Tartum leaned back in his seat and looked at the stack of new spells in front of him. Seven new spells and instructions on how to create a magical ring. Not a terrible haul, considering the rush he had been in. Opening his packs, he pulled out the three spell books he’d been able to grab in his haste. Two of them were black, leather-bound tomes that were weathered with age. They were both lined with bright yellow edging. The words on both of them were more like hieroglyphics than any words Tartum recognized, and he couldn’t make heads or tails of any of them. Opening each book, he wasn’t surprised to find that the words inside were in the same hieroglyphic text as the cover. He was a little disappointed but put them in his “keep” pile with the eight scrolls. He figured, one day he might find a way to translate the books and then who knew what secrets they would reveal to him.
Pulling the final book out of his packs, Tartum rested his eyes on the cover. There was an incredibly detailed image of a dragon roaring at him embroidered in the leather cover of the book. The book itself was large and had hundreds of yellowing pages inside of it. Tartum remembered taking it out of the bottom of one of the bags of scrolls. The image of the dragon had caught his attention, and he hoped it was an ancient caster’s prized spell book or research notes. Opening the book he discovered that just like with the other two books he couldn’t understand the words written inside its pages. He wasn’t as discouraged as he was with the book with hieroglyphics. This one was at least written in a dialect that looked somewhat familiar. He could make out the individual letters and assumed it was just in a different language like Elvish or Dwarven. He figured he would show this book to Rashlarr and ask him if he knew the language written on it. With a satisfied smile, Tartum put the books and the scrolls carefully into his packs. He didn’t have his own spell book with him, or he would have bound the scrolls to it right then and there. Bundling up the larger pile of scrolls that were useless to him, Tartum placed a ward on the packs containing his new treasures and left the room to deliver the rest of the documents to Savall.
He found him exactly where he left him, at the same table, reading through the papers they had recovered from the bishop’s desk. He was drinking what smelled like a strong tea out of the tankard he had traded with him for. Tartum cleared his throat so Savall would notice his presence.
“Hey, Boss, got a few more documents here. I took a lot from Wyndall’s office and had hoped these were spells. Turned out to be a lot of ledgers and to-do lists, really.” he said, as he placed the stack on the far side of the table. It was the only place not covered in documents.
Savall finished reading the paper he was looking at and looked up at Tartum. “Get any good ones, son?”
Tartum smiled, “I got a few I’m looking forward to trying out.”
Savall grinned. “I’ll bet you are. Might be a few days yet. I’m concerned, son. It’s been almost a full day since the mission and not so much as a patrol has been seen past the market area. I figured by now the streets would be swarming with guards doing random building inspections, searching for us. So far…nothing.”
Tartum considered what Savall had said; an idea popped into his head. “Well, think about it, Boss. The bishop is embarrassed that he was robbed, and he knows that whoever did it found his hidden room and stole many, if not all, of the incriminating documents he kept in there. We trashed his rooms, so maybe he simply closed the door to his hidden office and told everyone to keep quiet about it. Imagine the fear it would instill in the populace if they found out the beloved bishop of Saroth had been robbed by a master thief. Imagine the trust the people would lose for the king’s ability to keep them safe if it became known that someone, or worse, a group of people, waltzed into the bishop’s personal chambers and robbed him. My guess is, he’s keeping the heist secret and now waits for whoever it was that stole from him to contact him with ransom demands. I’ll bet he’s curled up in a ball somewhere right now, panicking. No, I don’t think having the guards raiding the city would be the way to handle this. I think trying to keep it quiet and waiting for the thieves to contact him is the smartest way to go about things. He may be an evil bastard, Boss, but he’s not stupid.”
It was Savall’s turn to consider Tartum’s words. After a moment, an uncomfortable smile formed on his face, and he picked up another document. “I don’t know, son. You make a solid case, but I just can’t believe it’s going to be that easy. I expected so much more from the man…But perhaps you’re right, and I’m just being an overcautious old fool. Gods know everything that’s happened so far supports your theory.” Savall trailed off, he seemed to be somewhere else for a moment. “I guess I’m disappointed is all, I expected the bishop to be more aggressive than this.” Shaking his head, Savall looked back up at him.
“Go on, then. Get back to taking care of Elizabeth. She was down here earlier, and Sasha told her what you said. Elizabeth seemed happy you took her down a peg, but I’d watch my back if I were you. I think you made an enemy of Sasha tonight.” Savall warned.
Tartum waved away the warning. “I’m not concerned. She might hate me, but I made it possible for her to become the next voice in the ear of the king. She may not like me, but I don’t think she’ll try to kill me anytime soon. She may need me again, and now she knows I can produce results.”
Savall nodded, “Those will be some shitty missions she’ll send you on, son. Study those new spells of yours well. Something tells me you’ll need them.” With that, Savall went back to studying his documents, and Tartum went back to his room.
As he went inside, he saw Elizabeth was still asleep. Smiling, he changed into his small clothes and cuddled up next to her. She made a tiny noise of acknowledgement at him and then went back to sleep. Tartum lay there holding her for hours, his thoughts on the new magic spells that sat in his packs waiting for him to master them.
…
Over the next few days, Tartum avoided Sasha, who made herself scarce when he was around, and talked with the others about what the next steps would be. Savall told them they had found all the proof they needed, but they still had to present it to the king in the right way. If they pushed it all on him at once, he would become overwhelmed and reject it outright. If they came to him with too little, he would reject them on principal. Sasha and her agents were going to start slowly, but steadily, getting the information to the king. When the time was right, Sasha would meet with the king and deliver the coup de grace that would complete their plan and usher in a new age for the thieves guild.
Tartum couldn’t have cared less; he wanted out of the tavern and back to his rooms to practice his new spells. Rashlarr and Savall had forbidden him to cast in the tavern, for obvious reasons. They didn’t want any attention drawn to the tavern or themselves, and they wouldn’t let him go outside because they were worried that if the guards were looking for a green robed man they might just find him. Tartum could tell arguing with them would be futile, so instead, he passed the time by studying his scrolls.
At first, he had tried to spend time with Elizabeth, but that was not an option after she got better. Her conditioned had improved significantly after staying in bed for almost two days after her brush with death. When Tartum told her what happened, she told him all she remembered was bits and pieces after the trap was sprung. He could tell she was grateful to them for saving her life and completing their mission, but she became distant and angry whenever the topic was brought up. Considering their current situation, the subject was brought up often. She spent most of her time brooding, either by herself, or with Sasha. At first this irritated Tartum; after how worried he had been about her, he thought she would be more appreciative. He quickly discovered that she resented him for figuring out the desk that had bested her. He asked Savall what he thought, but he just shook his head and said something about the complexity of the female mind. He thought she was being ridiculous and wanted to tell her as much. He was about to confront her, when a new thought occured to him. If she didn’t want to talk to him, tha
t gave him all the more time to study his new spells. Suddenly, not having to spend time with her was perfectly alright with him.
Tartum devoured the information in the scrolls, commiting every part of them to memory. He practiced the gestures and words until he believed he had them down intimately. He spent the better part of a day doing this alone in his room; he was confident when he finally got his hands on the components required for his new arsenal of spells, he would have them mastered very quickly. He could hardly wait. He sat down to rest and picked up the oversized scroll with the instructions on how to create the ring. He looked it over and noticed its instructions were meticulously detailed and that the author of the scroll had gone to great lengths to scribe precise images of the glyphs used in the enchantment. The parchment used was thick and hide-like in texture; it also appeared to be very old. There was something else that caught Tartum’s attention about the scroll, something…powerful. He was upset with himself for not noticing this before, this scroll was easily the most incredible work of art he’d ever possessed, and he almost discarded it.
As he read the description on the scroll, his eyes bulged and his jaw dropped. He sat there, thunderstruck by what he held in his hands. The scroll named the ring; The Regent Ring. The scroll described, in vast detail, how a caster could make a ring that would make it so that he could cast spells without using components! His pulse raced as the possibilities ran through his mind. With a ring like this, he would be the most powerful caster in the world! Nothing could stand in his way, nor could any man stand against him. Not to mention to not be burdened with the chore of having to obtain and carry around pouches and jars of replacement components would be worth the effort alone. Tartum excitedly began to read the requirements of the spell.
After reading the first few lines his excitement left him as it was replaced by hopeless disappointment. The spell was immensly complex and required ingredients that were so fantastic, he had no idea where to begin to look. A ring made of dimonds, live dragon saliva, troll’s blood, and once he’d obtained all of them, there was a five verse spell he had to cast in while channeling incredible amounts of magic into multiple targets. If he messed up even the tiniest syllable, he would be vaporized by the magical backlash. The ring was incredible, and he desired it, but this was not the time for him to indulge such far fetched fantasies. There was far too much happening in the guild and in his life to be concerned with trekking across the country trying to locate and obtain ingredients that, in all likelihood, would get him killed, or worse. He told himself that perhaps later, after current events had been settled, he would re-engage with the scroll and see about its creation; for now, this task was beyond him.
With all the tenderness of the most doting of mothers, Tartum rolled the scroll up and tied it together with a strand of silk he tore from the bed sheets. Taking another swath of silk from the sheets, Tartum wrapped the scroll in it and then placed it back into his packs. Once he was sure the ring scroll was safe, he repacked the rest of his scrolls and went downstairs to find something to eat. He wanted to think and found it was easier to do so when he had a good meal and a warm drink to mull over his thoughts with. Plus, there was always a chance today would be the day Savall finally let them out of the tavern and back to their lives.
…
As it turned out, the very next day Savall released them from the tavern. He told them that he agreed with Tartum’s assessment of the situation. The bishop must be trying to cover up the robbery to save face. After five days in hiding, it was time to get back to work, they couldn’t have the city thinking the thieves guild had suddenly ceased to exist. That would be unnacceptable!
Tartum didn’t waste a moment. He gathered up his belongings and bolted out of the building like a bird escaping from a cage. He headed straight to Shu-Shu’s shop, intending on asking her about some of components he needed for his spells and the ring enchantment. When he arrived at her shop, there were many people inside, some he knew were guards looking for free kosar root; others he had never seen before. They were either young casters or local kids just looking to spend their coin on something eccentric. After watching them for a bit, he decided they were the latter. Tartum was annoyed by their presence but held his tongue and waited for the guards to leave. Shu-shu was in fine form today, and Tartum had no doubt it was due to the amount of customers she had in her shop.
If it wasn’t for his hurry to get what he needed, he might have been happy for her. It was a rare sight to see her shop this busy, but after five days in captivity, sitting on a cache of spells he was dying to try, the whole situation soured his mood. By the time the guards left, Tartum was seething with impatience. Shu-Shu didn’t seem to notice.
“Ahhhhhh! Tartum! Glad to see the Jade Mage bandit hasn’t killed you yet! Yes, yes, yes! Shu-Shu would be very sad to hear it if it happened! What is it you’d like to buy today?” she asked. Tartum had never seen her so happy, or as articulate since he’d known her. He had no patience left for pleasantries and got right to it.
“I need salt, whole acorns, algae, golcock eyes, rose thorns, glass, troll’s blood, live dragon saliva, and a large scroll case.” he blurted out. As he finished reciting his list, she began to laugh.
“Would you also like Shu-Shu’s dead mother’s teeth, as well?” she asked, “I don’t have all of that. No, no, no! But I can get it, well…some of it! Yes, yes! Shu-Shu can get some…not all! No troll blood or dragon spit. That is too dangerous for Shu-Shu to aquire, but…” she trailed off as she went into the back of the shop.
Tartum heard her rummaging around, and more than once, there was the sound of shattering glass and a curse. This went on for a long time, and just as Tartum was about to go after her, she reappeared with her arms full of items.
“I find! I find! Shu-Shu find!!!!” she exclaimed. She was very proud of herself and dropped everything on the counter in front of him. Tartum began sorting through the pile of spell components and junk she brought him.
As he feared, most of the items were unusable, however, there were alot more servicable items than he expected. He filled a pouch with shards of glass, in another he put sixteen usable acorns, she had brought him two jars of salt, one of which had more maggots in it than salt, but the other seemed to be good so he took it and placed its contents in another bag. There were a dozen very dead roses in the pile, and he carefully began cutting the thorns off, hoping they would still be useful. There were three scroll cases in the pile that suited his needs, but he dared not check in front of all the prying eyes that were watching him sort through the items Shu-Shu dumped in front of him. Instead, he set all three to the side with the pouches full of useable components. There was no algae, blood, saliva, or golcock eyes which disappointed Tartum, but he wasn’t surprised. Truth was, he was thrilled she had been able to provide him with the amount of components she had. Tartum was reaching for a small bag of gems he had on his belt when the look on Shu-Shu’s face gave him pause. She was grinning ear to ear and clutching something inside her shirt. She seemed to be waiting for him to say something.
“Do you have anything else for me, Shu-Shu?” Tartum asked.
As if his words unlocked her excitement, she started jumping up and down and pulled sometihng from her pocket. As she opened her hand, there were two eyeballs staring at him. With a toothy smile, Shu-Shu yelled in her excitement, “EYES! Two of them! Eyes, eyes, eyes! I have them from looooooong ago trade! Shu-Shu did good, yes!?”
Tartum had no idea if the eyes were golcock eyes or not. They didn’t look any different than a human’s eyes but seemed to be well preserved. Since it was Shu-Shu, he decided to take a chance. She had never led him astray before and seemed very sure these were the eyes he sought.
“Very nice, Shu-Shu! You did very good! Thank you! This should be enough for all of this correct?” Tartum asked, as he handed her his bag of gems.
He watched as her eyes grew large when she took stock of the contents of the bag She didn’t say anything, just nodd
ed violently and ran off with the bag into the back room. Tartum laughed as he gathered up his purchases. He was very glad he had met Shu-Shu, even if her social skills left a little something to be desired. As he was about to leave, he noticed the boys were still in the shop. They had very guilty looks on their faces; Tartum didn’t need to be a mind reader to know they had stolen something from the store. Usually, he wouldn’t have cared, hell, he made his living by stealing; but this was his friend’s shop, and at the moment he was very happy with her. Giving the boys his most intimidating look, he addressed the one he assumed was the leader.
“You know, Shu-Shu is a nice lady, but when she catches people stealing from her, bad things happen to them. Terrible things, some are never heard from again. If I were you, I’d put it back or leave your coin on the counter here.” He told them, as he motioned towards the counter. There were four boys altogether, and two of them took small items out of their pockets and placed them back on the shelves before leaving the store. One of them walked up to the counter, left a handful of coins on the counter and then proceeded to run out of the store. The last boy stood defiantly meeting Tartum’s gaze with one of his own. Tartum couldn’t help but to smile at the boy’s bravery.
“Last chance, boy, put it back or pay for it.” Tartum warned. He reached down and grabbed a pinch of salt from his pouches. He hoped the boy continued to stand his ground; he really wanted to try out his new spell.
The Jade Mage: The Becoming: Volume 2 Page 17
