“Oh wow this is so cool” Ar said, staring at the glowing symbol amongst other complicated but dark symbols on the scrolls. “That copper inkwell is releasing the stored mana into a second small copper well with a flow restrictor circuit and a secondary light emitter. Eventually the mana will overflow into these simple circuits activating those self ignition runes scattered around the paper. Should burn fairly evenly. I'm surprised honestly, the copper well would dissipate naturally after a week or so without activation. He must have been on a cargo wagon or something or else he would have just told us in person. A few weeks means he could only go to a dozen cities or so before coming back. Maybe he took a boat up or down the Lenorlea river, could get a little farther that way, it would be more expensive with the navigator guild, but the lizards can't swim particurly well and the scroll wasn't damp. I didn't see any protection magic and it rained yesterday morning so he really couldn't be that far away….”
“Ar, this is the most I've heard you say at one time since you ranted and raved about the showers before our lunch break, I didn't realize you were into engraving that much! I guess I should've known given your turrets,” Vicktor spoke, baffled by the stream of consciousness coming off the avian.
The three apprentices were a few blocks away from ‘Allium’s Best Engravers’. Apparently Nora and Ar had both been there with master Tosk, but they wanted to keep the details away from Vicktor, apparently it was a “curious little shop”.
“Oh, you haven't seen inside my bag, turrets yes, but you are in for a surprise, friend” Ar grinned. “I have a couple of tricks up these sleeves. Well not in my sleeves but in my dimensional storage, that thing is lovely. I'm not able to wrap my head around immaterial stuff at all, not one bit. The spatial magics in this thing give me a star-fucked headache if I look too much at them.” He said while loving patting his bag.
“You know, you should learn some engraving, you aren't really an earth Mage right? Foundations can be made of lots of materials, definitely practice what Master Tosk said first, but you might wanna try with other foundation materials. Definitely iron or steel or aluminum or lead or some other metal. I assume copper and silver might be definitely too hard for you since there might be such a rge amount of metal. I know you must deal with rge hard things given your practice with the manacy. Practice with that manacy long and hard Vicktor, I believe in you. Let me know if you want some help learning or if you want to, you know…. Ooooo look it's about to immote!!!!”
He wasn’t wrong, the second smaller copper circle on Ar’s scroll did seem to be expanding off the page. After a few more moments of silence, the indicated portions of the scrolls burned cleanly. Within a few seconds, the entirety of Ar’s scroll was ash. A few more moments, then Nora’s and Vicktor’s scrolls joined the alleyway floor as small thin yers of ash, slowly dissipating in a light breeze. The process had been entirely silent. Vicktor wished there was more of a smell, magic always felt stronger when it affected the olfactory system.
They stood watching the sheets of ash for a few more moments before Nora walked over and scattered the ash with a kick of her boot.
Turning around, the three spotted a group of five teenagers staring at them. The two men and two women and one indiscernible being all carried holy symbols of the Pentarchy. The Chosen looked mostly unsure though, except one.
“HALT IN THE NAME OF THE HOLY ULTAR” shouted a tall woman, hand on a curious greatsword, still strapped to her back in between her silver membranous wings. She was easily taller than 6 feet and her horns added another foot to her form. She was adorned in pristine pte, mundanely engraved with the symbol of Ultar, a bance scale.
“By sun and stars, you need to stop doing that, your mom is going to get pissed Selia” said an incredibly short human woman with bck hair wearing simple white robes. A Chosen of Matriach Gaylial.
“You can’t harass every magical human that does something shady in an alley Selia. Havn does more skulking than most actual vagabonds and cutpurses” The voice coming from behind the bone mask of a Chosen of Maiden Calva. The bleached white bones of her corset and mask contrasted starkly against the inky bck fabric resting tight against the rest of her diminutive form.
“Havn loves alleys, always new sights” Said Havn, Chosen of Extinguisher Svarog, their twin daggers barely concealed in an outfit seemingly made entirely of rope and leather straps. Odd trinkets, baubles, and potions attached in all sorts of angles and locations. Oddly, there was no sign of any gendered features. They bore no hair, only a skintight leather hood.
The st Chosen said nothing but gave the three Mages a half wave and a disarming smiling. Despite being some kind of Auroch beastkin, her smile sat neatly between the downward facing tips of her horns. Leather wraps covered her staggering breasts and hips. She was easily seven feet tall, full of rippling muscle and carried a strange polearm in her massive right hand. It was a pole fil, an 8 foot long staff of hardwood crowned with a two foot long chunk of glowing iron. Most Chosen of the Radiant Illutair carried small nterns at their hips or a glowing symbol embzoned on the breast of their outfits. Vicktor had never seen someone use a ntern as a weapon!
“Come on guys” The enormous Aurochkin basically whined. “We are Chosen of the Pentarchy, not just atheists who need tricks and –”
“Come on Selia we are fucking leaving now” Said the bonemask.
“One second Meryl, Ultar guided me to this alley and I want to know why he is so interested in them” Said the Dragon beastkin, her hand still resting on the huge scabbard on her back. “This is only the third time he’s actively guided me.”
“I’ve heard stories of attractive women such as yourself searching for glory in alleys” Vicktor chuckled to himself, “You have far too much spunk to be looking for any more”
Selia blushed scarlet and her compatriots tried with varying levels of success. The mask and hood helped Meryl and Havn the most, but their posture was just slight too altered.
“I’m Nora, this feathered friend is Ar and this star-crazed fool is Vicktor. He might actually have more cock than brains if rumors are to be believed…” She tried to be as diplomatic as possible. “We are all apprentices at the Builder’s Guild under Master Tosk, If you would like to train with us it might be mutually advantageous. We train most days for a few hours before dinner.”
“ALSO!” she excimed a bit too loud.
“I’m not an atheist,” Nora said with hints of anger in her voice. “I follow the god of the hunt, Eldurel. Their wild bolero guides my hunt and guides my arrow true. One of my sisters is a Chosen of Eldurel, but I chose to walk an adjacent trail.”
“Fine, lets go Team Shallot, see you madcaps ter” Selia said, the blush clearing from her face and started to leave.
“Just because we live in fucking Allium. Did we really need to name ourselves off of a root vegetable” said Meryl.
"We needed a team name when we cleared those mudcrabs from that fishing spot. Gralgra, you, Meryl, Lav and I voted on it and against Havn's terrible idea of Bck Company"
"Havn thought it was a good name, it implies a history" Havan spoke, continuing to refer to themselves in the third person.
"It makes us sound like mercenaries not Chosen. Maybe we'll come up with a better name ter, something in a glen, cooked up under the stars" Meryl stated, trying to end the conversation.
Nora, Ar and Vicktor waited in silence in the alley for a few extra minutes after the Chosen had departed.
“Lets go get some cool shit” Vicktor said, “Maybe I can get proper wizard staff with a big ol' orb I can ponder with.”
“Maybe” Nora responded absently.
“Hey Vicktor” Ar said speaking for the first time in a while “We really might have to train with them to make it up. Maybe next time, don’t refer to the city lord’s granddaughter as if she was a prostitute, even if she is really cute when she's angry.”
...
***AHH SHIT***
