Brian Pratt - The unsuspecting mage

After cleaning him up fairly well she says, “You will need to get him out of those dirty clothes and clean the rest of him as well. In the morning, I will bring clean clothes for him.” Getting up off the bed she says, “If he wakes, try to get him to eat and drink, at least drink if nothing else. I need to be downstairs and if you should require anything, send the boy down to me,” she emphasizes by pointing to herself, “and I shall get you what you need. Understand?”

“Yes ma’am,” James replies.

“Good. Now I’ll leave you to it,” Miss Gilena states as she returns to the door and leaves the room.

“What now?” Miko asks after the door closes behind her.

“I guess we better get his clothes off and get him cleaned up like she said,” James answers as he proceeds to remove Perrilin’s shirt.

“No, I mean about gaining access to the Royal Archives,” clarifies Miko.

When he removes the shirt, he looks with anger at the many shallow cuts and bruises dotting the bard’s chest and back. The cuts are obviously the source of the blood staining his shirt.

“They sure did a number on him, didn’t they?” Miko asks as he too examines the extent of his injuries.

“Yes they did,” agrees James. He takes another of the towels and dips it into the basin. Being careful so as not to reopen the wounds which have already begun to heal, he gingerly works to remove the rest of the blood and dirt.

“I think we will need to wait until he wakes before we do anything further about the Archives,” James says. “We’ll lay low until tomorrow and then when he awakens see if he can help us. Hopefully he will be awake by then.” Once he’s finished cleaning the wounds, James lays him back into the bed and places the covers once more up to his chin. Then he comes over and sits with Miko at the table.

Miko looks longingly at the food piled upon the tray and James says, “We may as well eat it, though let’s leave some for him should he awaken.”

As they eat, James asks Miko if he found out anything about Lord Colerain’s business in Cardri.

“It seems not much is known around here about Lord Colerain,” he explains between bites of food. “However, I did find out some things about a Lord Kindering.” Seeing the lack of understanding on James’ face he explains, “Lord Kindering is who Lord Colerain is staying with while he’s in town. I did find out that much.”

“Ah, okay,” James says understandingly, “go on.”

“Apparently, Lord Kindering is very wealthy. He has many different trading concerns all over Cardri and some even extending into the various kingdoms neighboring us.” Looking at James he says, “He even has businesses inside the Empire, or so it’s said.”

“Interesting. Did you find out what his connection with Lord Colerain is?” James asks.

“No, nobody seems to know much about that,” Miko answers. “However, some that I talked with seem to think that this Lord Kindering is on the shady side. Rumors are surfacing about dealings he’s had with slavers and smugglers.”

“Oh?” prompts James as he finishes the last of his share of the meal.

“Couldn’t find out the particulars, but it seems he is not one you would wish to cross,” he warns.

“Sounds that way,” James concludes. Seeing that Miko is done with his dinner, he says, “Why don’t you take the other bed, I’m going to be up for a while.”

Miko doesn’t argue, just goes over and plops down on the bed. As he lies there, he watches James as he takes the traveling case with the writing material in it and places it on the table. “What are ya gonna do?” he asks.

Opening the case, James removes a piece of paper, an inkwell, and one of the finely pointed quills. “I’m going to jot down some notes about what’s going on and different things. Just go to sleep and don’t worry about it.”

“No problem there,” he says sleepily. He lies there awhile watching James until finally drifting off to sleep.

James opens the inkwell and places it near his paper. Grabbing the quill he dips it into the inkwell and then brings it to the paper to begin writing. When the quill touches the paper, a big glob of ink flows off the quill and onto the paper making a great big mess.

This may be harder than I thought, he thinks. He dips the quill into the ink again, this time scraping the excess off before bringing it over to the paper. This time when he tries to write, he takes his time and manages to do a fair job of it. Though the letters are a bit smudged and fatter than they should be, he’s able to make out what is written. He spends a little more time practicing making various letters and shapes until he’s satisfied that he has the gist of it.

He then takes his practice sheet and puts it to the side. Taking out a fresh sheet, he proceeds to make notes on magic and the various spells he has tried along with their effects. How the magic made him feel, the effect it had on him, etc.

… It would seem that I don’t really need to use rhyme and meter to produce magical effects. I simply need to have a mental picture and a willingness to do magic, and then it happens. Perhaps the words are simply to help the novice practitioner maintain the mental picture as you do magic. Then once you grow in ability…

… the spells that continue in their effect, like the orb, seem to need a continual draw of energy from the castor in order to maintain the effect. Once you stop the flow, it ends. I have also noted that if you cast a continually active spell, yet don’t want the continual draw or the required mental concentration to maintain it, then the power used is much greater, and much more physically draining than the others. I believe this is due because it draws all the magic required for the duration of the spell at the time you initially cast it. Need to find a way to lessen the impact of those types…

When his eyes begin to droop and the yawns come with greater frequency, he sets the quill down. He inspects his writing and is satisfied even though it’s uneven and the letters are not formed properly. At least it’s legible. With more practice, he is sure to get better. More yawns escape him while he closes the inkwell, cleans his quills, and lays out his manuscripts to dry. He then comes over to the bed that Miko is lying upon and settles down beside him, nudging him to move him further over onto the other side of the bed. When he at last has enough room, he reaches over to the table, snuffs out the candle and quickly succumbs to sleep.

James is the first one awake despite having been the last one to bed. Miko’s snoring two inches from his ear was too much for him to take and once it grew light enough, decided to get up. At the table he takes one of the notes he made the night before and inspects his handiwork. Aside from a few globular letters his inexperience with ink and quill had produced, he is quite satisfied. A tentative touch reveals the ink has fully dried and so gathers the rest of his notes. He places them back into the traveling case along with the rest of the writing materials he used last night. Letting both Miko and Perrilin continue to sleep, he goes down to the common room where he finds one of the serving girls and arranges for their breakfast to be sent to their room. He then returns upstairs and enters quietly so as not to awaken the others.

Crossing the room to the bed, he moves to Perrilin’s side and lowers himself gently to sit next to the bard. Despite his best efforts, the motion of his sitting upon the bed awakens Perrilin. “Good morning,” James says. “How are you feeling this morning?”

Perrilin looks around the room, a little disoriented, unsure as to where exactly he is. Not sensing any immediate threat, he considers James’ question. “I’m alive,” he replies. “Other than that, not too good.”