by Des Pensable
‘Are you really?’ asked Jaz. ‘Nobody else is. They all think I’m a pain in the pants. Perhaps I will show you some tricks. What are you doing here anyway?’
‘I’m Aquitain the Logicon. I’m the new magic equipment repairman. I can also make special items if you can afford them.’
‘No. I don’t own any magic items yet and I haven’t got anything much of value to trade.’
‘Perhaps you can trade some of your knowledge about illusions for some of mine about making magic items.’
‘It’s a deal Aquitain box-on-legs. What am I going to learn first?’
‘If you help me to reorganise this workshop, I’ll tell you the names of some of the magic ingredients and what they’re used for.’
‘Goodo box let’s stop all this gabbing and do some work.’
They spent the next several hours rearranging benches, tools and materials, and examining the contents of packets, jars, sacks, bottles and boxes. There were ample supplies of many magical reagents that would be useful for repairing standard wizard type items, but few for making new magical gear using Aquitain’s prime skills which were oriented strongly around the use of gems and crystals. These were in short supply or not available. He would have to find them locally.
Jaz helped move numerous small items and objects around asking countless questions about everything. Aquitain did his best to answer them but even he was stumped over the use of some of the reagents present. His best answer was that the reagent was something rarely used but important for rare magical rituals, as he didn’t like admitting he didn’t know.
Eventually, Jaz said she had to go and wouldn’t be around for a few days but she would drop in as soon as she could because she wanted to learn more.
She said that she spent a lot of time in the library and he should visit it, as there were some rare books there. Aquitain was relieved when she left but also pleased to have met her, as the little woman was pleasant and cheery to have around. However, even though the gnome was very likable, one thought was ever present in his mind, Jaz had probably been sent to spy on him by the High Wizard.
He sat in the corner and considered carefully what had happened over the last day. Even though no restrictions had been placed on him, he felt imprisoned. Logic told him that his situation was perfect. He was safe, he had something to keep him occupied, and all he had to do was wait until his grandfather sorted out the legal problems that the Archon had with him and Facit, then he could get his own body back. After that he would be free to search for his father or go back to Panmagica.
Unfortunately, there was no time scale on how long this would take. It could be days, weeks or even months, while every day he became more like a true Logicon and less like a newman. He was still contemplating his predicament when Zephira arrived and found him in his room. He asked her to lock the workshop door and slithered out of his body shell and reformed as a newman shape.
‘Can we talk?’ he whispered and he gave her the hand sign to mindlink. She agreed and he linked minds with her.
‘What’s wrong?’ she asked.
‘I don’t know. I get the feeling we’re being closely watched. I had the High Wizard’s apprentice here all day. She’s a chirpy little gnome woman called Jaztrix and seems innocent enough but she’s too close to the High Wizard for my liking.’
‘I was warned about her.’ replied Zephira. ‘She plays illusion tricks on everyone and drives them mad. Did she do anything to you?’
‘Yes,’ said Aquitain. ‘She created a very good illusion of a rat which caught fire then changed to a fiery dog. I didn’t think it would hurt me much but I was concerned that it would set the workshop on fire. I eventually worked out it was an illusion, but I was concerned about why I didn’t see through it more quickly. Then after she left I checked something and made a curious discovery.’
‘What?’ she said with growing excitement.
‘Let me show you the workshop through my eyes. +
‘By the Powers, it’s got a strong purple glow.’
‘Yes, that indicates relatively strong magic. I searched the workshop while rearranging everything, thinking that there must be some powerful item hidden in here, but there isn’t. The magic essence is coming through the walls, floor and ceiling. I examined the rock behind them, and it verified my conclusion.
The workshop is sitting in a magic node. In fact, the whole town is sitting on a magic node. Many rocks and crystals tend to accumulate magic essence to a greater or lesser degree. When you get a natural rock formation that strongly accumulates magic essence, then you get a magic node.’
‘What does that mean? Is that good or bad?’ she asked a little unsure.
‘It means that it’s easier, quicker and hence less expensive to make magic items. It means my source will replenish quicker. It means magic effects used here will be stronger. That’s what happened with the gnome’s fiery dog illusion, I couldn’t see through it because it was much more real than usual.’
‘That doesn’t sound very exciting to me,’ she said.
‘Maybe not, but it does explain one of the secrets about this town. There’s heaps of magic essence available here and I’ll bet they’re using it to power the permanent gate, and possibly other things. So how did your day go?’
‘Boring! I met countless people who all smiled and said ‘Hello’. I moved my gear up into a room in the guard’s dormitory and was issued with a uniform to wear. I start teaching tomorrow. Do you want to come down to the inn with me?’
‘No, unfortunately beer and wine have no effect on me. It’s something to do with my Logicon body. I’ve got some planning to do anyway. If you get a chance, find out what they export through the gateway. Now that I know there’s a node here I’m interested. Maybe there’s a way we can make some profit out of our trip here.’
‘Be careful Aquitain, they’ve all been very nice and hospitable, and don’t forget the High Wizard is a friend of Granddad.’
‘I’ll be careful. You just be careful of who you make friends with down at the inn. I don’t want to have to come down there fighting for your honour,’ he said, knowing what sort of response that would trigger.
‘You fight for me! That’s pretty unlikely. You’ve never had a fight in your life. You’d be wiped out in no time at all. Don’t even think about it,’ she said. ‘Anyway I’m leaving now. I’ve brought you some men’s clothes and some work to do. Can you please find out what those rings and the belt that Granddad gave me do. He also gave me an amulet of forbearance that I was instructed to get you to wear,’ and she dropped a bag in his lap, broke the mindlink and left him alone.
Seeing and talking to Zephira cheered him up and made him think much more positively. He then remembered that he had been given a bag of powerstones and a ball of clay. ‘Looks like a busy night,’ he thought to himself and took the items into his new workshop for examination. ‘But first I might set up some wards to keep out the snoopers.’
**
For High Wizard Featherdown this was a day he had been dreading for three years, and even though he had considered all sorts of plans of action nothing seemed to fit at the moment. So he decided to do nothing. He would watch and wait and act at a more appropriate time. He had contained the problem for now but he knew without a doubt it wouldn’t be for long. He had been forewarned and of all things asked to help, something he was still hesitant to do.
Archwizard Featherdown was a battle wizard, which meant that he specialized in killing masses of people in wars between states. He was originally from a wealthy and politically active family located on a world whose population was continually fighting amongst themselves and he trained as a war wizard from an early age. While on a military campaign the government had changed and his family were caught on the wrong side. All his extended family except for his younger brother and sister, who were away at the time, had been put to death.
Realizing that his own life was at risk he fled his command and was branded a coward and a traitor by his government, but he was far from that. He was a very competent and talented military wizard. He traced his brother and sister, and using friends and his meagre resources at the time he left for another world. For a while they had to move continually as government assassins hounded them, but after a year or two they were forgotten as other political matters became more important.
They eventually settled down in a small town on a remote world and he used the remainder of his funds to buy an inn. After a year he found it too boring and decided to get back into the war wizard game by hiring out as a mercenary. It was then he realized that there were countless poor and oppressed people being victimized by wealthy and ruthless leaders of all descriptions, who could afford to pay for the services of power hungry wizards to maintain their hold over the people. That was when he decided that the poor and the powerless needed a champion, and he would be it.
He began hiring his services out to the underdogs. Often they couldn’t pay in advance and sometimes couldn’t pay at all, but he helped them anyway. After several spectacular successes the rich and powerful began to pay attention to him. They considered him a rogue wizard and placed a hefty bounty on his head, sending assassins and bounty hunters after him and his remaining family. Featherdown and his brother and sister then spent another two years running and hiding until the situation cooled down again.
About ten years ago, Featherdown heard that the Druid’s Council on Mudrun had decided to employ an experienced fighting wizard to help them secure their world from an increasing number of magic using poachers, who were raiding the world and stealing the rare species living there, often killing the druids. He decided that this might be a good opportunity to live a bit more peacefully, and that the place was remote enough to hide from his enemies.
The druids were delighted. His reputation as a fighter had preceded him and his lack of affiliation with any religious or other governmental groups was ideal. He would be given political asylum and the position of High Wizard of Mudrun, if he would swear allegiance to the Council and develop a fighting force made up primarily from locals that could be used to control any illegal activities involving wizards.
They had given him a free hand and accepted his proposition to build a new town around a permanent commercial gateway established in a magic node. The town would pay for itself from profits made from trade through the gateway. He had planned the town himself and they had spent five years building it to its current size. He recruited his brother and sister to run the town’s best inn, and another archwizard friend who was looking for a quiet new place to live.
All had seemed perfect until three years ago, when he had met a druid who shape changed to a Yith and told him a story so surprising that it shocked him to the core. It was then that he had realized that fate or more likely the gods had chosen him to be a part of something big. At first he had panicked and told the High Druid a little of what the Yith had said, but not all and certainly not about his part.
The High Druid and the Druid Council had reacted very badly and begun to distrust him. Perhaps they guessed that he hadn’t revealed everything, or perhaps they knew things that they weren’t prepared to reveal to him. Either way, he had become more isolated from the Council. Quab, the local druid, became a more important connection between him and the Council and they had recruited a senior wizard from offworld to act as his second-in-command.
To make matters worse, the Druid Council itself had recently become unstable, with two factions fighting over its control. If the faction currently in control were overthrown, he knew it would mean trouble for him. The other faction didn’t like him and would try to get rid of him, and now it would all come to a head. Trouble was immanent, he knew, because Aquitain had finally arrived.
Chapter 7 The Fountain
Aquitain worked all through the night examining and identifying the magic items that Granddad had given them. The rings and the powerstones were easy, taking only a few minutes. In fact, some of the powerstones were those made by Aquitain over the last couple of years. The belt was more difficult, as he had never seen anything like it before and it held no maker’s marque to give him any idea of who had made it or where it originated.
It took him a couple of hours to discover that it was a hybrid item. It triggered a mind-activated power from gemstones hidden within the belt, but did it so using a more conventional wizard method utilising a spoken activation word. When worn and activated, the user was completely covered, except for the face, in a black silky cloth-like material that was as tough as iron armour but as flexible as cloth armour. He knew Zephira would be pleased with it.
The amulet of forbearance was interesting. The fact that Grandad had given it to Zephira to give to him suggested that Grandad didn’t think he could control the darkness within him. He rejected that outright and would not wear it. He had control and would not give into the darkness. He would block it, and not accept any help from the amulet.
The real problem was the ball of clay. No matter how he tested it, he couldn’t work out what it did. It certainly wasn’t normal clay. It was magic in a strange way that defied ordinary logic. He was still puzzling over it early in the morning when he heard a knock on the door and Featherdown asked to see him.
He opened the door and the High Wizard said ‘Who are you?’
‘I’m Aquitain, Your Excellency. I’ve shape changed to a newman shape as I’m more used to working this way.’
‘Of course, my apologies! The spirit swapping incident. I should have guessed.
‘Necessity is the mother of invention, Your Excellency. I’m a skilled artisan.’
‘Of course, my apologies again. What’s that disgusting smell?’
‘That’s due to me, Your Excellency. I had a meal two nights ago and being unaware of certain Logicon body functions I was caught unaware by the sudden expulsion of body wastes. I have cleaned it up but it still smells. I intended to borrow a mop and bucket when everyone was awake.’
‘Of course, I should have guessed. There is a fresh water stream about half a league north of here. It’s often used for swimming. You might find it useful.’
He looked around and continued ‘Impressive, it looks like you’ve made yourself at home already. I hear you’ve met Jaztrix, my apprentice. She’s very impressed by your knowledge of magic reagents. She said you know everything about magic reagents. I suppose that you’ve already discovered why we sited the township here. There are quite a few magic nodes like this around this world. Many of them have ancient temples on them. I liked the location of this one here by the sea, so chose it for our township. I used to do a little item manufacture myself in the past, but these days I can’t seem to find time. I’m sure that you’ll find the workshop very good for both making and repairing items.
‘I’ve brought you some items that need repairs, and a translator crystal to update to get you going. I’ll pay market rates for repairs, you pay to replace any materials that you use, plus I charge you twenty percent of profits for workshop rental. How does that sound?’
‘Thank you, that’s quite generous Your Excellency,’ said Aquitain.
‘Good, now I’m going away for a few days but I’ve got a little problem that I’d like you to look into. There’s something wrong with the fountain in town. It’s magically operated so it should be within your area of expertise, however, you will need to be careful. It blew up a few months ago and injured some bystanders, and I still don’t know why.’
‘That sounds more like a job for a wizard engineer, Your Excellency.’
‘I agree, but we don’t have one and you’re closest we’ve got.’
‘I’ll do my best,’ Aquitain replied, but he thought ‘Damn, I can see I’m soon going to be the town’s magic handyman.’
‘Good! I look forward to a successful outcome,’ announced the High Wizard, who then left.
‘Great. They all go away for a
few days holiday and leave me here to patch up the town’s problems!’ he thought. ‘It sounds like I’m at home again.’
Five minutes later Zephira showed up.
‘Aquitain, what’s that terrible smell?’
‘Zephira I’m a Logicon and I had a meal the other night and I don’t know everything about this body yet.’
‘Oh. I didn’t think they ate anything. I’ve never seen a Logicon eat,’ she said.
‘Well we do and we shit as well, so get used to it!’
‘Don’t take your frustrations out on me,’ she replied testily. ‘I’m not your mother. You’re going to have to toilet train yourself,’ and she left with an annoyed look on her face.
Two hours later he had a mop and bucket cleaning the floor when someone else knocked on the door.
‘Go away. I’m not open for business yet,’ he yelled, but the knocking continued. He went to the door and opened it, and found a tall, wiry, deeply sun-tanned man with a bushy brown beard standing there, wearing a druid’s home spun robe. The druid handed him a bag containing a strongly fragrant herbal powder.
‘Use it in the bucket, about a half a handful. It works wonders on foul air.’
Aquitain took the bag of powder and tried it. It foamed in the water like soap but gave off a wonderfully fresh stimulating aroma. He mopped the floor over again and the air in the room became fresh, fragrant and invigorating.
‘Thanks, that’s good stuff,’ said Aquitain. ‘Who are you?’
‘I’m Quab. I’m the senior druid responsible for this area of the jungle. I’m sorry I was away when you arrived. Featherdown told me about your spirit swap problem and that you took on this job to help our small community here. I came to thank you, and when I heard about your digestive problem I knew just the thing you’d need. I’ve shape changed to just about everything you can imagine and dumped on the floor to everyone’s embarrassment on several occasions. Maybe I can also help you with your diet.’
