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Erick stared at the ceiling, waiting for the sky to brighten even a little before he got up for the day.  

And then he decided that he didn’t want to wait any longer. He got up. Ophiel did not squawk at being disturbed off of the bed; he had picked up on Erick’s emotional turmoil and had never pretended to fall asleep, like usual.  

Erick went directly to his tower to get to work. He summoned a few more Ophiel, and sent them outside, on the ledge. A quick [Stoneshape] outside his window, below the Ophiel, pulled a few troughs up from the orange stone. A casting of [Call Lightning], but Shaped to the house, brought rain from the sky, filling the troughs with clean—  

Poi said, “Up already?”

Erick glanced behind, then returned to face his window, saying, “Don’t worry about me.” Rain ran in tiny rivers down the window, while the city slept in the distance, and Ar’Kendrithyst loomed past that. “I can’t sleep so I’m making those rings for Delia’s group.”

A small stone door Erick had built into the side of the tower, that let in platinum rain, also let him hand off a diamond to the exterior Ophiel. As the troughs filled up, Ophiel broke the starter diamond apart, and began to make more. Some of the Ophiel held open [Cleanse Aura], wiping away thick air, while other Ophiel cast [Crystallize Diamond] under the water, spilling bubbles and contamination from the process. While that was happening, Erick turned to his completed diamond stock. There wasn’t much left—

Erick glanced back to the archway to his tower. Poi had moved on, so Erick returned to the current problem to solve.  

—There weren’t many ring-quality gems left, or wrought-quality metal, for that matter. Maybe he should just make the solid diamond rings? Eh. No. He didn’t want to make something that the kids would outgrow. If most of them were Delia’s age…

Erick stopped for a moment, all thought fleeting. As his thoughts came back to him, he said, “I should help the orphanage, too.” Erick added, “And the Adventurer’s Fund.” He pondered, “Would Mog like rings, too?” He muttered to himself, “Surely, she would. Maybe for her more capable people? Hmm.”  

Erick summoned a face mask and gloves and enough protective equipment to keep the diamond dust out of his eyes and out of his clothes, and went to work making blank Stat gems. Carve. Shape. Grind and polish to a perfect sphere; the exterior of the gem would become the interior, so it had to be perfect. While he worked, he thought about how to make the world a better place. Killing the Shades would go a long way toward that goal, but Melemizargo could just make more, couldn’t he?  

Besides that, Erick had no idea to actually fight a Shade and win. He wasn’t exactly sure of their strengths, but they were supposedly archmages in their own right.  

… That thought made Erick pause, briefly. If they were all basically archmages, and Jane was able to kill one herself, then, not to knock Jane, but what did that mean for him? Obviously, it meant that if someone took him unaware, he’d likely die. Health was an ‘illusion’, after all, and there wasn’t much of a way to fight back against some of those situations when he was just himself. He knew all that, already. But to put that in terms of killing Shades, and they were already supposed to be really tough to kill, so what did that make him? Weak as a kitten?

He smiled to himself, contemplating his own mortality, and how the only way to avoid the problems he was facing was to run away. After all, if a Shade could die when they were taken unaware, what hope was there for him, and all his own attempts at raising his defenses?

It was like protecting a house from robbers, really. You could protect a house with locks, and gates, and heavy metal walls, and such, and there was merit in taking those steps, but if someone wanted in, they were going to get in.

But there was another solution. The solution was obvious, when he thought about it! The solution was people, of course. Erick just needed more help. He needed to surround himself with good people. Duh. ‘Get help’ was Erick’s usual go-to reaction to solve almost all of the problems he’d ever encountered. So why wasn’t that his first solution, here?

… Probably all the unusual trauma he’d suffered recently.

… And everyone expecting him, as an archmage, to sequester himself away from everyone, and to be able to pull a solution to every possible problem out of his ass, or some other location, like he was a walking Relevant Entity of the Script, or some shit.

Erick smiled as he worked.

And then he noticed a box he hadn’t thought about in a while. He paused his carving. He went to the box. He opened it, revealing a football-sized silver ball. He had enchanted the silver ball with as much All-Stat purple manalight as he could, and then sealed it with a layer of platinum rain. It should have exploded, but it did not explode. It remained. But how would anyone use such a thing? Jane as an ooze— Nope. Fire ooze. Not a workable solution.  

… But if she got a metal ooze form? Maybe? Hmm. Shelve that idea for now.  

A wrought could just put the silver football inside of themselves, couldn’t they? It was a miracle that the orb hadn’t exploded, though. No one would want to put ordinance inside of themselves.

Erick summoned another Ophiel, and with a gentle command, he had that Ophiel take the silver orb and ‘play with it’ for a while. Toss it around. Don’t let it hit anything except sand, maybe. Ophiel grabbed the football with an application of Erick’s Handy Aura, and a happy trill. He blipped away to a room upstairs—

Two things suddenly occurred to Erick.  

One, was that Ophiel had blipped away and taken the orb without actually touching the orb, but with using [Flight of a Thousand Hands] to act as the <hands> part of [Teleport]. There was no [Blink]ing between here and the third floor rooms, after all; that was definitely a [Teleport]. So how did that work? Was it the ‘intent’ part of the Handy Aura, that functioned as a bridge to [Teleport]’s <hands> requirement?

Two, was that Particle Magic was a nice way to help the people of Veird advance both scientifically and against the monsters, but all of the good Particle Magic was locked behind Particle Mage, and was therefore likely never going to become a part of the magics necessary to truly fight off the Darkness. What was needed, was firepower against the Dark, and any method to gain that firepower and distribute it among the people would be a good thing.

… As long as ‘the people’ in this scenario were all people like Erick, who abhorred killing others. Monsters were fair game, though.

And in addition to ‘Two’: Erick already had a good method for increasing one’s firepower, that wasn’t just the rings he was making. It was a method that was already a part of the Script, already open to almost everyone, and had already proven itself to work three times. Finding the right sort of people to teach might be difficult, and there would be some ethical concerns going forward regarding the treatment of magical constructs, maybe, but...

Erick watched the four Ophiel outside his window as they created diamonds in the troughs below. Ophiel chatted with himself in trills and whistles, singing a tiny chorus of storms and night, while the sky rained itself out and the stars reappeared.  

Ophiel was a really good [Familiar], wasn’t he?

- - - -

The sun rose in the east, painting the sky outside Erick’s southern window with purples, then reds, then yellows, as twilight came and went, eventually filling the sky with blue.  

Erick continued to make gems.  

When Kiri woke and wandered into his tower, carrying breakfast and coftea on a tray, he gladly took a break to eat. He wasn’t ready to tell her of his ideas quite yet, but she asked if she could help, and yes, she could. Erick sent her out after some wrought-iron for some rings; then she could help make gems.  

When she came back with the metal, she commented on the prices she saw down on Market Street. As the two of them worked on diamond spheres, they spoke of the goods flowing into Spur. Clothes and weapons and all other finished goods were more or less unchanged, but fabrics and metals and ore and anything else unfinished? They were half as much as they were before Portal’s embargo.  

One out of every five stores on Market Street were still closed, their operators targeted and assassinated by Caradogh’s attack, but those stores that were open were all selling at a discount. 20% or 30% less in most cases. One posh alchemy shop was even half-off the entire store. Apparently the alchemy shops were all in the same boat on that one; they were all selling at least half off. And all of them were packed, too.  

And those were just the shops.  

The grocers and the restaurants, the diners and the bakeries, especially the bakeries, they were all absolutely packed with people, and fresh goods, even this early in the morning. Everyone was happy for the return of the rains.  

Erick occasionally glanced up to look south, at the line of green growing a kilometer away, and at the stone gazebo visible to the far right, outside his window. It was still an hour to go-time, but people were already out, getting ready for today’s rain. He sent an Ophiel to wait in the gazebo. When Rollo and Calizi showed up and gave him that signal, Erick set an Ophiel out on top of the tower. Platinum rain fell right on time, as he and Kiri continued to make and then enchant gems. Kiri still wasn’t able to make the proper purple maskward, but she didn’t need to, right now. Erick made the maskwards, but both of them imbued Stats into the round diamonds.  

Erick sent Kiri out to fetch sandwiches from Jane’s favorite shop, Meat! Bread! Cheese!, before the rain stopped; they would get too packed for Erick’s liking if he went for sandwiches after the rains stopped. By the time she returned, her arrival with lunch was accompanied by clear skies, and the end of the day’s rain.  

Poi ate lunch with them. Teressa showed up soon after, and ate her two sandwiches with a gusto.  

In another hour, the first 600 rings were done.  

By that time, Erick had formed a pretty good idea of what he wanted to do, going forward. He gathered Teressa and Poi and Kiri together, in his tower, to ask their opinion about teaching others how to make a  [Familiar] like Ophiel. He spoke. They listened.  

No one said anything.

After a minute of silence, Erick said, “Well?!”

Kiri offered, “I think you should create some water gathering particle spells so that they don’t need your rain all the time. The current water-from-air spells are much too low-power for anything except niche needs. Easy water has less of a chance for catastrophic side effects than your [Familiar]-for-everyone idea.”

Teressa said, “People don’t need more power.”

Kiri continued, “A minor version of your [Exalted Storm Aura] would put way too many alchemists out of work, though. So maybe hold off on that—” She added, “Oh. You can’t create that spell without Particulate Force, anyway. No one can combine [Grow] with a Particle spell right now.”  

Teressa stressed, “Make the ‘easy-water’ spell.”

“Okay okay.” Erick filed away ‘[Easy Water]’ in his mind, but returned to his ‘[Familiar]s for everyone responsible’ idea, “I don’t want people like the Red Dot mage learning how to fight through [Familiar]s with independent mana pools.” He looked to Kiri, saying, “But there are more responsible people out there in the world besides just you and Sizzi.”

Poi almost said something, but suddenly stopped. He looked stuck. He remained quiet.  

Kiri looked from Poi to Erick, and continued, “Sure. But Rats left after he got what he wanted. Do you want that to happen again? I don’t want that to happen, at all, ever again.”

Teressa got a dark, angry look on her face, as her lips became a thin, hard line.  

Erick said, “I don’t want to hold people under my power forever, Kiri. Not you, not Rats, not anyone. I’m sure when you’ve gotten Particle Mage you’d go on to make your family back in Odaali safer, wouldn’t you?”

“Fah!” Kiri said, “They’re perfectly safe! I’m staying here. I managed to snag you as my teacher until I say otherwise, and I don’t ever see myself saying that.”

Erick felt a wonderful flicker in his chest, like a gentle heat. He blinked a few times, to clear his eyes of their water.  

Kiri glanced away, half-sullen, murmuring, “Don’t make a big deal out of it.”

Erick smiled, saying, “Thank you, Kiri.” He continued, “But about more Ophiels: Maybe the Headmaster has some trustworthy people that could learn this method?” He stressed, “The point is to put these strong tools in the hands of those who would use them properly. Not to hoard everything for myself and those directly around me.” He added, “I recognize the need to be that kind of paranoid person, but I don’t want to be that kind of paranoid person.” He said, “What I want is more ‘giving away potatoes to the world’ kind of thinking. There’s no way for me to order fries in a restaurant when I’m the only one who has potatoes, after all.”

Kiri declared, “That is not the same thing at all!”

“It kinda is—” Erick tried.

“No it is not!”

Poi blurted, “This secret is practically out already. Might as well go for it, sir.”

Eyes wide, Kiri rounded on Poi. “Holy gods! Sizzi blabbed, hasn’t she?”

Erick laughed. “Okay then!”

Poi went stone-cold silent.

Kiri’s eyes went wider. “Sizzi blabbed.” She murmured, “Oh. That might be bad.”

Poi frowned at Kiri, saying, “Your mental magic teacher should have told you not to draw conclusions based on what Mind Mages do or do not say, especially when it comes to specific people.” He said, “Hypothetically, Sizzi wasn’t involved at all!”

Kiri immediately exclaimed, “I hope you’re not insinuating it was me!”

Poi sighed.  

Erick grinned as Kiri teased Poi. He probably should have been worried about a plague of Ophiels, or whatever, but the sheer terror of his trip to the Hole was long gone, and all he wanted to think about were more people like Kiri getting their own Sunnys, and other nice things. Depending on how Ophiel’s creation method got out, this could be a good thing! Theoretically.

Erick glanced to the boxes of gems, then to his people, and said, “I’m going to drop these off at the Church, and then I’m going to talk to Sizzi, if I can find her.” He asked, “Who wants to come?”

- - - -

All three of them came for the first half of the trip.  

As soon as Erick hit the city, he realized that the journey to the Interfaith Temple would take a bit longer than it always did, especially since it took him twenty minutes to walk past the Gardens; he chatted with farmers, making sure they had what they needed, and every time he asked, they said they were good.  

But besides that, Spur was packed with people, these days. Erick liked walking everywhere, so he never brought up the subject, but with the crowds on the main streets and even seeing a few people in really nice clothes, Erick wondered about vehicles. He had seen some wagons in Oceanside that were used get goods from ship to shop, but the true lack of wheeled conveyances in Spur seemed suspect ever since he came back from the island. People didn’t fly around here, or on floating platforms, either.

Teressa held one of two stone boxes of gems under one arm, saying, “All forms of vehicle are outlawed within city limits. Most people aren’t even allowed to [Teleport] around town, though enforcing that rule is a lot harder than the vehicle rule.” She added, “And that reminds me. Merit asked me to ask you without directly asking you if you could scan for [Invisibility] and [Force Trap] whenever you get a chance.”

They rounded the corner of a store with a line of people twenty deep waiting to get in the doors. It was a bakery; the scent of bread hung in the air like a siren’s call to indulge.  

Kiri held the other box of gems in both her arms as she glanced at the bakery, and said, “That place makes the best bread, but I cannot abide those lines.”

Erick smiled. “At least they’re not waiting in lines to get any bread at all, right?” He glanced to Teressa, asking, “And why would Merit not want you to directly tell me?”

“I don’t know.” Teressa added, “I’m not going to get stuck between that sort of thing, though, so I’ve just up and told you.”

Poi spoke up, “They don’t want to wear out your hospitality.”

Erick smiled at that. And then he teased, “Do you monitor my calls, Poi?”

“No.” Poi said, “But more than a few people have dropped subtle desires that they have expected me to pass on to you.” He added, “I pass along everything that is an actual request from a known and trusted source.” He asked, “For example: Would you like to join a rookie mission to kill five mimics? Or would you like to donate all your magical knowledge to this startup mage group no one has ever heard of? Or perhaps you’d like to have a tea party every day at a different house?— Hmm. Uh.” Poi asked, “You don’t want that last one, right?”

Erick laughed, “Not at all!”  

Kiri muttered, “Thank the gods.”

Erick added, “But maybe once in a while, it might be nice?”

Poi said, “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Erick continued, “But, you know? I’ve been expecting to get inundated with a lot more telepathic prods than I do.”  

Teressa laughed.

Kiri said, “You could probably cripple any random person who tried to contact you without your consent.”

“Noooo.” Erick brushed off that concern, saying, “It’s only like… I don’t know? A thousand damage? It’s not even real damage, anyway?”

Teressa joked, “Maybe for you.”

Poi said, “Attempting to contact someone who doesn’t want to be contacted will backlash you for half of your Health in False Damage. Most people call it mental shock. It’s like a headache, but worse. It can’t kill you, but it will make you feel horrible. If you have lower mental stats, it ‘hits’ harder, too.”

“Oh?” Erick asked, “Is there an actual calculation for that damage?”  

“It’s an informal thing; not a real calculation at all,” Poi said.  

Kiri added, “For the unwanted sender, the formula is half your Health plus a portion of the mana of the recipient, dependent on a few different factors, like nearness makes the feedback worse, and degree of refusal is also taken into account. A large enough refusal can knock you to the ground.” She added, “But besides that! It’s impolite to contact people you don’t know. Especially people with power. Everyone’s heard the parable of the Unwanted King.”

“I haven’t,” Erick said.

Teressa smiled, saying, “It’s about a king who ruined his nation, and yet he wouldn’t allow himself or anyone else to leave or else the monsters would overcome everything he had left. So he sent out calls to every person he knew, but he was the Unwanted King, and no one liked him. Every time he tried to contact someone to get help, they rebuffed his [Telepathy]. The damage from the feedback caused him to faint. He recovers, of course, but when he wakes, some of his people are gone. This process repeats.” She shrugged her massive shoulders, setting her new shiny silver armor to glitter in the sun. “He eventually dies alone as the monsters are closing in, The End.”

“It’s an old trope.” Kiri said, “There’s tons of literature written about him.”

They spoke of literature and stories Erick had never heard of as they walked through the busy city.

Eventually, they arrived at the Interfaith Church. Erick led the way past the vineyard, into the Church itself. An acolyte received them, then showed them through the front cathedral, where light shown down through rainbow stained glass, and the walls were made of white stone carvings.  

They ended up on the right of the main church, beside an open door, where the sounds of children playing on playgrounds carried through the hallways. The acolyte knocked on the open door, informing the occupant of Erick’s arrival.  

The woman beyond said, “Hello, Archmage Flatt,” as she walked to the door. She was a perfectly composed older woman with scales the color of rubies, who wore the pale silver robes of a priestess of the church. “Greetings. I’m Mother Eriliad Sands. I’ve been expecting you.” She stepped into her office, saying, “Come on inside. We can talk.”

Erick smiled. “Nice to meet you, too. I’m glad to know I’m expected.” He went into the office.  

Everyone else stayed outside. The acolyte that showed them here gave a quick farewell, and went on with his business.

Eriliad’s office was homey. A large window looking south showed a sandy playground with jungle gyms and swings, where rambunctious kids played tag around obstacles, and jumped on each other, and roughhoused, and laughed, and lived. They looked happy out there, but as Erick watched, one kid played a bit too rough with another, sending the second kid tumbling into the ground. Red blood marred the sand.

A young woman in silver priestess robes rushed over to the too-rough kids and picked up both of them by the arms. The injured kid was crying, but otherwise okay. Erick couldn’t hear what the woman was saying, but every single kid nearby looked mollified, and especially the one that got too rough.

Mother Eriliad sat down behind her desk, saying, “I have heard that Delia Greentalon has garnered your support?”

Erick turned back to Eriliad, saying, “Yes. She has.” He sat down across from Eriliad. “She asked for me to deliver some enchanted rings here, and they’re done, so that’s why I’m here. One of the reasons, anyway.”

Eriliad kept a stoic face, but she was obviously tense. “Please, go on.”

“I was all prepared to just hand over the goods and wish them all good luck, but when I understood that you would be the one to handle this transition of goods, I wanted to speak to you about Rats— I mean. Xendross Sands.” Erick asked, “I want to know if he is okay. If he had contacted you? I understand he was going through something painful, but I never knew until he was gone.”

Eriliad kept her shoulders square and her eyes level. She was obviously controlling her response. Moments passed in silence, before she said, “He was there to oversee the Life Binder bringing me back from my Final Rest. I can’t forgive him for that, but even still, I love him as if he were my own.” She added, “He has always been an emotionally stunted idiot and it has always cost him everything he ever built. He—” She shook her head. “I cannot speak of him any more or I am liable to journey south and drag him back here by his ear.” She added, “Maybe some other day, but not now. Apologies, archmage.”

“Perfectly fine.” It wasn’t, but Erick let it be. He said, “If he wants to return, can you tell him that he is welcome to come back, but only after clearing the necessary security questions and answers, of course.”

Eriliad seemed to go softer at that. She smiled, tiny, as her shoulders relaxed. She said, “If he ever realizes his folly, I will tell him you said this.”

“Now that that is out of the way—” Erick said, “Ah. Thank you, Teressa.”

Teressa was already stepping into the room with both stone boxes. She laid them on the table in front of Erick, then gave a short bow to Mother Eriliad and stepped back outside. Erick opened the first one and set the lid to the side, as Eriliad stood from her chair to see inside the box. Silver orbs gleamed in dark settings atop strips of dark metal.

Erick said, “Each box has 5 layers of 60 rings; they just need a bit of [Metalshape] to twist into the proper shape. You could even use [Stoneshape] to properly shape them, but that ends up a bit crude— You’d know how to do this. I don’t have to tell you.”

Eriliad stared down at the bounty before her. She picked one up. She glanced to Erick, then looked at his fingers. She saw that the rings here were not the same as his own.  

Erick said, “These are lesser versions of what is possible. I want to help Delia and the victims of the Red Dot, but I don’t want to give away too much power at once. This particular box of rings is unlike any you’ve ever seen; I guarantee it.” He added, “Anyway. If the kids prove to be responsible, I can make stronger ones. Can you tell Delia, that? I haven’t spoken to the Army, yet, but I’m going to make them some new rings, too, and soon.”

Eriliad held the almost-ring up, then said, “I’ll test this now, if you don’t mind.”

“Go ahead!” Erick added, “Do you need me to— Guess not.”

The strip of metal flowed into a ring, and settled down onto Eriliad’s pointer finger. When the dark iron settled, she gasped. “TEN TO EVERY STAT?!” She immediately took off the ring. She almost tossed in back into the box, but she didn’t. She laid the ring on her desk. She stood over the ring, staring at the artifact. “This—” She cut herself off. She thought.

Erik waited.  

Eriliad sat back down in her chair with a great wumph. She said, “You’ll get them addicted to magic that doesn’t exist except from you. I don’t like that… But.” She added, “That’s what I’d say to anyone else who came here with this sort of extravagant gift. Normally, I’d throw you out of here with your shirt on fire. It’s my duty to protect these kids, you see.”

“I completely understand.”

“That said, even you can’t possibly be this giving.” She seemed to deflate, saying, “Or maybe you are?” She solidified, adding, “No. I need to know what you get out of this.”

Erick said, “I want to help those who I can help.”

Eriliad thought for a moment. She said, “I need a larger reason than that.” She added, “If I go around with that sort of story, then someone else will invent some other reason that you’re doing this.”

“Then tell them that I want to support those who can do good in the world.”

With a concerned voice, Eriliad asked, “Are you feeling guilty over what happened to the Farms?”

“Of course.” Erick barreled through whatever uncomfortable emotions filled his chest, saying, “I thought I was helping people, but then hunters got involved, and now Spur has a rapid influx of orphans due to my inability to find and kill every single threat out there, before it became a threat. If I can empower those who are left, maybe they won’t suffer as much when I try to do more good in the world.”

Eriliad looked at Erick. She said, “That seems rather demanding.”

“Knowing that my actions have consequences is rather a normal thing to recognize and ameliorate. This gift is one such attempt to lay a good foundation for whatever might happen in the future.” He added, “It’s not paranoia if they really are out to get you.”

“Apologies. What I meant to say is: That seems rather egotistical.” She added, “And you haven’t thought this through nearly enough.”

“… Excuse me?”

“You’re not excused.” Eriliad narrowed her eyes, then took a deep breath and a completely different tone from before. She spoke like a woman defending her children, “You don’t seem to get what this ‘gift’ would do to these kids. These rings are targets and Delia is completely unqualified to speak for her fellow recently-orphaned and this much power is NOT going into the hands of children, especially when less scrupulous people will break their little fingers to get rings that never break!” She launched into Erick, saying, “How can you possibly consider this a good idea?!” She added, “I knew you were kind-hearted, but this is completely irresponsible!”  

Erick backpedaled, “They’re just 55 extra Stat points. That only costs a thousand gold every few mana pools to replace with normal gear.”

“Spur’s Care Services feeds 4500 orphaned and low-care kids every day on a thousand gold! Your idea of money is completely inflated, like all high level adventurers!” Eriliad said, “You might have killed all the nearby hunters, Archmage Flatt, but there are still rookie adventurers around here that would do awful things to children if that’s what it took to acquire a single artifact!”

Erick was taken aback. He bargained, “This method is not that special. Anyone can do it if they know the trick. These rings are nice, and nothing more.” He said, “They aren’t really ‘artifacts’ at all!”

“Then take these rings and sell them! Get them out there on the market, so that they’re not so special people would kill over them.” Eriliad picked up the ring on her desk and put it back in the box. She shut the lid, and said, “Because these rings are not going to my kids, and if you don’t want to kill them, then you won’t break like wet paper when Delia comes back to you, whining for some other way to get her hands on power she is too young to possess!”

- - - -

Erick walked out of the Church with his boxes floating to his sides.

When they were far enough away from the vineyard and Erick didn’t think his voice would crack with anger, he asked, “Was she right?” He added, “We killed every nearby hunter, didn’t we?”

Kiri said, “I’d guess that anywhere between five to twenty of the kids to get a ring would also get into serious trouble because of it, but you could track these rings, and kill whoever stole one. Everyone knows you can track people in some unspecified, possibly blood magic way, now. That’s a pretty big knock against her argument.”

“Yeah. But...” Teressa said, “That’s only possible if the kids report the problem. People would notice a body, or a missing person, so that likely won’t happen, but I doubt many would report a simple theft.” She added, “That reminds me. Merit also dropped heavy hints that she’s interested in using you to catch thieves.”

Erick asked, “What about you, Poi?”

Poi frowned. He said, “I was… caught up in the good you wanted to do, while also considering that very, very few people want to do anything against any of your interests, especially with Spur supporting almost every action you do. I considered your idea to give rings to the freshly matriculated as somewhat low-risk, and already told the Guard that there might be kids walking around with your rings on soon. Merit thought it a risk, too, but it would be simple enough to nail to the wall anyone who had a ring who was older than 17, for that would mark them as improper owners. Your ability to track them was secondary to that, but it was also brought up as a countermeasure against theft. But… Mother Eriliad is right, and also wrong, and also considerably overprotective.” Poi said, “Delia and her crew are orphans in the care of the city until they turn 18, but they are freshly Matriculated. They are adults. If they choose to be adventurers, then it is not our right to deny them their journey. But… Giving someone unearned wealth never turns out as good as you think it will.” Poi said, “So I have to agree with Eriliad, but for very different reasons.”

Erick sighed out at the sky. “Then… I’ll figure out some other way to help Delia.” He said, “But I’m not selling them. So...”

- - - -

Teressa took a right inside the Courthouse, at the floating globe of Veird hanging in the center of the building, but veered left. She split off from the group to see if Silverite’s office had any [Witness] needs for the day. She’d head off to the Guardhouse next, and then meet everyone back at the house, later.  

Erick, Poi, and Kiri, took a right at the globe, and split right. Erick floated his boxes just above his hands; it wasn’t an overt display of magic, but it allowed him to carry the two large boxes without much effort.   

Finding the appropriate offices, Erick went inside. He bypassed rows of chairs filled with people; each of them holding paperwork and waiting for their number to be called. It did not take long to find the desk of the appropriate person. The man at that desk also saw Erick coming, and smiled.  

Erick floated his boxes to his side, dropping the act that he was holding them up himself, and said. “Hello. Delivery for the Quartermaster; Liquid. 600 rings.”

The greenscale secretary, ‘Thom’, according to the nameplate on his desk, grinned wider. He tapped his desk with a talon, saying, “Quartermaster Liquid is out on business, but you can set them right here, Archmage Flatt. I’ll be sure she gets them. The Army thanks you for your donation.” He asked, “By chance… are any of them Willpower?”

“Much better than that!” Erick opened the lid to a box, saying, “Go ahead and take one.” He tried to keep the acid sarcasm out of his voice as he said, “Careful though. I’ve been told they’ll make you a target.”

Thom did not seem to care about Erick’s tone. He just plucked out the ring sitting on top; the one Eriliad had formed. He said, “Yes. That is true. They do make you a target.”  

Erick felt his stomach drop. “Really?” He winced. “How bad was it?”

“Not bad at all.” Thom added, “Some dumbfucks tried to steal from soldiers in the Dead City. They didn’t survive that lesson.”

By now, a few of the nearby office workers were craning their necks to see what was going on over by Liquid’s secretary. It took less than half a moment for the excitement to go to some of the people sitting down, waiting for an interview. Some of them stood up to have a look-see.  

Thom slipped the ring on his finger. He exclaimed, “Plus 10 to every Stat!”

 People instantly got up from their desks—

Thom glared, belting out, “Sit back down!”  

Most of them sat back down. The interviewees also backed up, as someone else behind a different desk spoke like a retired drill Sargent, and told them all to get back in their chairs, before calling out the next number.  

Thom turned to Erick saying, “Thank you, sir.” He smiled mischievously, saying, “Liquid is going to be thrilled. As will the rest of us. We’ve actually run a little low. These things remove cursed objects, so we’ve actually used up almost all of what you gave us before.”

Erick paused. He asked, “Really?” Now he felt a little bad. He should have replaced the Army’s rings well before today. He said, “You guys should have said something.”

Thom smiled. “So are they all bonuses to every Stat?”

“Just the ones in that box. The other box is an even assortment of normal plus-25 Stats. 75 rings of each kind, waiting for fingers to be formed around.”

“Perfect! Great. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He added, “If that’s not enough, then send me a request for more.” He asked, “Actually. How many people are in the Army?”

“12,000, if you include the Guard. Maybe only 500 active soldiers at a time, though.” He said, “So 600 is great for our needs. Thank you.”

Erick felt a spark of inspiration. “If you want me to outfit the entire Guard and Army, just give me the word.”

Thom went speechless, but he quickly found his footing. “I’ll pass the message along.”

Erick nodded, then left them too it. By the time he neared the exit for the Quartermaster’s offices, the other people around the room could not hold themselves back. They rushed Thom, everyone wanting to see the new shipment. For his part, the greenscale man deftly yanked the boxes of rings away and retreated into Liquid’s office, slamming the door shut behind him.

- - - -

Erick, Poi, and Kiri went to the Mage Guildhouse.  

Sizzi sat behind the front receptionist desk. She spotted Erick walking into the building. In that moment, she seemed for all the world like a deer facing down a semi-trailer truck on the highway. Her purple skin paled as her violet eyes went wide.  

A soft looking bunny made of bright violet fur poked up from behind the counter. Its long ears twitched to see what Sizzi was looking at. At the same time, Sunny almost flew off of Kiri’s shoulders, but Kiri controlled her [Familiar] before Sunny got too far. Ophiel, resting on Erick’s shoulders and looking a tiny parakeet, simply twittered in soft, interested guitar strums.  

 Anhelia, sitting next to Sizzi, but talking with a customer, noticed Sizzi’s shift and the sudden perking-up of the three nearby [Familiar]s. She glanced from Sizzi, to Erick. She paused in confusion, then her eyes went wide, too. She smiled.  

Erick smiled, walking to the receptionist’s desk, saying, “Sizzi! Just the person I wanted to see.”

Anhelia said, “Why don’t you two use the room back there?”  

Sizzi forced a smile to go along with a nervous chuckle, as she stood from her chair. “If you would follow me, archmage.”

The bunny hopped through the air like it weighed nothing, to alight on Sizzi’s shoulder. Somewhere between the desk and its creator, the bunny shrunk to the size of a mouse.

In one of the stone rooms Erick had once upon a time used to get his Mend-Cleanse mage quest license, Sizzi pulled a few chairs from a stack against the wall and set them out in the center of the room. She took one. Erick and Kiri each took their own chair; Poi stood to the side of the room, and closed the door.

Kiri glared at Sizzi the whole time. Right before she sat down, she spat out, “I cannot believe that you would spread Erick’s method for—”

“It was unintentional!” Sizzi sat down. Everything about her spoke of accepting a defeat; from the slump of her shoulders, to her downcast eyes. “I never meant for this...” Her bunny flopped from her shoulder to her lap, as Sizzi said, “I was on a trip to Kandahi, you see, on the Wall. Do you know where that is?”

Erick, already sitting, said, “I’m vaguely aware of the location.”

“I have family there.” As if accepting that she had done wrong, Sizzi rapidly said. “One thing led to another and I was very drunk and looking back on it, it was very stupid, because they were plying me with drinks to get me to talk about Rokkel.” Sizzi flicked her eyes up and down, causing a blue box to manifest.  

--

Summon Rokkel, medium range, 1104 mana + Variable.

Summon an Rokkel to do your bidding. Maximum 10 Rokkel permitted.

Rokkel persist until killed or dismissed.

All Rokkel are the same creature; to know one is to know them all.

All Rokkel naturally have and regenerate mana based on your own mana and mana regeneration, which they may use to cast the spells that you imbue them with, at your own command or at their own discretion. Comes summoned and proficient with [Lightshape], [Telepathy], and [Scry].

All Rokkel are able to alter their size and shape.

Imbue your Rokkel with new spells, wherever they are. Variable

See through the eyes of your Rokkel. Variable

Communicate telepathically with your Rokkel. Variable

--

“Looks almost the same as Ophiel’s,” Erick said, patting Ophiel on his shoulder.

Sizzi said, “I am sorry, archmage. I know we never entered into any formal arrangement, but I acted rather foolish with the method you gave me.”

Kiri harrumphed, and shot a glare at Poi. Poi just rolled his eyes.  

Erick asked, “So what’s the damage? What’s actually become of this?”

Sizzi said, “My uncle Orxan disappeared into the Magisterium, the day after I told—” She sighed. She said, “That’s a lie. I didn’t just tell. I gave a successful demonstration.” She held up her hand, palm up. A bangle of yellow metal and tiny purple stones jangled on her wrist. “Grahla. Come out out.”

The bangle went liquid as it flopped up and around her hand like a tiny ooze. Grahla took its place atop Sizzi’s palm, burbling upward, eyeing Erick and Kiri with purple stone eyes.  

Kiri’s eyes went wide. “Oh my gods. You made a second [Familiar]!”

Erick smiled. “You can do that, huh?”

“Yes. You can. Grahla’s creation was as successful as Rokkel’s, too” Sizzi said, “[Stoneshape], this time.”

“How many can you make?” Erick said, “I never considered making more than Ophiel.”

Ophiel trilled to hear his name.

Kiri said, “I’ve tried, but it didn’t work for me. Sunny is perfect, anyway.”

Sizzi said, “I’ve tried for a third. Zog. I wanted to make him more real. Two seems to be my limit, for now.”

“Class ability?” Erick asked.  

“No.” Sizzi said, “Well. Yes. Actually. But I don’t actually have a Class, yet. So that’s not my limiting factor.”

Kiri said, “One of the options of Summoner is the ability to turn up to your Willpower-divided-by-10 temporary summons into a new [Familiar].”  

“Yes. But I’m not a Summoner, yet.” Sizzi’s metallic [Familiar] slipped back around her wrist, as she said, “As far as I can tell, the ability to make more [Familiar]s with Archmage Flatt’s method is likely tied to your Personality Limit. It’s not a real number, but more a hard limit based on biology and personality.”

Erick said, “I think I know that theory. It was called ‘Dunbar’s Number’ back on Earth, but it only dealt with how many people a person can ever really keep track of at any one time. 150, right?”

Sizzi thought for a moment. She said, “Yeah. I could see that being the right number for 10 Willpower. The Personality Limit is consider 300 random people, at 20 Willpower, though, with a much lower number for personal friends.”

Kiri said, “Yes. That’s all well and good, but let’s not forget your wagging tongue!”

“I am sorry.” Sizzi said, “Truly! It was a mistake. I did not mean to betray your trust.”

“You didn’t betray my trust, Sizzi.” Erick said, “I never expected anything I said to remain private. I just hope the fallout isn’t catastrophic.”

Sizzi frowned. “Magic isn’t treated the same over there as it is out here. They do yearly checks to make sure no unapproved person has taken Clarity or gotten their Willpower or Focus above 19. Whatever outcome comes from this would be measured and quiet—” Sizzi winced, as she realized what she had said.  

“That’s what I’m afraid of.” Erick laid it out there, “More Quiet War shit.”

Sizzi murmured, “Sorry.” She quickly added, “But I really don’t think there’s anything to worry about. Orxan tried to make a [Familiar] but failed. And then there was my cousin Bex who—”

Someone knocked on the door to the room.  

Poi just opened it, like he was knew who was on the other side.  

When Erick saw who it was, he realized that Poi probably did know who was at the door, because of course he did; he was Poi, after all.  

Sizzi spoke first, her voice tainted with worry, “Mother?—”

“Good. You’re all here.” Zago stood framed by grey stone, with sand on the hem of her black robes and flyaways poking from her white hair. One of her horns was chipped. She looked harried, but her eyes were bright violet, and focused. She said, “There has been a development with the Dead City. Come to the war room when you are done here. Sizzi knows where it is. Everyone will be there as soon as they can. Mog, Merit. Silverite and Killzone.” She did not wait for a response. She just blipped violet; gone.  

Erick laughed in the face of Zago’s proclamation, saying, “And here I was, wishing it could be anything else but the Quiet War!” He added, “Serves me right.”

No one else thought him funny. He didn’t consider himself funny, either, but you had to laugh at some parts of life, didn’t you?

Sizzi got up from her chair and strode out of the room, saying, “This way.”

- - - -

Erick followed Sizzi into the main room, back by the receptionist’s desk. Anhelia was not there. Instead, the young man Erick had seen before was there, trying to deal with an angry customer he was woefully ill-equipped to handle. He caught Sizzi’s eyes, and whisper-shouted to her for help. Sizzi shook her head, mouthing, ‘Sorry,’ and kept walking.  

Up the main staircase, they walked; Sizzi leading the way.  

Every step they took, Erick felt dread settle onto his shoulders. Ophiel trilled in quiet flutes. He may not have understood exactly what was happening, but he understood about as much as anyone. Whatever had happened could not possibly have been a good thing.

The war room was the not located up any tower, but was instead down at the bottom of a staircase, past a few deep, well lit, yet empty rooms. There was not a shadow to be seen, down here; not even under Erick’s own feet. An archway at the end of the hallway held a thick pair of deeply red doors, but those doors were open. A flurry of activity rustled papers and scratched on chalkboards beyond. Raised voices spoke of shadelings and danger, and of … Magical items? Gifts? Points?  

Erick glanced back to Poi as they walked. Poi, in turn, had about thirty lines of intent radiating from his head, and a grimace on his face. He glanced to Erick, but said nothing. Erick held his questions close as he followed Sizzi into the red room.  

It took a moment to take in the sight of so many people working fast and speaking at each other, though from the threads of intent in the air, there was a lot more happening below the noise.  

Largely, the room seemed divided into two sections. One section was situated around a strong wooden longtable, where magically-powered screens floated at one end, near the wall. There were chairs scattered around the longtable, and near the viewing screens, but nobody was there, yet. The other part of the room was filled with desks and individual floating screens, and the people who likely controlled those screens. That half of the room was full of people, but almost none of the screens held anything except for solid colored light; likely the colors of whoever had cast those spells. They were still in the set-up stage, if Erick was reading all of that right.

Zago blipped in at the head of the longtable, opposite the viewing screens. She immediately said to Erick. She said, “Take a seat. Hold your questions, please. There’s no immediate rush to action, but there will be heavy decisions made today.” She added, “Sizzi? Please wait to the side with the others.”

Erick glanced to the side. Anhelia and a few other people from the Mage Guild stood to the side of the room, against the wall, watching the unfolding mess in front of them. Sizzi went to Anhelia and began whispering with the wrought woman. Kiri stepped to the side, near to Sizzi, but not next to.  

An orangescale man who Erick barely remembered as Tamarim, walked from the crowded viewing screen area, to the seats sitting beside the main screen. He sat down, speaking to the room, “Main view is coming on right now.”

The largest screen in the center of the rest, flickered from orange to blue sky, orange sands, crystal agave and mimics, no doubt, and a blot of black on the horizon. The view moved closer. The dark blot slowly resolved into a city made of shadows—

Poi said, “Silverite and Killzone are arriving now.”

The air next to the longtable blipped silver and black; Silverite, the silver dragonkin-shaped Mayor of Spur, and Killzone, the completely black orcol-shaped general of Spur’s Army.  

Silverite said, “Attention, everyone!”

The room went silent.

She continued, “The city is called Candlepoint, and the threat of this location has been downgraded from imminent danger to threatening. As you were.”

At least two guys visibly relaxed at their desks on the other side of the room. A few others just nodded, and turned back to their discussions. All around the room, viewing screens flickered from solid colors to images of ‘Candlepoint’; from the sky, to the streets, to the walls, to far away. Erick watched as shadelings walked across dark roads or hauled colorful fruits across the view, or spoke with one another.

All at once, in every single interior view, the shadelings turned to the camera.

Erick felt his blood freeze as a collective gasp went through the war room. [Hunter’s Instincts] went on, instinctively.

Without doing anything else, the shadelings returned to whatever they were doing; harvesting fruits, feeding their babies, talking to their neighbors, talking to adventurers—

Erick watched a shadeling behind a market stall, characterized by a gentle shadow that licked across their skin, talking to an adventurer on the other side, characterized by their heavily guarded stance and distinct lack of shadows; compared to the shadeling, the person was a riot of brown leathers and bright pink skin and white hair and color. The adventurer looked to be trying to sell something to the shadeling; a pile of rads, perhaps?

Erick pointed across the room, whispering, “What the fuck is happening there?”

Killzone spoke without the comforting twang to his voice, “It’s commerce, of a sort. They require rads, and then sell… we’re not quite sure what they’re selling.”

Poi said, “Mog and Merit are arriving, now.”

The air blipped grey in one area and orange in another; Mog and Merit, already on opposite sides of the longtable.

Mog took a seat. Merit took a seat on the opposite side.  

While Poi stayed to the side and Kiri had already made herself a nonspeaking fixture to the side of the room, Erick took a seat at the longtable, next to Mog. The large orcol smiled a bit at that, but on the other side of the table, Merit mouthed, ‘I need to talk to you about more scanning’. Mog switched to a glare at nothing in particular. Zago sat down on the other side of Erick. Killzone took his place at Silverite’s left hand side.  

Silverite looked to the air as she sat down at the head of the longtable. A tendril of intent flowed out, then back.

The air blipped on top of the table, near Silverite, revealing the pixie, Fillarina. She spoke to those seated, saying, “The archmages send their representatives.”

There were just enough seats left for three more blips. One blip was opalescent, revealing a hovering, pearly ovoid without any defining characteristics. The other two blips were black and blue; a hovering, dark jumble of star points the size of a head, and a hovering blue blob, with air bubbles trapped inside. All three off the new arrivals were about the same size.

Ophiel trilled on Erick’s shoulder at the new [Familiar]s, but quietly; he knew something important was happening.  

Silverite began, “Fillarina. What have you uncovered?”

Fillarina stood atop the table, saying, “This shadowy city is called ‘Candlepoint’. They claim to be something of an adventuring town, but this location is also a means for them to put their new magics out into the world.” She flicked a hand up, toward the main viewing screens. “These new magics are either created through wizardry, or through divine magic, and since the source is the Dark Dragon, it's probably wizardry. Whatever the case, they’re gamechangers, and everyone is interested for varying reasons.”

The main screen as changed, revealing a carved section of Candlepoint’s walls, that looked more like a treatise than a proclamation. This particular section was to the right of the open archway; the city’s main entrance. Based on the people in view standing in front of the proclamation, reading right alongside Erick and everyone else, the walls of Candlepoint were easily ten meters tall.

--

WELCOME TO CANDLEPOINT!

Our goal is to PROMOTE THE GROWTH of the shadelings in this city, from drones, to SAPIENT individuals. As such, you might notice that some of them act strange. Don’t worry! They are still finding their feet, and shouldn’t be to aggressive. Please just continue on your business without harming them, and they won’t harm you! EASY!

In order to promote this growth, they are living normal lives, and as a part of their lives, we have a system. You pay us in rads, and you get credit, known here as DARKCHIPS.  

1000 mana in rads = 1 DARKCHIP.  

Exchange these DARKCHIPS for various items, UNLIKE THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN BEFORE.

Example Normal Prizes:

OCEANDROP FRUIT! Gain an extra point of Willpower, PERMANENTLY, 100 D

SUNDROP FRUIT! Gain an extra point of Dexterity, PERMANENTLY, 1000 D

Example Lesser Prizes:

STAFF OF HANDS! Lesser Artifact Item! Cooperative Cast with yourself! 100 D to 1000 D

BOOTS OF THE JUGGERNAUT! Lesser Artifact Item! Unmovable greatness! 500 D

Example Basic Prizes:

Reduction Pearls, 5%! Stacks with all casting cost reductions! 5,000 mana, guarantee! 10 D

Reduction Pearls, 25%! Stacks with Clarity! 25,000 mana, guarantee! 5 D

--

The room remained silent though more than a few people had finished reading the list and began to look toward Silverite, or Killzone. A few people even glanced at Erick.

“Okay.” Mog asked, “That all looks… really bad. But what is Dexterity?”

Fillarina answered, “A new Base Stat, like Strength or Willpower—”  

The side of the room containing Mage Guild people went loud. Zago snapped her fingers, and the murmuring died off.

Fillarina continued, “—We’re not sure what Dexterity does, exactly, but we do know that it enables better bodily reaction speeds and combat effectiveness and weapon use.”

Erick heard himself say, “Can he do that?!”

Silverite’s mouth was a hard line. She said, “Apparently.”

Erick asked, “Are we flattening the place?”

Before the mumbling and the discontent could inundate the room, Silverite said, “Fillarina. Continue with the report.”

Fillarina spoke, filling the waiting silence of the room, “The listed rewards are less than a percent of what is actually on offer inside Candlepoint. Their largest trade seems to be Basic Tier items, and that includes almost anything you could find in a normal magic shop. Rods of [Treat Wounds]. Staffs of [Fireball]. High tier potions. That sort of thing. Many people have already begun trading in rads for darkchips, though that only started this morning. Candlepoint itself has only been existent for three days, now.”

The main viewing screen vanished, as eight smaller ones moved to fill the air, each holding a different perspective on the dark city. There were markets and hotels and gardens and farms, filled with shadelings, and even the rare person.

Fillarina continued, “The cities of the Wall already tried flattening Candlepoint. They even sent out a pair of level 75 Darklight mages. There is a Shade on site. This Shade killed all attackers, effortlessly. He’s still there, too. Usually, he is stationed atop the shadow kendrithyst in the center of the city.” The main viewing screen shifted to show a dark-skinned incani on the top of a dark stone. “It’s Bulgan.”

Erick whipped around to look at Zago. Zago sat stoically; unwavering and unblinking, staring at the screen in front of them all. Erick was not the only one looking Zago’s way, but he barely noticed the other people, because anger roiled through his chest like lava. Just as quickly as he looked to Zago, he turned back to the screens. Fillarina was still talking.

Fillarina continued, “We don’t know the purpose of this charade. We don’t know how they managed to make shadelings look and act like normal people. As far as I can tell, it’s all a trick of some sort, but I don’t see their angle, except to make more shadelings from the adventurers that come into the city without those people realizing that they’ve taken on the Curse of the Shadeling.”

Zago said, “Of the people the Wall has tested for the Curse, they have found none afflicted.”  

Mog said, “There’s not a single person that gets a quest in this city that doesn’t know the dangers of dealing with Shades. We make them all sign off on that before they take quests for Ar’Kendrithyst.”

Fillarina continued, “There is more. Aside from the rewards listed on the wall, and inside the city at what passes for their ‘Upper Trade District’, other rewards are scattered throughout Candlepoint. One of them is an option to have a fair fight against Bulgan. It’s written up there by where he stands.”

The camera moved to the right of Bulgan, to zoom in on a stone plate near an attendant shadeling.

--

Challenge <Bulgan Shadoweater> in a fair fight for control of Candlepoint!

—{ 1,000,000 D }—

--

Killzone spoke up, “If you win, they probably take you and break you until you agree to become a Shade, yourself, and then set you up as the ruler of that city.”

Silverite added, “Likely.”

Mog asked, “What am I telling my adventurers, Silverite?”

Silverite said, “For now, you make them know how dangerous it is. Try to stop them if you can, but I don’t know if that’s possible. The Shades will just keep upping the temptations until they get a flood of people knocking down their doors, hungry for magic that would likely damn them for eternity.”

Erick stressed, “So flattening Candlepoint is out of the question?”

“For now, we will take no overt actions against Candlepoint.” Silverite said, “For those of you who might not know, we’ve seen strange things coming out of Ar’Kendrithyst in the past few weeks from a location known as Umber Street, just a few city blocks from the Spire; the largest zone of no return in the Dead City. There have been people wearing boots that give them the movement options of the Elemental Body Skills, and bone stitches that enable faster movement without an increase in Health cost. One woman was even able to confound a Mind Mage into letting her go, without the use of mind magic. Candlepoint might be the culmination of Umber Street, or Candlepoint might be a stepping stone to what lies in the Dead City. We're not sure.

Silverite added, “Whatever the case, this is the old god of magic doing some major fuckery with the Script. Gods, demons, and angels are likely to get involved, and soon. I expect Champions to come to Spur. I expect Champions to be created in Spur, or elsewhere nearby. We haven’t seen this sort of action from Ar’Kendrithyst, ever. Usually, they’re a lot more violent, but sometimes they start off acting nice. I don’t expect any existent government to fall for it, but the people will. They always do.”

No one spoke.

The spiky black star broke the silence, “I vote we destroy Candlepoint. Get everyone together, and Red Dot the place.” He added, “Oh. And I reinvented that spell. It wasn’t very hard.”

Erick suddenly felt like the world’s worst archmage.

The bubbling orb said, “You did not! That thing you made barely counts as the Red Dot.”

Silverite said, “Obsidian. Take this to heart: We will not be destroying Candlepoint until they reveal their true motive. By then, the rest of the world will want to move against them, too, if history has taught me anything.”

“I told you, Obsidian!” said the bubbling orb. “I told you exactly what she would say.”

The spiky black orb, Obsidian, grumbled.

Opal spoke up, “Destroying Candlepoint is the final option, because if it fails, there will be no second chance. When the Wall tried to tear down Candlepoint, Bulgan poked ten kilometer holes in the Wall, then set about a hundred mimics loose beyond the border. In three days, those hundred mimics have become ten thousand. The hoard is out of control. The Kingdoms are calling for help with that problem, too.” She said, “And that was Bulgan being nice about his retaliation.”

Erick said, “I’ll send Ophiel to help clear mimics. It won’t be a full extermination, but it will get all the adults.”

Silverite said, “Thank you, Erick. Zago? Set it up.”

“Of course,” Zago said.

Opal continued, “I haven’t been able to spot where they’re making these items in Candlepoint, so either they are hiding their stashes very well, or they’re making them in Ar’Kendrithyst and sending specific items to Candlepoint when someone turns in darkchips.” She said, “This means that most, if not all, of the Dead City is in accordance with Candlepoint. This means, that unless we have a coalition of nations backing us, attacking Candlepoint is a fool’s idea, as the Wall has already illustrated.”

Killzone said, “I agree with most of Opal’s assessment, but it is entirely possible that Candlepoint could fall apart from the inside in a month. If it does not… then we will have to consider drastic measures.”

Silverite said, “Here’s what I want to happen: The Guilds will tell people not to go, and warn them of the Shadeling Curse. The Guard will keep an eye out for strange magics around town, and give every single person that they haul in a full body scan for any strange magics. Use your Sin Seekers to find those with extra Stats and have them tell you what they do. The Army will conduct business as normal, but you will see about finding a way into Umber Avenue, and reporting on what, exactly, is happening there. Archmages: Do not directly engage Candlepoint. Aside from that— Opal. I want to know everything about Candlepoint you can possibly discover. Obsidian; you’re on discovering what new magics are coming out of Candlepoint. Link up with Merit and do what you have to do to understand the threat and what these new Stats and other magical items are doing to people. Wave; Find out where Melemizargo is right now, and his recent locations over the past week. Erick? I don’t know what you want to do, but figure out some way to contribute. And where is Melemizargo right now? Has anyone had any sightings?”

Zago said, “Not for years.”

Killzone said, “Not since Planter and Yetta.”

Obsidian said, “Five days ago, around Wyrmrest Mountains. He harried me while I was working on the Red Dot. For your information, the mountains have a new caldera.”

“Just can’t shut up about your magic, can you?” Wave said, but the floating blob of water seemed to be looking toward Erick.

Silverite’s face seemed to relax.

As others mentioned recent encounters, Erick felt his own encounter was less important, less unique, in the grand scheme. Erick spoke up, “I went to the Hole yesterday with Ophiel to test out [Lightwalk] and practice evading attackers. I’m pretty sure Melemizargo was down there, watching the whole time.”

Silverite went from whatever small joy she had, to staring off into nothing, looking like a person fending off a headache.

Okay. So. Maybe his most recent encounter with Melemizargo was not a normal occurrence.  

Wave said, “I’m glad you said it! I was gonna say—” She spoke to the group, “But yeah! The big DeeDee is in the neighborhood, near the surface. Recent activity put him near the Hole, just like Erick says. People are talking about it, too. They were saying how there was this pair of ethereal winged creatures, one made of light, the other made of grey, and how Melemizargo bounced around the Hole, following them around. A few adventurers witnessed the whole thing. Thankfully, DeeDee was busy with Erick!”  

Killzone went stony silent, along with Zago and Silverite. Merit grinned at Erick, while Mog looked down at him with pain in her eyes. Obsidian seemed to bounce in the air, while Wave just blorped, and Opal remained steadfast and still.  

Erick added, “He never said anything or made an overt appearance, though.”

Killzone spoke over Erick, “The Shades talk like he’s regained some of his hold on sanity, but…” He added, “I haven’t heard anything from the Geodes. Have you, Silverite?”

“I’m as unwelcome as you are; no, I haven’t.” Silverite turned to Erick saying, “Just ignore him; that’s the only thing you can do with Melemizargo. Hopefully he never wants to speak with you, but if he does, then you must thread a thin road between becoming too interesting for him to ever let go, and him killing you out of disappointment.” She stood up and turned toward the whole room, including the guys in the back, by the viewing screens. She said, “That goes for everyone here! If you ever happen to meet him: If he’s not actively harming you, then you probably don’t have anything to worry about from him. But if a Shade is there, too, then you are likely dead as soon as Melemizargo leaves. Jane got very, very lucky when they let her go. Don’t expect the same treatment at all.

She turned to Zago and Fillarina, saying, “I want to know every single thing you can discover about that town, using whatever normal means necessary. The rooms beyond this one are to be turned into information hubs open to us all here and in the Army or Guard, or any other trusted sources, but not for the public.” She said, “This scenario is unique, but we have dealt with weird Shade shit before. Maybe not some of you, personally, but I have. Killzone has. We’ll get through this, together.”

Most people in the room, not at the longtable, were looking better than they had before. Less antsy. Less worried.  

Silverite continued, “Is there anything else anyone needs to say to me? To ask?”

Erick had long ago decided to ignore Melemizargo until he became a direct threat, but it was nice to hear Silverite directly address that concern. It was nice to hear her have a plan, too. When she finished speaking, he waited for someone else to say something, but when no one else spoke up, he did, “I want to make rings for the Army and Guard. I already dropped off a shipment of 600 to Liquid’s office, but I can do a lot more than that. They’re plus-10 All Stat rings, too—”

Zago smiled, but sighed. The pointed black [Familiar] seemed to turn all of its attention on Erick. Even Opal seemed to look his way.

“—But. Maybe not All Stat, if there are new Stats?” Erick added, “Anyway. Rings. Yes? Maybe? No?”

“Yes.” Silverite said, “As many as you are willing to produce, the Guard and Army will absorb.”

“Okay.” Erick said, “I also have something a bit nicer that I wanted to give to someone, but it’s kinda unique and would only work with either you or Killzone. Or rather: any wrought. Someone without a solid body. If you want to come to the house, it’s there.”

Silverite asked, “Something defensive, or offensive?”

“Uh. A bonus?” Erick added, “I don’t know; you’d have to tell me. I haven’t actually been able to wear it, myself. It might not be useful, at all.”

Silverite said, “Killzone. You take that.” She stood. When no one else spoke up, she said, “And we’re done here. Everyone has their assignments or duty. Dismissed.” She blipped away in a flicker of silver light.

In moments, voices raised around the room as people spoke around viewing screens and to each other. Merit vanished in a blip of orange light. Killzone and the various [Familiar]s blipped away, one right after the other. Fillarina blipped blue, vanishing to wherever she usually was.  

Erick said to Mog, “Mog? I also want to offer my rings any adventurers you think might be useful against the Shades. Also! I have another question that would best be handled outside of this mess.”

Mog smiled down at him, and said, “Sure. But if you’re talking of Delia, then I can already guess that the Mother over at the Church denied your gift?”

Erick flinched. “Oh. I guess information travels fast.”

“That girl was talking about your sponsorship to everyone this morning. But then half an hour ago she wasn’t talking to anyone. Come by my office later, we can talk about this more.”

“Thank you, Mog.” Erick said, “I still want to support the orphans of the attack, but you might know of a better way than just giving them power.”

“I’ll think on it. See you later.” Mog nodded, then blipped away in a flash of grey.

Erick turned to Zago, to say—

Zago immediately said, “Would you like to take care of the adult mimics, first?”  

Erick said, “I did not mean to turn to you like that when Bulgan appeared. It was an unkind reaction. I apologize.”  

Zago stared at Erick, her face held tightly in place. She calmly said, “I want Bulgan dead just as much as any of you. He betrayed this city. He betrayed—” She went silent. “He hurt a lot of people.”

Erick understood some of why she didn’t speak more, of why she didn’t try to distance herself further from Bulgan. There were just so many unknowns regarding just how much the incani of Spur had conspired to try and oust him and his daughter from Spur, that if Zago said any more, she would be digging herself deeper into the mistakes of the past.

He didn’t want to confront that past, either, especially now, after so much had changed. The two of them being declared ‘Planar’ was only the first step. Since then, he had come to enjoy the people of Spur, no matter what sort of people they were, and Sirocco Zago was no exception. She helped him whenever he had questions about magic. Sizzi helped him to create Ophiel.  

And besides; he didn’t want a Converter Angel loose in the world, just how he didn’t want a Breach Demon loose in the world. He lived here, after all! So repairing and keeping intact his relationships with the incani of Spur was an important need.

“I know, Sirocco.” Erick said, “My apologies. That was unkind of me to suggest such a thing. I just reacted.”

“… Apology accepted.”  

“And yes. To answer your question, I would like to go kill the adult mimics, as soon as possible.”

She put on a smile, as she said. “Let’s go to my office. I can show you the maps for the Kingdoms and give you a primer on the Magisterium and then we can either go together, or I can go there with Ophiel and introduce you through your [Familiar]. The second option is likely the better one.”

Erick stood from his chair, saying, “Sounds good to me.”

- - - -

Sirocco Zago’s office was at the top of the Mage Guild’s main tower. Her waiting room held a window that overlooked the south of the city, with a clear view of the walls of Ar’Kendrithyst in the distance.  

She led the way into her rooms, where fluffy yellow and teal carpets and drapes and cushioned chairs gave a soft overlay to the hard grey stone beneath. The spiny metal things to the sides of the room were still spinning; whatever experiment was going on there had yet to fall. The various bubbling or crystalline or bookish accoutrements of magedom rested in their proper places on shelves all around, while Zago’s two cats, one black, one white, lounged next to each other in the afternoon sun by a window.  

Poi waited outside of the room. Kiri and Sizzi had already volunteered to remotely scout Candlepoint; Zago had sent them off with some of the people in the war room, minutes ago.  

Right now, the only people in Zago’s office were her, and Erick. She went to a cabinet beside her desk and opened it, revealing an assortment of both glowing and mundane crystal bottles on glass shelves. She grabbed a bottle of flickering red liquid and two crystal cups.  

She turned to Erick saying, “I need a drink before we begin. Would you like one, as well?”

“Yes. I would.” Erick said, “Thank you.” He added, “And I’d like to make you and Sizzi some rings as well. And whoever else you might consider, of course. I want to be prepared for the coming fight, this time.”

Zago smiled as she poured two short drinks, and handed one to Erick, saying, “I did not expect this sort of Dead City business to happen in my lifetime.”

Erick took his drink, and sipped. It was strong, but Erick could hold his drink. A warmth spread through his body. “This is good stuff. Thank you.”

Zago downed her drink, then grimaced, as she said, “Whew!” She poured herself another.  

Erick smiled.

Zago sipped her second drink slower, and said, “It has a minor mana regenerative effect, too, but without the use of crushed rads. You probably wouldn’t notice the effect, but I suffered through arcanaeum practically living on this stuff.” She held up her flickering red cup, saying, “I had to get in the proper headspace to talk of the Magisterium, you see.”

Erick downed his drink, then said, “I can imagine. I haven’t heard much about how the Wasteland Kingdom treats magic except that they don’t like it.”

Zago filled his drink again, then set the bottle on her desk. “Broadly true, but not at all true, like so many things in life.” She took one of the chairs on the visitor’s side of the desk. “I won’t go over much of it, but as a visiting mage there are certain things you shouldn’t do, and especially not do, considering you’re human.”

Erick took the other seat, beside Zago. At the mention of his humanity, he was glad she had offered him a drink. The alcohol was already making this messy business of Quiet War and the Dead City and new magic, seem easier to handle.  

Zago said, “As an archmage, and recognized as such by the Headmaster, you are not subject to the limiting tattoos that they would require you accept on your body before you stepped foot on Kingdom soil. But it’s important to keep this in mind, as if you threaten ruin, then they will take you down and put them on you. They might look for some stupid reason to tattoo you, anyway.

“This is why I suggest you go with Ophiel. Most archmages do that sort of visitation. But there is a catch.

“If you go with your [Familiar], and not in person, then you will be looked down upon. I don’t know if that matters to you, but it might to some, so I tell you this now so you’re not surprised.  

“You’re there to help clear out adult mimics though, in what is one of the largest infestations the Kingdoms have seen since the Fracturing Wars, back when I was a child. They were not prepared for this sudden shift in lifestyle, and they have just lost many of the people on site that would have dealt with such an infestation. So it’s gotten a lot worse in a very short amount of time.  

“Besides that, there has always been a tiff between the Wall and the other Kingdoms, so the most obviously needed help won’t manifest for the current infestation quick enough to really matter. And, according to my sources, Archmage Hocnihai has already spoken for you and bequeathed his remaining debt of his bargain of trade to the Magisterium.

“The way has been paved for you to appear in person, but I don’t think you should.”

While Zago spoke, Poi stepped into the room. Both Erick and Zago noticed him, but Poi said nothing; he just waited.  

Zago continued, “Anyway. I was already there once today… It’s not pretty. Practically the whole Wall is active in either repairs or mimic killing. Your Domain would be much appreciated, but they will try to trick you into something more permanent. They’ll try to ply you with gifts to offset the good you have done them, but if you accept those gifts, you will have entered into an informal contract with them, placing you into debt.” Zago stressed, “You do not want to be in debt with the Magisterium.”

“Oh? Uh. About that...” Erick said, “They came to me while I was on Oceanside, and gave me copies of Hocnihai’s final tomes, but while he was still alive, he gave me specialized tomes on [Prismatic Ward] and [Reflection].”

Zago’s eyes went wide. She calmed, and said, “That is worth much more than…” She paused. She said, “Maybe they do still owe you something. But that is unimportant. You need to stress that helping with the current infestation is final payment of the gifts you have received, and there is no debt to be had on either side.” She looked away. She looked to Erick. “Yes. That might be good enough. It has a higher chance of working since you’re a declared Archmage, but it might not.” She continued, “Anyway! Don’t accept gifts. Don’t get trapped. Ideally, I should be able to introduce Ophiel to Magister Iordex —the man currently in charge of clearing out the mimics— and from there, you can do go your thing, and others can clean up the remnants, and we can be done by—” She glanced out the window. The sun was still up, but it was in the western sky, and hours from setting. “By midnight.”

“Sir,” Poi said.  

Erick and Zago turned to Poi.

Poi said, “Mayor Silverite has requested a [Domain of the Withering Slime] on Spur, before you leave. Within the next ten minutes, please.” He added, “Kal’Duresh and Frontier desire the same, as soon as possible.”

Suddenly worried, Erick said, “I haven’t done that in months. That could kill people with intestinal rads.”

Zago said, “We check for those, now. Every person who comes in through the Wayfarer’s Guild or through the gates should see the signs by those entrances. There’s even a warning in the signing papers here, and at the Adventurer’s Guild.”

Erick looked to Poi. Poi nodded.  

“… Oh? Okay.” Erick said, “Then… Right now?”

Poi tilted his head up, then looked to Erick, and said, “After the warning has gone out.”

Zago winced. “That thing is too loud.”

“What warn—”

Erick didn’t get to finish his question, as the sounds of bees and violence and the moan of a dying god vibrated through the air outside of Zago’s office, rising into a crescendo, surging to a peak of terror, then descending to a low volcanic eruption.   

Zago’s two cats absolutely flipped the fuck out, meowing loud before dashing into a dark corner of the room.  

Words echoed across the city:

“THIS IS AN OFFICIAL TRANSMISSION OF THE EMERGENCY WARNING SYSTEM. [WITHERING] WILL BEGIN, SOON. I REPEAT: [WITHERING] WILL BEGIN, SOON. PREPARE YOUR [WEATHER WARD]S, IF NEEDED.”

As the violent air stopped assaulting his ears, Erick said, “Holy shit! Why have I never heard that before?!”

Poi said, “We had time to put out fliers and proclamations before, so no warning.”

Zago added, “Most city-wide problems are solved by the archmages and such, so there’s no reason to warn everyone about a problem they couldn’t solve, or a problem that they would get in the way of if they knew about. But the warning system is there for when something drastic happens that the individual needs to be responsible for.”

“I get that, but...” Erick said, “Why did I not hear that at the Red Dot attack?”

Zago said, “The three locations where someone can send out a message on the emergency broadcast system—”

The air vibrated again, repeating the same incredibly loud message as before.

When the message finished, Zago said, “The locations to broadcast the message were attacked first. Those locations were supposed to be privately held knowledge, but someone like Caradogh could have easily discovered them.”

Hearing that, Erick finished off his second drink, then said, “He’s dead, you know. He went after Jane and she killed him.”

Zago smiled, showing bright white teeth between dark purple lips. “I heard. Good for her.”

“She is rather awesome.”  

Poi said, “You’re clear to go, sir.”

Erick said, “This seems so sudden.” As he cast, he added, “And why no loud voice like that when the Tania screamed across the city?”

The air around him flickered with insubstantial white light, forming a sphere nearly two meters across and centered on his sitting form. Almost nothing changed of his immediate surroundings, but past the windows of Zago’s tower, thick air played across the city, like a sentient tsunami diving into every crevice and drying out every monster it touched.  

Zago smirked. “This is magic cast upon the city that Silverite wants to happen. And since we haven’t put out any proclamations, we have the warning system.”

Notifications flooded in.  

Erick said, “Okay. Sure. I guess I understand.” He added, “But someone could die!”

Zago said, “And we likely have shadowcats or other nasties inside the city right now, too. They would kill more people than your spell, for sure. Especially if they’re waiting for some signal from Candlepoint.”

Erick glanced at some of his notifications, his eyes going wide. He said, “Looks like you’re right about that.”

Poi heard Erick and stood a bit straighter, as he radiated more telepathic lines.  

Zago, for her part, sat in the white bubble with Erick and poured herself another drink, before refilling Erick’s glass. Erick focused on the notifications, hoping and praying that he wouldn’t clip any people in his spell. He didn’t hope for zero surprises; that ship had sailed in the first ten seconds.

Minutes added together to a dozen.  

After a minute with no more notifications, but with the spell still running, Erick broke the silence, saying, “Poi, can you please tell Silverite that I can continue to use the spell if she wishes Opal to pop any of the [Weather Ward]s out there. She might. So far, I see 5 Shadowcats, over 2000 wolves, a few hundred mimics, something called a ‘Puppet Master’, along with thirty ‘Puppet Minds’, whatever those are, more than a few acid slimes, and something called an owliper, but that looked rather low level—”

--

You have slain Umbral Leviathan A!

95% participation!

+34,716,353,135,390 exp

--

“— and an Umbral Leviathan!” Erick asked, “What the frick is that?”

Zago frowned, and downed her drink.  

A dozen more tendrils of thought radiated from Poi as he muttered, “Puppets! What the fu...” his voice trailing off.  

“The puppets are a bit of a worry, but if you got the master then whatever they were up to is over with.” Zago said, “The Umbral Leviathan could have been a major problem. Sometimes they wander up through the deeper tunnels of the sewer, and when they get this close, they usually go all the way and burst up on a street corner somewhere. How much experience was it worth?”

Erick counted, then said, “34 trillion. 95% participation.”

“Level 55, then.” Zago said, “It would have likely killed a dozen people before it got killed in return. That’s one of the lower level ones. Good job, Erick.”

Poi said, “Silverite would like you to hold the spell open until she says otherwise.”

Erick downed his drink then said, “Sure!”

Zago smiled, then said, “Care for a refill?”

“Thank you, but not if we have to visit the Magisterium after this. I’d like some coftea.” Erick stood up. “I’ll pop over to the house and be right back with enough for all of us.”

Zago smiled. “Go right ahead.” She filled her cup again, saying, “Personally, I can’t meet them sober.”

Erick blipped to the house, gathered up some coftea, a pitcher, two mugs, the rest of the stuff necessary to make coftea, except for water, and blipped back. He set the stuff out on a work table. Zago showed him the water fountain, and in ten minutes, he had his first cup of coftea, surrounded by the white orb of his Domain. It wasn’t till he was through his first cup, that he thought to foist his [Domain of the Withering Slime] off to an Ophiel, and set that Ophiel into the sky in the center of Spur. He still had to use his own mana to hold that spell open so that it would benefit from all of his own bonuses, but that was easy.  

And so, he sit down to talk with Zago, about the past, and the present.  

Zago spoke of her time at Magisterium-licensed Arcanaeum, and how awful it was to learn magic under that rule, but also how beautiful the country is, and how nice the people are. Erick spoke of failing out of university, and then never going back because he had a kid to raise. Occasionally, notifications would ping, and Erick would tell Poi of those notifications.

More shadowcats. A second leviathan. A flock of couatls, for some strange reason. A whole lot more crystal mimics, as the spell had time to really stretch kilometers past the edges of Spur, and past the black sands near the city walls.

After an hour, Poi asked, “Silverite is finished. She thanks you, Erick, for your time and magic.”

Zago said, “That spell would basically guarantee you the right to start your own Kingdom, you know.” She smirked, adding, “If you were incani, I mean.”

Erick laughed. “Back home, I could start a whole religion using just [Cleanse]. I’d probably get executed, too, but that’s par for the course. Nothing quite makes a religion more serious than a martyr.”

Zago laughed loud.  

Erick smiled, as he canceled his Domain. The Ophiel over the city turned small and blipped back into Zago’s office, to alight on Erick’s shoulder with a pleasant violin trill. Erick glanced at the window. Sunset was only two hours away. Maybe less.  

Poi said, “Silverite has just informed me that Kal’Duresh and Frontier have been made aware of what your Domain has killed in Spur. Baroness Pirazel Xelxex and Viscount Andro Helix are asking for your aid.”

Zago lost some of her mirth. She said, “If you get an introduction from the Baroness for the mimic clearing then the Magisterium cannot touch you; you would be visiting as a dignitary. You could go in person to the Kingdoms, if you wanted, and them touching you would be an act of war.”  

Erick grinned. “That sounds better than just showing up to help.”

“A lot better.” Zago said, “You have no idea how much better, and hopefully you never will.” She, slightly drunkenly, spoke to herself, “Honestly, I should have suggested getting an introduction from the Baroness.” She added, “Everything I already said still applies, but less so.”