Contention could not stop itself from sending one last mental message. “Don't be such a downer,” it delivered. And with that, Contention left the lake and headed southeast further into the Wild Mountains.
The Wild Mountains.
Spirit Rogue base camp.
Just after the conflux.
Two rogues were whispering as they argued in their concealed tent. The senior, named Viola, was a dark-haired tan human. The younger, named Luger, did not look much different from her except that he was male. If you saw either of them on the street your eyes would glide right over them, and forget that you saw them. For any rogue, being nondescript was part of the job. They could be neither exceptionally beautiful nor incredibly ugly. For a rogue to be good at their job, they could not look as they were. Viola and Luger were not just average rogues. Both had been lucky enough to be born with a seed of spirit magic. Spirit Rogues were better at traveling unseen than any other class.
“Yes, I understand that it's critical information that a new Grand Place of Power just materialized in this valley. Dollomar needs to be informed. What you are forgetting is that it took us two weeks to travel here. We are now hours from getting what we came here for. We can get what we need and then we can head back. It will delay us a day at most,” Viola said.
“We need to get far enough out of these mountains to use a portal scroll to get back to Dollomar. I know how expensive the portal scrolls are and I know we can't use them until we're out of the magical barrier that these mountains cause,” exasperated Luger, “But, the new place of power represents a real danger and that's not even taking into account how valuable it is. Strategically, a day might mean nothing, but if the timing is wrong, it might mean everything. Are you willing to put the kingdom in danger?” Luger asked.
“Excuse me, apprentice? When have I ever allowed you to take that tone with me? I will answer that for you. Never. Listen
up. I understand that you are young, and super patriotic, but this is still a job. This is still about getting paid. You have been begging to come on a raid with me, and now you are going to break the first rule of any proper raid? Pull it together, apprentice,” Viola said.
“I am a journeyman, just like you, not an apprentice. And I am not breaking any…” Luger began before being interrupted.
“Chain of command,” Viola stated. Luger became quiet and stared at Viola. Finally, he replied with the only real response he could make.
“You're in command. What you say goes.”
“We finish the opp. After we have what we came for, and when we are out of the mountains, only then will we use a precious portal scroll to travel to Dollomar,” Viola said. Luger nodded his assent.
Third Elven Kingdom.
Royal Palace of Kiv.
Day one, hours after the conflux.
The high elf queen, Shimmer, looked down from her throne at the beautiful Champion she had summoned. The queen had been precise in her summons. She had wanted someone not just powerful, but also beautiful. For if the Champion was going to represent the Third Elven Kingdom, then the Champion’s appearance would be important. The Champion was a tall metallic gold-skinned beauty. Though she had no elven ears, she did have the high sharp cheekbones of an elf. Her hair matched her skin and was a shimmering golden blonde. Her arms were slender in their muscular strength and her shoulders were broad. She stood holding twin silver blades and breathing with an air of deadly grace. Suddenly, the throne room doors burst open, breaking the serenity of the moment the queen and her Champion were having.
“What is the meaning of this? I was not to be disturbed as I assessed our new Champion,” the queen thundered. The wizened, weather-beaten old elven mage, who had just entered, bowed before his queen.
You're Not Allowed to Die (The Twenty-Sided Eye Series Book 1) Page 7