Kaiimar, Leva 26

Theril flies invisibly into Kaiimar in the early afternoon, with Preemptive Strike already in effect. Rondus of course has been installed for four days in the room of a young man in the merchants' quarter whose mother wanted prayers said for his welfare by a priest of Matorath the Warlord. His personal effects include a set of crossbow quarrels -- though he owns no crossbow himself -- prepared for the ritual magic with which he intends to enchant them. Elsewhere in the city, Faxandu is hidden deep in a dark room beneath the ground, still ritually preparing herself for her service to the Dark Lady Nahl, preparing herself to don the robes of night and join perhaps the oldest, least-known priesthood in the world above the ground. Thaqz, Berlokh, Glaxtiks, and Daryan meet one last time in the outer city to make sure they all understand the plan, their points of rendesvous, their backup and emergency plans, discussing everything with each other and a beautiful disembodied voice that is comfortable and familiar to them all, known to Thaqz and Glaxtiks as long as anyone else's in the world except each other's.

They split up shortly; Theril flies, still invisibly, to meet Rondus in his room, while the others head out to find carts of goods in which to smuggle themselves -- with their weapons and equipment and the dog (drugged for the time being, in Berlokh's charge) -- into the merchants' quarter. They choose carts full of bulky objects with bored-looking guards, wait their chances, and slip aboard, then just wait in hiding as the carts carry them slowly toward the merchants' quarter wall, and on into the economic heart of the city. Everything goes smoothly until the cart of furniture and upholstery in which Glaxtiks has stowed away stops at the gate to the merchants' quarter, and stays stopped, and someone begins to remove the cover -- it quickly becomes clear, as the cart's bored guards lounge and wait, that the men at the gate have selected that cart for a thorough random inspection. Glaxtiks is too well-trained to actually curse, even under his breath, and he doesn't waste a moment in responding, but he does reflect, in the back of his mind, "I really don't like this city."

Simple Utility Spellweaves

These are slightly more advanced general-purpose spellweaves known to Theril, Nimlo, Dargon, and Quix, mostly with primarily peaceful uses. These reflect the same types of changes mentioned under "Basic Spellweaves" below. Again, note that these are very basic descriptions; the specific extent and limitations of these spells, even when woven in their normal forms, are rather more complicated.

Delay: A "nasty little meta-spell" taught to Dargon and Quix by their draconic tutor, this one has a simple effect with extremely complicated consequences; it is cast in anticipation of another wizard (friend or foe) releasing a spell, and holds that spell dormant, if one is cast, for just a few seconds, then releases it normally. Only Dargon and Quix have learned this one thus far.

Enhance Second Sight: Enhances the wizard's sorcerous vision so as to reveal all power sources (and therefore the objects or creatures that generate them, and the natures of those objects and creatures) and spellweaves nearby, whether they are in the wizard's line of view (or visible) or not. This is another spell that seems to fall short of what Theril can do naturally.

Field of Light: Perhaps the most stable and elegant spellweave ever devised, this spell efficiently converts ambient magical energy into light energy, effectively turning everything (including air molecules) within a wide globe into a tiny light source, rendering the entire area as bright as a cartoon day. A simple modification to the weaving process allows the spell to be released in such a way that everything in the area will absorb light instead of emitting it, much like the less-powerful Shadowcast spell; Field of Light (and Field of Darkness) can last indefinitely, so long as it remains in an area with any ambient magical energy.

Ice Lattice: Fills an area with gigantic ice crystals, constantly dissolving and regrowing, trapping and holding any creature caught in the affected zone, that last up to eight hours in typical weather if not destroyed. The ice is formed from sorcerous power and not actual water, and is therefore rather unstable, especially in the presence of extreme heat; it tends to explode and vaporize upon the introduction of flame.

Illusory Visions: May be woven in any number of different ways for different optical effects; the most open-ended allows the wizard to actively design the appearance of the target area into anything desired, though the spell collapses as soon as the wizard ceases to do so. It can also be woven so as to create "hands-off" illusions: It may be woven around a creature or object (or the wizard) to create one or more illusions that imitate the subject exactly while the spell lasts, or it may even woven tightly into a tiny and unmoving but essentially permanent illusion.

Invisibility: Renders its subject -- an object or creature of reasonable size, or part of a larger inanimate object -- completely invisible while the spell lasts. It provides better camouflage than mere transparency -- an invisible creature swimming underwater would not appear as a giant air bubble, for instance -- but does not affect objects or pieces dropped by the subject (e.g. an injured character might leave a trail of blood, and rubble would become visible upon falling from an invisible wall) or anything picked up after the spell takes effect, and is unstable enough to be broken by direct or indirect contact with an animate being, or by any action involving the release of significant physical or sorcerous energy.

Invisible Messenger: Calls a tiny, invisible, more or less mindless being into the world; it will stay only long enough to hear the wizard's instructions, travel to the destination described (up to a few miles away), and repeat a few words or sounds that the wizard instructed it to repeat, in the same voice and intonations used by the wizard.

Magic Bag: This spell enchants the wizard's bag so that anything placed inside it effectively shrinks in weight and volume to a small fraction of its size. This allows tricks like pulling a floor lamp out of a handbag a'la Mary Poppins, but (also a'la Mary Poppins) the more the wizard stuffs into the bag, the more difficult it will be to find anything inside.

Mind Reading: This is the spell Nimlo used back at the old pirate isle to check for possible recruits, test pirates' loyalty, and generally cause massive quantities of mayhem. Notfrank still hasn't lived down Nimlo's claim that, when he called himself Frank, he was thinking with smug pleasure that he had concealed his true identity. This active use is actually a somewhat dangerous application of the spell, not that Nimlo cared in the slightest, as some beings can turn the active version around on the caster, or even expose him to thoughts that could impair his sanity. The spell can also be used passively however, to find the source (and existence) of any active malice being directed toward the wizard in the immediate vicinity.

Personal Levitation: This specialized version of the Resist Gravity spell allows the wizard to drift up and down through the air in spite of gravity, and more or less at will, though slowly. Daryan and Osiavia say that this is a very common spell in the far eastern lands where they were born, but it's still mostly significant as a precursor to Flight.

Personal Seal: An altogether superior version of Time Seal, this spell is extremely stable, and is meant to keep the wizard's most prized personal effects safe from examination or tampering. It lasts indefinitely -- standing dormant whenever the object it enchants is open, only to seal it again as soon as it is closed again -- and allows the wizard to open or close the sealed object without affecting the seal.

Telekinetic Trigger: A modification of Minor Telekinesis and a classic example of the use of sympathetic magic, this spell can activate virtually any simple device, from turning a door's latch and swinging the door open on its hinges, to cinching and buckling a belt, to cocking and firing a siege engine or crossbow.

Vermin: Essentially a cousin of Bewitch, but specialized to attract much simpler creatures that are much easier to compel, this spell attracts huge numbers of small, biting vermin to an area of the wizard's choice nearby.

Wood Haven: Theril learned this spell from the elves in Grat'ha, and has put it to nearly perpetual use ever since. It creates a small secret room inside a tree, though in some cases much larger than the inside of the tree itself, opening a knot in the trunk as the secret room's "door." Only Theril has managed to master this spell so far (well, Theril and Quil...).

Basic Spellweaves

These are the simplest spellweaves known to Theril, Nimlo, Dargon, and Quix, and often the ones on which more powerful, complex spellweaves are at least partly based. These reflect the changes we discussed ages ago (not the abortive ones we rejected recently) that resulted from the fall of Isiyes and the change in the way Black Steel wizards deal with magic; in some cases, of course, the changes are just the spellweaves' names. Finally, note that these are very basic descriptions; the specific extent and limitations of these spells, even when woven in their normal forms, are rather more complicated.

Bewitch: When people claim a friend of an accused witch is "under her spell," this is the spell they mean. Contrary to popular delusion, this spell does not make the victim the caster's slave; it just tricks the victim into trusting and liking the caster, and works best if the caster can maintain the illusion of being likable and trustworthy to him.

Cloak in Shadow: Pasha Zavalier claims to have developed this one while perpetually drunk. It creates a small zone of shifting, flickering shadow, generally around a target creature, who can see into and through the spell's shadows, though their darkness is otherwise impenetrable to human vision. Only Theril knows this one.

Confer: Allows the caster to converse with one or more nearby targets in near-silence; possibly the original basis for Theril's Assurance, but at several removes.

Contribute Power: Boosts the power of a spell being cast by another (willing) wizard (if he is sufficiently skilled to control the boosted spell) but makes the caster of Contribute Power completely vulnerable to the spell thus boosted if it is cast upon him. (The history of this one is even more complicated than the details of how it works...)

Decipher: Allows the caster to see words written in invisible ink or otherwise concealed through chemical or certain kinds of magical trickery, and to correctly interpret magical runes or too-ornate-to-read, sloppy, worn, or otherwise damaged letters, so long as enough remains for the spell to get a grip on their intended form.

Deflection: One of the three basic defensive spells, this one generates a continuous field of force around the caster that attempts to knock attacks aside -- like judo to Force Block's boxing.

Enchanted Runes: Encodes a brief message in runes that can be interpretted only by the caster and a person or group of his choosing, with whom he is intimately acquainted (but also to anyone using the likes of the Decipher spell). Various enchantments can be included in the runes, so that they glow faintly, are invisible except to sorcerous vision, or even seem to burst into flame upon being touched.

Fire Show: Allows the caster to cause flames to dance and leap, glow bright, die down to nothing, or any combination, in any order, while the spell lasts. The effects are mostly visual, used to control the light level in a local area, to impress an audience, or both. Only Quix and Dargon know this one.

Force Block: Another basic defensive spell, and probably the one on which Pasha Zavalier based Preemptive Strike, Force Block lies dormant until someone or something tries to strike its subject, then instantly generates a counter-force to try and push it away. Unlike Preemptive Strike's, the resulting force isn't very powerful, and doesn't reach very far, but it can operate several times for a single casting if not broken down.

Illusory Sounds: Generates noises of the caster's choosing, potentially including speech; the more familiar the caster is with the sounds being made, the more convincing they can be.

Minor Telekinesis: Allows the caster to lift, push, and move things around in his immediate vicinity (or the area where the spell was released) without touching them, by means of mere words, glances, and gestures. The spell isn't capable of fine manipulation, and breaks down if resisted by a living being.

Protective Charm: The third basic defensive spell generates an all-purpose defensive field that (weakly) resists not only attacks on the caster but even magical spells.

Resist Gravity: The simplest artificial force spell, mostly notable for its presumed association with the development of Flight.

Second Sight: Enhances the caster's sorcerous vision to aid in identifying power sources and spellweaves. Theril seems to have no need for this spell, as ever since the fall of Isiyes, she seems to see deep into the magical world naturally.

Shadowcast: Fills an area with impenetrable shadow, as everything in the area, including the air molecules themselves, absorbs all light that reaches it.

Sleep: Works on the minds of animals to send them into sleep. Though most sentient beings are animals, their minds are much more complex than those of nonsentient creatures, and it takes tremendous skill or a personalized effort to make this spell work upon them.

Spellstrike: Directs the energy of the spell's power source directly against its target's animating energy. It leaves no wounds, but can be debilitating or even deadly to living, undead, and magical beings alike.

Time Seal: Often used for privacy (of person or of letters during delivery), or to guard objects or records under the caster's protection while he weaves other spells or engages in other attention-intensive activities, this spell seals an object (e.g. a book, door, drawer, envelope, etc.) so as to prevent it from opening (even for the caster) until the spell expires.

Werelamp: Causes a small (part of an) object or creature, or a point in space, to glow like the wick of a small lamp, shedding light and casting shadows normally, but consuming neither the "wick" itself nor fuel of any kind, except of course for magical energy.

Telaeri's Report on Reilahren

Sitting down with Herring, Theril, Rondus, and Fraegan in the cabin of the longship, Telaeri spends the better part of the day explaining what she knows about the culture, rituals, and leaders of the Reilahren tribe, as well as its trade network representatives. She's learned a lot in the month she spent there, and tries to give Fraegan the benefit of as much knowledge as she can convey in -- and that he can retain from -- a single morning and afternoon. She's much better at communicating visually than verbally -- part of the reason her answers to Theril's Assurance are not among the best -- and conveys the characters of the people she's describing more completely by emulating their body language and facial expressions (often coupled with those typical of tribe members who approach them) than she ever could with words alone. As she explains the tribal culture, it becomes increasingly clear as well that, largely by happenstance, she was the perfect choice for first ambassador to the tribe, since Reilahren's is a deeply visual and tactile culture; Telaeri spends twenty minutes, mostly with one or both of Fraegan's hands in hers, just helping him understand the hugely significant, sometimes non-intuitive meanings of different kinds of pressure and motion in a handshake. She teaches him to recognize the tribe's many ritual dances, some religious, some ceremonial, some apparetly means of self-expression, communication, community building, and even decision making, not by description but by demonstrating them, sometimes with Fraegan himself, teaching him the simple steps of the dances in which he'll most likely be asked to participate.

Fraegan's a quick learner, and he drinks in Telaeri's knowledge with intense concentration, but something more is happening: He didn't want the Grat'han assignment originally -- he was hoping to work in a civilized country -- and accepted it in the end only because Matrix insisted he was the right man for the job, and that it was his best chance to advance in the foreign ministry and eventually be appointed to more important (and civilized) posts. He intended to do the best job he could, and was glad of the opportunity, but his enthusiasm was not for the job itself -- just for using it to help his career and his country. By noon, as he learns from Telaeri, Theril can see that his whole perspective on the assignment has changed. Matrix explained that the trade network and even the Reilahren tribe itself represented a real power in the region, and in some sense a real and civilized country, so of course he knew that already, but if Theril is reading him correctly, something in learning the details of Reilahren's culture and society, or something in the way Telaeri is teaching him, has made him feel it viscerally. Theril herself communicates much better verbally than otherwise, but she hears it in his word choice, among other things: The ambassador to Reilahren in abstract changes for him from "you" to "me," and there's even a shift in the questions he asks and the way he uses "we" that implies he's no longer just thinking, "What does Matrix expect of me here?" so much as, "How can I best use this to strengthen Black Steel in the region?"

It may be a tough assignment. Especially as she goes into details of specific meetings she saw or in which she participated, Telaeri keeps building context for her explanation about the trade network, demonstrating and explaining the things she saw so that Fraegan -- and Herring and Theril as they watch -- can follow the line of evidence for themselves, to see if they reach the same conclusions that she does before she says anything to bias them as to what those conclusions might be. And as dusk begins to gather, and Telaeri closes her eyes and breathes deep, and finally says, "I hope that's enough of the background," Theril can see at least a part of the picture already.

"They're a serpent cult," Theril offers. "Their metaphors, especially the ritual ones, suggest it, but those things you showed us in their dances..."

Telaeri nods, glancing at her. "Absolutely. Not on the surface, but it's deep. Once you see it, you can see how it goes all the way to the heart of their rituals. And you can see how it changed. A lot of those dances were different, and I can see how the old forms have been changed to serpent themes."

Herring raises a brow. "Llaesira explained a little about that sort of thing, but she said it's a very old religion in the jungles. Are you certain it's a recent change?"

Telaeri nods. "You can't see the the old ways at all from the children, and they're obvious when you watch the elderly. It must have changed within the last generation or two at the earliest."

Herring takes her word for it; if nothing else, Telaeri is Black Steel's foremost authority on the art of the dance. "Still, at least it isn't menacing. Snakes don't mean the same thing in Grat'ha as they do to us."

Remembering, Theril suggests, "Perhaps they're just returning to that old religion. Llaesira was telling us about the serpent fetishes in the trade network; even where the religion isn't actively practiced in Grat'ha, serpents are symbols of protection and good luck."

Telaeri slowly nods again. "Maybe in Llaesira's part of the jungle at least. She's out where it's really just a trade network, at least mostly, where maybe someone like her really /can/ have power -- the kind she uses, at least. This deep in though, it's a whole different world. I don't know how much Llaesira even knows about this; the network people here don't work the way she does, and the guy with the serpent teeth, the one she thinks is her equivilant, isn't anywhere near the top of their food chain. He wanted me to think he was, but he couldn't hide ... well, the excuses he made when I talked to him about things he wasn't expecting, just dances and rituals and things; the way he reacted to different situations; his body language; the way things changed when other serpent people were visiting; I don't know if I can describe it all ... but he definitely had superiors, and there were a thousand things he couldn't do or even talk about without getting a decision from them. He was ready for all kinds of questions about trade and power and military forces, but he didn't know what to do with my interest in the culture; I'm not sure he ever even understood it properly. If not for that -- say, if I was like Llaesira, always just talking to him about trading partners and things -- I might never have found out he was working for anybody but him."

Fraegan shakes his head slowly, meeting her gaze. "I don't get it. Why would they care if we know who's in charge?"

"I don't know," Telaeri answers. "It doesn't make sense to me, but it doesn't leave me inclined to really trust them. They seem to want outsiders to think of them as just a trade network, but at least in Reilahren village ... well, you noticed it, Theril. The Reilahren tribesmen are a serpent cult, but they never dress up as serpents; I'm pretty sure it would be sacrilege. And the network people aren't snake worshipers at all; they just /look/ like serpents -- /all/ of them do, at least a little; every one I saw, and every one I heard about. What's more, if you actually watch them interact, the more they look like snakes, the more real authority they have, in the network, and over Reilahren. The tribe doesn't just use serpent symbols and use snaky rituals and things; they practically worship the serpent people from the network, like demi-gods or something. Even the tribal chief is terrified of them -- not just worshipful; you'd have to see his eyes: It's /fear/, even when they aren't around, of doing something they don't want, and just of them." Telaeri spreads her hands. "There's more. I wish I had more time to give you all the details. I'm not sure if I'm explaining properly. As far as I can tell, they don't trust us, and they want to hide a lot of things about their organization and their power from us. And I have to say, because of that, I don't feel like we can trust them." She takes out the flask of nectar and sets it on the table. "Certain things, okay. Of course this will be what we asked for -- why wouldn't it be? -- and I never felt like I was in any danger myself," as her eyes go to Fraegan, "or like you would be. But they're way more interested in Kaiimar than they have any reason to be -- not by their words, but you can /see/ it -- and I don't think what they want there and what we want can work together. With Llaesira, okay, but with these guys ... even if they don't take part in our battle -- and I have a feeling we'd better not really ask them for that, or even give them the chance -- I think it's going to take some doing to convince them what they really want is just trade with the city."

Major Encounter, Leva 22

Having tracked the "Holy Grat'han Bandits" to the cave where they're hiding out, the Rat Pack (accompanied by Nimlo, Terryon, Charracks, the gargoyle, and a number of not-so-holy, non-bandit Grat'han friends) assembles the makings of a huge bonfire, together with long torches, stretched fur pelts, and countless other pieces of ritual paraphernalia, especially including some huge jungle drums. They dress in slightly modified versions of the wolf and wolfman costumes they brought back from Night Harbor to wear for last year's Feast of the Veil, and start up the fire, pounding on drums, dancing, screaming, shouting, howling, and generally carrying on in a hodgepodge amalgam of every Kerranas ritual about which they've managed to learn in the past few days. Smoke rises from the bonfire flames, the drumbeats and dancing rise to a crescendo, and from the midst of the smoke, a shadowy form emerges: A massive head and shoulders, with long, clawed, powerful arms covered in fur, its mighty torso disappearing in the grey billows below. Its head is like a ravenous wolf's, with huge rams' horns curling behind its ears and the antlers of a ten-point stag rising before them. The figure of Kerranas lifts its hands to the sky ... and begins to dance in time with the Rat Pack below. Only Nimlo is not participating now: He, of course, still swaying devoutly, has all his attention on the cords of sorcerous power he's weaving and reweaving, tugging at them like marionet strings, to maintain and direct the illusion.

The dance continues, still with no reaction from within the cave, and finally the image of Kerranas rises up, and with a grand gesture, points a single claw at the center point between the cave mouth and the low hill where the Rat Pack arranged their props. With a roar, dressed up in his wolfman costume, Jimmy charges down the hillside, leaps to the space indicated by the apparition, throws his head back, spreads his clawed hands from the elbows, and howls to the sky in challenge. Again the apparition points to the space where Jimmy now stands, but there is no response from within the cave. Frustrated, Charracks calls upon Vammakhel to fill the cave mouth with blinding light, revealing the Grat'han bandits standing within, then calls on her once more to bring terror upon one of those revealed; the Grat'han screams and cowers, apparently from the image of Kerranas, and flees into the darkness beyond the blazing light; the others mutter together and beat a hasty retreat deeper into the cave, back out of view. Rubbing his chin, Terryon works a spell, and as he moves his lips, a deep, growling voice seems to come from the sky: "Accept the challenge, or be held forfeit by the power of Kerranas! Send forth thy greatest warrior to prove the right of thy cause, unless thou wouldst abandon thy faith!"

There is no response from within the cave. The drumbeats grow lower and more menacing, and Brette says to Terryon, just conversationally, "Hard to imagine them mustering much religious fervor after that, though."

Terryon shrugs, looking every bit as disappointed as Brette and the rest of the Rat Pack. It's Charracks, voice dripping with sarcasm, who says, "How unfortunate that the plan failed," and goes on in his darkest tones -- the ones in which he shows pleasure -- "We'll have to kill them then."

As the drums continue, Jimmy stalks back to the hilltop, and joins Charracks in leading Miw and the gargoyle down the back of the hill and behind the cover of a nearby ridge (where they pick up a group of ogres already posted there by Charracks) to come to the hidden back entrance of the cave, known to Jimmy and the Rat Pack since their survey of the region a few months back. When a quick investigation reveals that the passage appears unguarded -- perhaps all the bandits went out front to see the show -- Charracks calls upon Vammakhel once more, to bring silence down upon the cavern entrance. Normally, this miracle is wrought to prevent the screams of Vammakhel's victims from reaching the wrong ears, but the purpose that Charracks intends in this case is also quite appropriate. He returns to the hill the same way he came, to find the bandits are still quiet within. He dispatches horses and wagons to bring more wood and bales of straw from town, and Nimlo begins to unravel a handful of spellweaves, and creating other weaves from their strands. There is a period of tension on the hilltop, but no faces emerge in the cave, and eventually Miw returns to report, "We close it. They still put on rocks, but Jimmy say me go back."

Charracks permits himself a grin, and directs Miw to burning logs from the fire, more logs left by for fuel, and bales of straw left by for exactly this purpose: One by one, the giant takes them up, and flings them into the mouth of the cave. Those not ignited by the flaming logs themselves soon catch fire anyway as fire arrows fly and lodge themselves in the straw. Charracks stares in as Nimlo weaves and the Rat Pack grimly drums and looks on ... and just as the fire inside the cave is beginning to really blaze and smoke, a cheer can be heard from within, and a torrent of water pours down from the ceiling, rising in hissing billows of steam, extinguishing the flames. As darkness falls within once more, with water still dripping from the ceiling into the standing pool below, Miw hesitates, a log still poised in his hand. Looking uncertainly at Brette, he asks, "Uh. Should I throw this?"

Charracks scowls. Mac tells no one in particular, "I liked our plan better," still drumming, going strong.

Still weaving his new spellforms, Nimlo cracks a smile.