Of Brewing War
Ninth Day of the Eleventh Month 293 AC
"Honored Wisdom, I will endeavor to keep my eye out for such a zone of low-ambient magic, though with all of the strange phenomenon I have witnessed effecting our Plane, the sheer variance in these effects, you would likely have better luck chasing such leads in the Garden rather than waiting for rumors of uncommon conditions turning up where they are likely warded. They are often protected by hazards both mundane and esoteric..."
Thus, do you go on to explain to Clo'Tiss the
duality of conceptual riveting of Fire effecting the wastes of the Lands of Long Summer, the Shadow that ever looms above Asshai, and how reality fades the closer one approaches to the poles you near until it is less a matter of distance than will that one might advance or retreat across the twisting nether and ice.
Seeing that the mage's pale eyes gleam with interest, you add, "I was of the understanding that the Elemental Planes were given to follow certain rhythms, if not necessarily ordered seasons, ever-shifting unless the scales were tilted by a Power's finger pressing upon them. I have also discovered some zones of wild magic in the Southlands--that is to say, near an equatorial range thousands of miles away from my realm, where the ruins of long lost civilizations are often marked by a variety of enchantments given over to the environment, or vents for energies sprouting from the earth, air and water." The message is clear, you hope. Your home holds many wonders and opportunities to advance spellcraft that are less perilous than the Elemental Wilds, but not so easy a trek than even a mage of the eight or ninth circle aught to dare them alone.
"Fascinating..." the locathah trails off. "I had always thought that the Garden would have been a more stable mingling of elements, though of course where the thinking mind is so too might one find sorcery to unbalance the scales to their advantage." A short bubbling laugh fills the air. "I shall have to look into this on my own that we might speak more in depth of this matter."
No more than you had expected. You nod in understanding. "There is one other matter I would speak to you then. There are some among my realm attemting to advance the cause of arcane engineering using lore of the fallen kingdoms of Sarnor, and that of lost Valyria whence my own ancestors sprang." You go on to explain Lya and Anu's projects, eliciting some interest but Clo'Tiss is still focused on his own path of study in utilizing uncommon scarcity of magic to better tune constructs for mass deployment.
As the visit concludes, the locathah mage is more than happy to give you not only directions but a recommendation to the Hall of Swirling Currents, Vialesk's Alchemist's Guild.
Within those half-flooded halls you find many eager young apprentices interested in journeying to far off lands for coin and steady employment. Given the scarcity of fire, alchemy is a difficult and rare art to practice in the Boundless Sea. A realm where the transformative powers of fire may be called up with a moment's thought, and lacking the ever-present threat of salt-water contamination, is more than enough for many of those present to sign on for a journey into the unknown.
Gained 28 Apprentice Alchemists (level 1); 10 Journeyman Alchemists (Level 3); 2 Master Alchemists (Level 5)
Lost 12480 IM
***
Tenth Day of the Eleventh Month 293 AC
On your second visit to the marid sorcerer Zamorto, you lead the conversation toward those he had fought alongside. You speak of how you are planning to place several or more Free Companies on retainer, if possible, to further your war in the Deep and carve out safe haven in the Narrow Sea for your vassals.
"These battles are likely to present many and varied foes to test your battle magics, and should some spell misfire in unexpected ways... well no one would regret the deaths of creatures who would enslave and devour others with less thought than others might place upon plucking a treat from an artfully crafted plate," you finish by taking a tiny marinated sea sponge from the plate in front of you and eating it. Zamorto had warned you that this particular treat had shards of glass growing though its savory 'flesh', too small to be extracted, but a dragon's stomach, or even one half-way between man and dragon, would make short work of such things.
"But you are not yet at war with the foul ones, correct?" the mage asks thoughtfully. "You do not quite have the urgent manner of one hiring mercenaries for a campaign even now spilling blood in the water."
"No," you admit. "Not yet, but if you have an interest in them I have my own battlefield magics to share. There was one particular spell used in ancient times by the gods of my home to sunder the lands and bring forth the surging waters, a working fit to shatter immense masses of earth and stone, which one of my dear friends has recently come into the possession of in the form of a bound enchantment."
"Interesting, but I do not lack for inspiration," the sorcerer replies. "Let us speak again once your war against the Farspawn begins in earnest." Although the words are a dismissal, the tone is as courteous as ever and he proves most helpful in discovering which of the Free Companies are without contract and inclined to swim far from Vialesk.
Unfortunately, owing to the recent battles against the Deep Ones and the unsettled waters as former reluctant allies eye the spoils of victory and each other with suspicion, only two companies of any size make a good fit for recruitment. Serega's Shields, a company of heavy triton cavalry that ride upon the backs of giant sea turtles, their own enormous living coral shields allowing them to brawl with even the most enraged of sahuagin. The second company is called the Lightning Chasers, an odd name in a realm with no storms, at least until one discovers that this company of skirmishers shares a particular bond with giant eels whom they train to fight alongside them in battle.
***
As one might expect from sellswords out of work, the two captains agree to meet with you at an inn in the upper city, the Maw. Supposedly built around the petrified remains of a Kraken, one brush against the limestone wall of the common room is enough to confirm that the fearsome teeth around the entrance way have never bitten into anything beside a sculptor's chisel. Hopefully the two warriors you are to meet here are more genuine.
Magrios arrives first, a leather garbed loacath looking out at the world through the hollows of a bone helm which must have once belonged to an enormous eel. The slithering black beast that coils around his waist and arm seems as unconcerned with that as with the fact that eels do not usually breathe air, and is instead content to snatch up morsels of food under the tolerant gaze of its master.
By contrast, Serega makes no effort to stand out, though the claw scars upon his cheeks, and the many trophies ganging at his throat, draw the eye of more discerning patrons nonetheless. His armor seems at first rough patchwork, until one looks deeper to see how every piece of bone and leather glows with an echo of the beast or foe it was torn from, granting the sellsword a measure of their vigor and perhaps other skills besides.
"So then, you are the fire Wyrm that wishes to hire us to swim in far off waters to make war on the Foul Ones that have so recently been driven from the Plane of Endless Waters," the triton captain looks you fearlessly in the eye. "Tell me then, why should we chase a desperate beast in its flight and risk being mauled for it?" Trying to take your measure you suspect, perhaps trying to see how deep draconic pride runs within you. A bold way to go about it.
How do you reply?
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OOC: Relath talking to the dragon-blooded mage will be addressed in the next update. There wasn't room here. Not yet edited.
Seriously though not sure. We will want pretty much every city entrance and every Inquisition and Scholorum covered with one.
