[Emergency,Object]
Opal and I portaled Duskhaven shortly before nine am. Sparky had kept us at the store late last night, discussing the differences in magic levels and the very idea that it was a different type of magic, or at the very least a different flavor. Opal and my reports were nearly identical, concerning the amount and density differences of ambient magic in Wyldwood and Duskhaven. Opal was more mathematically precise with her descriptions of density and the amount that could be gathered in a precise amount of time.
I did point out one difference that Opal hadn’t, through no fault of her own. I’d refilled my magic with the magic I’d gathered after creating the magical field for the portal. It had made me momentarily light headed. This is a fact that Sparky had seized upon, droning on and on about different magical flavors. I’m more interested in the practical, real world uses of magic. Sparky and Opal seem genuinely excited about knowing exactly how something works, I was just concerned that it works. If I could tell numerically what my magic level was, exactly what percent of my magic was used by a particular spell then maybe I’d be more detail oriented. As it is if Opal can give me quantifiable answers to a question, I do make note of them.
Once past the gate guards we hurried to Brown and Sons to meet Mike. I hope he remembered the ring. He was talking to one of his cousins, another of the stonecutters at the tombstone company.
“Rose, I thought maybe you weren’t coming.”
“We were held up by the gate guard. Searching every wagon for races not allowed in town. Why is this town so xenophobic?”
“A couple of years ago we had this mayor, he got elected because he convinced everyone that all our problems were the result of letting in certain races. So he banned them from entry. But things kept getting worse, when the next election came around, his opponent pointed out that even though those races were no longer admitted things were still getting worse for the common citizens, So he declared the mayor an idiot, who didn’t really know how to fix things. That’s how he won the election and became the new mayor.”
“So why aren’t the other races allowed in now, if the new mayor showed that they weren’t the problem?”
“Because the idiot had convinced enough other idiots, and now there was general animosity towards those races. The new mayor was afraid that if he let the prohibited races back in, there would be violence in the street. If you look at the races not allowed in they are pretty small and weak in general. If a lone hobbit or gnome or even worse sprite or pixie were allowed in and they believed themselves to be safe they still might be murdered on the street by the prior mayor’s rabid followers. So even though the majority of the people understand the truth, the violent minority wins by default. Is it better to let people in if you know they may be attacked or is it better to exclude people for their own safety? I really don’t know the answer to that.”
“That’s tough if I knew all of that the other day, I wouldn’t even have considered having Mossbeard accompany us here. Well at least you got rid of the racist mayor. But those gate guards, they must have been followers of the idiot mayor, at least the one I talked to yesterday. So we’re sorry if we kept you waiting, but that’s why we were late. Did you remember to bring the ring?”
“Yep.” He held it up to show me.
“It’s cursed Rose.”
“I was afraid it might be, this is going to be a problem, the ring itself could be melted down but the diamond can’t be smashed with a hammer. I’ll have to ask Draco if he can melt it with dragon fire, or Sparky can always teleport it. I don’t even want to throw it into Mount Doom, what if the curse somehow affected the narrative. That would be unforgivable and just the kind of thing that an evil curse would try to accomplish. I’ll take it and jump it to Hilltop World, it’ll be safe there and there are no people living there so, no, I forgot some of the farmers are still living there while they wait for their house to be built. Michael, just hold onto it for now, you are the least magical and the least susceptible to the effects of the curse.”
“Okay, if you are sure Rose.”
“Yeah I could jump it away but then we’d have to go through the gate again, wasting more time that we could use finding the rest of the items. I want to get this done today before someone gets hurt. So Mike, direct us to the closest street, who and what are we looking for?”
“Lydia Walker and she bought perfume.”
We found the street and a helpful neighbor pointed out the house where Lydia Walker lived. We went to her door and I knocked.
“I do not buy from street vendors, good day!” Then she slammed the door in my face. I knocked again. When the door opened before the heavyset red faced woman could yell in my face again.
“Ma’am we’re not vendors, we’re here because an item you purchased the day before yesterday might be cursed. My seer” I pointed at Opal can tell on sight if the item is cursed. Opal tugged at my arm.
“It’s cursed Rose, she's wearing it, right now. See the reddish glow around her neck, and between her breasts.”
Once Opal had pointed it out I could very well see the dim reddish glow.
“Ma’am, we will double your purchase price, if you let us destroy the perfume now.”
“Not for a hundred times the purchase price would I part with it. I met a wonderful gentleman last night and he specifically commented on my perfume so just get off my porch.”
“How much did you pay for it madame?”
“The perfume was two gold and worth it.”
“I’ll give you four hundred gold and a bottle of french perfume, if your gentleman thought this was good, just imagine what he’ll think of french perfume. With the four hundred gold you could take a trip together, really get to know each other. What do you say?”
“I think your crazy, you’ll pay me four hundred and real french perfume, No I don’t deal with crazies.”
“How about ten bottles of Chanel Number Five, if you let us destroy the cursed perfume and wash it off.”
“Sure you come back when you have the perfume and we’ll have a deal.”
She slammed the door in my face again. I jumped to earth and authored ten bottles of the perfume and jumped back to her porch.
“If you don’t stop banging on my door, I’ll call the watch and they’ll lock you in the loonie bin.”
I held up the perfume, so that she could see it. Boy some people are just hard to protect from themselves. Her eyes lit up when she saw the boxes. She grabbed one and ripped open the carton, pulling out the small bottle of liquid. She uncapped it and sniffed deeply.
“Come in, come in, I’ll get the other bottle.”
She left us standing in the hallway, while she rushed up a flight of stairs. A second or two later she was hurrying back, with a glowing red bottle in her hand. Then she was dashing down the stairs to make the trade, when either the curse or the dashing caused her to fall down the stairs. It was only her great weight I think that saved her life that and Opal. A thinner woman would have shattered every bone in her body but the great mass I believe helped to protect the fragile bones.
Before she’d even come to a stop from her fall, Opal leapt into action and was at the woman’s side, where she started to pour healing magic into the woman. I started gathering, which was going to be an issue with the low levels of ambient magic and the increased gathering time. I wouldn’t be able to gather as fast as Opal pour her healing magic out. I could always portal us to the clinic where the ambient magic levels were so much higher. But I didn’t want to stop Opal from her initial burst of healing. At the time I didn’t know the condition of the woman or how close to death she was, plus I could always add my smaller reserves of magic to what I gathered, giving Opal a pool of magic to draw upon.
Opal suddenly stopped.
“Rose it’s not working, please portal us to the clinic, I think the curse is blocking the healing.”
“Grab my arm, Mike, Opal grab the lady sweetie.”
We portaled to the clinic waiting room.
“Bhizzie please get a bucket of soap and water this woman is cursed.”
Bhizzie went running for what I asked for and a pair of apprentice nurses came running pushing a gurney. Lottie followed closely behind.
“Rose what’s happened?”
“This woman fell down a set of stairs, she’s wearing cursed perfume so Opal’s healing magic isn’t working, I asked Bhizzie to get soap and water so we can get the cursed perfume off of her. That’s all I know.”
By now the nurses had the large woman up on the gurney, with Michael’s assistance. She was a very large lady, barely fitting on the gurney. Then Bhizzie was back with the soap water and a wash cloth and towel. The nurses started washing the woman’s neck behind her ears and in her cleavage. Opal started pouring magic into the woman even as the nurse wheeled the gurney into an exam room to give the woman a little privacy.
I went along to refill Opal’s reserves; she must be low, after her wasted effort back in Duskhaven.
“Opal, don’t forget honey, thirty percent, I’ll have some magic ready for you.”
She didn’t answer but I didn’t expect her to, she’d have to stop the healing magic to speak. So she just wisely stayed silent. I closed my eyes and started gathering as quickly as I could, which required me to concentrate on that and to stop observing Opal. So I just kept gathering until Opal gently touched my arm, declaring that the woman was healed. She was also starting to come around.
“Where am I, you, you're that crazy girl, what have you done to me?”
“You are in Wyldwood, you fell down the stairs. We couldn’t heal you there so we brought you here. When you are feeling up to it, we’ll take you home.”
“I don’t remember falling, why are you lying to me, you’re crazy I’m calling the watch.”
“Lydia, I’m Dr Lottie Li. It’s normal to not remember trauma like a bad fall, it will probably come back to you in a day or so. How else do you feel, does anything hurt anywhere?”
“I’m going to report you all to the watch.”
“Lydia. We don’t have a watch, we have a guard, I can help you get there if you like. I know you don’t remember but we wanted to trade you ten bottles of Chanel Number Five for that cursed perfume you bought at the pawnshop. I’d still like to make that trade if you want.”
“Chanel Number Five, I don’t believe you, it's almost impossible to get.”
I jumped to Juliet’s World and authored ten more bottles of the perfume. Then I jumped back to the clinic exam room. I handed Lydia one of the boxes and she had the box open and was sniffing the famous french perfume.
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“Hmph, fine, take me home and we’ll trade but if you try anything funny, I swear I’m reporting you to the watch.”
We portaled back to Duskhaven, walked Lydia to her home. The bottle of cursed perfume had been smashed. So we got a couple buckets of soap and water and tried cleaning up every spec of the cursed perfume. It was lunch time before we’d successfully neutralized one more of the curses. We bought some food from a street vendor that was nowhere near as good as the bakery or the pub. I wondered if the gnomes had broken ground yet on Paula’s new bakery.
After lunch we handled three more of the cursed purchases. Two of them were fine, one was cursed but the purchaser gladly sold it and even helped me destroy it, after I refunded their money.
After that it got worse, we headed to John Sowden’s house to retrieve a wooden judges gavel and block. But there was trouble before we ever got to the house. As soon as we turned onto Sowden’s street.
“Rose, can you see the reddish glow over that house? It’s just like what the mansion looked like from the outside. I think this gavel is a lot stronger than any of the other items we’ve found so far.”
“I might not have noticed it, sweetie if you hadn’t mentioned it. I better portal back to the bookstore and get one of those bags that Draco told us about from Sparky. Mike you can either come or keep an eye on the house. What would you like to do?”
“I don’t see any glow.”
“No, only magicians can see it.”
“Alright, I'll stay here and watch the house, Rose, see if anybody comes or goes.”
“That would be helpful, Mike.”
Opal and I portaled to the store. Sparky was perched on his regular stool, book open in front of him.
“Have you managed to track down all the sold items?”
“No, not yet, but we found a powerful one, it’s exhibiting a reddish magical glow over the exterior of the house. We thought it’d be prudent to grab one of those bags that Draco mentioned, null magic bags. Also we have a cursed diamond ring with no way to destroy it.”
“Actually the diamond ring should be easy to destroy. Just hit it with a hammer.”
“But a diamond is the strongest substance isn’t it?”
“Not one that’s been cursed. The curse leaches away its strength. Hit it with a hammer and it should shatter like glass. Here’s a couple of bags. What’s in the house that is covered by the curse?”
“A wooden gavel and block.”
“That makes sense, have Michael Brown fill you in on his uncle’s history, but right now get back there and get the gavel, before the curse spreads to any nearby houses.”
“Can we just burn the gavel to destroy it?”
“No, once you obtain it, bring it back and I’ll deal with it. You may have to force this person to hand it over; they are likely compelled if the entire house is covered by the curse. Senior apprentice, you’ll remain here and give me the details of how the woman who was portaled to the clinic was injured and why your healing failed.”
“But, Sparky, shouldn’t I help Rose?”
“No senior apprentice, this is a job that even a junior apprentice should be able to accomplish and I need your report.”
I mouthed a thank you to Sparky, and portaled back to Duskhaven. I was soon standing beside Mike.
“Has anyone gone in or out, Mike?”
“No Rose, where’s Opal.”
“Her teacher wanted her to stay in Wyldwood.”
“I thought you were her teacher.”
“No actually, she’s going to be my magic teacher.”
“You're the junior apprentice, but you just fought a war and won. What kind of monster are you going to be by the time you become a grandmaster?”
“A kind one I hope, you better wait here.”
“Hey I was just handling this stuff a day ago, I’ll be fine.”
“Alright but just stay behind me and if I disappear with John Sowden, don’t be surprised, in fact that may be the smartest thing to do. Here hold onto this null magic bag. If John Sowden and I both disappear, and the door to his house is open, just go in and look around for the gavel and the block. If you find them, just put them in the bag. Then go back to where we are now and wait for me to return.”
We walked to the house and I knocked on the door.
“What?”
“Hi I’m a law historian and we heard you came into possession of a wooden gavel and block set. I’d like to buy it off you.”
“It’s not for sale, now get lost.”
“I’ll give you five hundred gold for it.”
“No, I said it’s not for sale, now get off my porch.”
“I’ll give you one thousand gold.”
“No and if you don't get lost, I’ll call the watch.”
“Five thousand gold, you’ll never have to work another day in your life.”
“NO, HELP..”
I grabbed his arm and portaled him to the bookstore, but as soon as we arrived he grabbed my arm and started twisting it behind my back. Before Sparky compelled him to let go, and to sit quietly in a chair.
“Rose, did you get the artifact?”
“No, just him, I gave Mike a bag and told him to go in and look for it, unless Sowden has it on him, should I search him?”
“No, he doesn’t have it. You go back and search. The compulsion may leave Sowden if we keep him here, I don’t know what kind of range that thing has. For now just head back to his house and search for it, bag it and portal back here.”
“Yes, Sparky.”
I portaled back to Duskhaven, and as quickly as possible I made my way back to Sowden’s house. I’d looked for Mike in the hiding spot but he wasn’t there so I assumed he hadn’t found the gavel set yet. Mike had closed the front door, a wise decision. I knocked and shouted Mr Sowden , it's Rose. A few minutes later Mike answered.
“I can’t find it, Rose.”
“Alright, let’s start again, you search upstairs, I’ll look down here, after I check every spot down here, we’ll switch. We’ll find it. Sowden’s mind is so clouded by the curse, I doubt even Enigmatic Parchments could figure out where he’s hidden it. He’s hidden it somewhere dark and secret, so we won’t find it out on display. No, this thing wants to stay hidden. So check the backs of closets, buried under his underwear, any non obvious locations. Maybe even slipped into a shoe.
It didn’t take me long to search the living room. There was only one drawer in the table, everything else was just open space. The dining room was much the same. I searched the sideboard and found only linens and the man's silverware.”
Next I moved into the kitchen, if I wanted to hide something that small the kitchen is the room I’d do it in. I pulled out drawers one after another, carefully searching each. Nothing doing. I stepped back into the kitchen doorway and just let myself stare at the kitchen as a whole, hoping to notice a magical field, if it could affect the outside of the house it has to be strong, but where had he put it?
Was there a cellar? The kitchen only had one door and that was to the backyard. I took a moment to examine the backyard for the reddish magical field. Nothing. I walked out into the fenced back yard and stared up at the house, hoping to find somewhere the field seemed stronger. That’s when I noticed the doors to the storm cellar. It has a cellar but the entrance is outside. It was also locked.
I went right back into the kitchen, I didn’t remember seeing keys in any of the drawers, nor were there any hanging in the kitchen. So I walked back to the front entryway to see any sign of keys. Of course he might have them in his pants right now. But people usually keep a spare set in case the originals get lost.
I yelled up to Mike, and he said that there were rings of keys. He brought the keys down when I told him that there was a locked storm cellar. We went out into the yard and started testing the keys against the lock until we hit on the correct key, we flung open the doors to a very musty and dark cellar. I’d seen some candles and matches in the kitchen, promising myself that the very next spell I learn would be light.
How can you even call yourself a magician if you didn’t know a basic light spell. We searched the mostly empty cellar, the only thing of note was a shelf full of preserves. We went back out into the yard and locked up the cellar. I was about to go search the upstairs as Mike made a third pass searching the downstairs. We were missing something. I saw a small freshly dug spot about six or eight inches in diameter in the grassy back of the yard, it didn’t glow, but something was buried there. It could be a small beloved pet, or it could be the gavel. I was hoping for it to be the gavel, not just because I wanted to find it. I also didn’t wish to find a dead animal.
I looked around the yard and didn’t see a shovel anywhere and I’d have noticed if there was a shovel in the storm cellar or the kitchen but no, so I went into the kitchen and returned with the two largest spoons I could find and went back there to dig a hole.
It wasn’t buried very deep, and it was much easier digging then my last hole digging adventure when I’d discovered Hal. I guess newly turned over ground is easier to dig up with a spoon than hundreds of years old ground trod upon by how many known feet. Plus it also wasn’t buried that deep. I could see the dull reddish magical glow before I could see the gavel and block themselves.
“Tell me about your uncle, was he a judge, Mike?”
“Yes he was the judge and also the executioner. Supposedly the accused got a jury trial, by a jury trial presided over by my bully of an uncle. Who upon a guilty verdict took the defendant out and hung him. There were no appeals to my uncle's cases, because the defendants didn’t survive long enough to appeal.”
“This was in Wyldwood?”
“Oh yeah, Wyldwood wasn’t always as open and welcoming as it is today. According to my uncle it was also infested with criminals. Sometimes there would be two trials a day. About the only person who liked my family in town was the undertaker, because after my uncle hung them. The city had to pay the undertaker to cut them down and bury them. Is it any wonder that their house was cursed?”
“I’m sorry, Mike.”
“I made my peace with it long ago. My mother would drag me to visit in the summers when I was a kid, but I hated coming. None of the other kids would come near the hanging judge’s nephew. When I heard he was dead and I inherited, I felt like I deserved to inherit from all those summers so long ago. He treated my mother horribly and pretty much ignored me. But he was bitter because the town finally had enough and forced him into retirement. Now he’s still causing grief months after he died. I don’t know how many men and women he put to death in the name of justice. Now I’m to blame for dragging all this stuff here to Duskhaven and continuing his reign of terror.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll get all the rest of the stuff, tomorrow, then I’ll have you carve some rock for me. This wasn’t on you, it was all on your uncle.”
