Koshiro and Mage Canticle, using arcane powers well beyond Rory's grasp of Scrying, predict that the rainy season will last another fifteen days or so, and rather than braving the weather, Canticle decides to remain at Niton Valley. The Rath'ani, it turns out, has another errand on Lamu. The College has received reports of a potent hedge wizard – a practitioner of fire magic, apparently – on the continent, and in addition to finding Rory, Canticle has been assigned to track the hedge wizard and see what truth there is to the rumors. He offers the unicorn boy the option of remaining Niton Valley or coming with him, and Rory opts to join the journey – after all, he's been on Lamu for years and hardly seen any of it except for one small valley and Sunrise City.
While they wait out the rains, the raccoon stays with Silhouette and Rory in the small cottage, spending much of the time in meditation. He also conducts a few rituals to study Silhouette and her nature. Initially, the shadow girl is compliant with the studies, but she displays signs of unease after the third one, and a few days before they are scheduled to leave, she slips off entirely. Though Rory assures the Rath'ani that Sil often vanishes for short periods of time to be alone, and that there's no harm in it, privately, he feels nervous, especially with the impending departure.
The rains have eased to a quiet drizzle beating on the thatched roof on the night of his last day in Niton Valley, and Rory is turning down the lamp in his room when he notices a second shadow beside his own against the wall, this one with a familiar bow in her mane.
The little unicorn carefully turns to look at the shadow, and ventures a little wave, as if afraid he might frighten off Silhouette … though actually just suspecting that Silhouette is anxious not to draw any more unwanted attention from the seer, and simply not wanting to make much fuss in greeting her.
Silhouette waves back, her gesture a bit less subdued than Rory's. How have you been? she signs, shifting to stand well within the lamplight, so that her shadow-words may be seen distinctly.
Rory nods, and responds in sign. He's not certain just how perceptive seers might be – he's hardly much of one himself, after all – but it wouldn't surprise him if more experienced ones had keener ears than most. So, he opts to respond in chopped sign, "Missed you. You upset? I'm going with – " Here, he just uses the word "canticle", rather than spelling out the name. " – Visit fire wizard." It's not that he's actually dropping particles and doing an impression of a Titanian – In actuality, Silent Sign rarely bothers with such things. However, there are some gestures that give more "flow" to sign, though they might make some noise (a slap against the knee here, hands patting together there) so when he abbreviates his motions, it comes across as clumsy and unrefined.
I'm okay. I missed you, too. Sorry I've been gone so long, the girl unicorn replies. She sits on the shadow cast by the stool, watching Rory. It's okay if I come with you, right? When you leave?
Rory answers with several emphatic head nods!
Good, the shadow unicorn signs in reply. She pauses, then adds, I don't think I could ever be away from you for very long, Rory.
Something about that statement causes Rory to shudder, as it touches on an unspoken fear of his. He does his best to cover it, though, and nods, smiling. He looks about the room. "Well," he signs choppily, "since you're back, I sleep on floor. You can have bed." He then starts fixing up a spot with what's available.
Don't be silly, Rory, she signs, following him as he moves to arrange blankets on the floor. Just leave the light on. You can sleep on the bed, and I'll sleep on its shadow. Silhouette smiles, then asks, Are you okay?
Rory sighs. "Good idea. But … I'm scared. I keep being scared that some time when you go, you won't come back. That you'll disappear. I'm just being scaredy-chibix. Sorry." He then starts whispering a shadow cantrip to try to "fluff up" the shadow pillows a bit for Silhouette.
The girl unicorn smiles for a moment, then sobers. I'm sorry, Rory. I didn't know I worried you so much. I don't mean to be gone that long – I just … lose track of time, I think. But I'll always be back. I promise. Silhouette pauses again, then adds, You're my best friend, Rory. More than that. You're … you're like a part of me. Like the other half of my soul. See? I always have to come back. she finishes, reassuringly.
Rory pats on the bed, and plops down on it, letting out a long sigh. "Okay. I have idea. I'll start work when I have time. I'll try to invent new spell – make a magic shadow sundial. It can tell time. Using Shadow and Scrying. Once I'm good enough." He's fairly confident, however, that he's a long way from being able to manage the Scrying half of this, if such a combination is even possible.
A shadow sundial? Silhouette marvels. She settles onto her fluffed pillow, head turned to watch Rory. I can't wait to see it!
The unicorn quirks his mouth, ears pinking. "Well, I can't wait, either." He pulls the sheets over him. "Night night, catch you in the morning?"
I'll be right here, Silhouette promises, yawning and drawing up her own shadow of a sheet.
Rory smiles and turns over to face the window, snuggling up against the pillow. He yawns widely, echoing Silhouette, then closes his eyes, imagining all sorts of adventures involving strange creatures, marvelous lands, dragons, knights, fire-wielding wizards, and other wonders just waiting to be discovered.
During the break, the scryer also took the time to work certain spells to help ascertain the location of the hedge wizard he seeks. After some initially unsatisfactory results, he fashioned a charm: a deep glass bowl filled with water, in which a small hollow bone with a pointed tip floats. According to the Rath'ani, all they need to do is follow where the bone points, and eventually it will lead them to their goal. Mage Canticle keeps the bowl suspended from a net of cord tied to the end of his staff, and normally carries the staff bent over one shoulder, to keep the water from splashing.
Their journey proves to be lengthy one. Canticle bought a map in Sunrise City, but the crude depiction, showing major landmarks and trade trails in rough detail, isn't as helpful as they might like. The trails are better than cutting across the land, but they don't parallel the path indicated by the bone needle. Eventually, they are forced to do overland hiking.
After several days of slow progress through scrubby undergrowth, Canticle studies his map, works a little magic for confirmation, and determines that a small Lacinus village should be nearby, s short detour from their current path, and just around a hillside. The raccoon leads the way, often using his staff to help keep his footing, which always makes Silhouette wince, as she expects the enchanted water to slosh out of the bowl at any moment.
The unicorn bobs along behind him. "Do you think we're getting close? How far do you think we've traveled? What happens if the water leaks out of the bowl? If only some of the water comes out, does that mean only a partial reduction in the effica – effi – er, usefulness of the spell?"
"The water's not a key component," the Rath'ani answers, absently. Having answered the other two questions about twenty minutes ago, the mage seems disinclined to address them again. "If it gets low, I'll need to refill it so the needle can still float, but the needle and bowl are the key parts. If I smash the bowl, now, then I'll have to start over." He climbs over a rise in the hill, and stops suddenly amidst the yard-high grasses.
The unicorn is just about to ask another question when he notes that the elder mage has halted, and he does likewise, peering over the hill for any sign of something new and interesting.
Spread before them is a perfect circle of charred, blackened ground, with a straight black line drawn from it out towards a forest of twisted trees. A few remnants of stone here and there on the burnt ground seem artificial, while a rough stone square surrounding a pit definitely indicates the work of sentient hands. "Do you feel that?" the mage asks Rory, in a hushed whisper.
Rory pauses a moment, his ears flicking and his nose working, even though these aren't the senses he's really trying to employ. In more of a stage whisper, he replies, "Yeah! It's magic, isn't it?"
The raccoon nods, looking sober. "That it is." He starts towards the circle, covering about half the distance between himself and it, then stops. Tapping his staff against the ground in a rhythmic pattern, he chants in a low, steady voice. A hazy nimbus begins to form around him.
The little unicorn is just about to ask the mage what he's doing, but he remembers his manners, and clamps his mouth tightly shut, stooping down to an awkward crouch to peer at the ground and occasionally look up at the seer to see what's happening.
As he studies the ground, the unicorn notices that the shape of the stones inside it suggest the foundations for huts, and hazards that the square "pit" is, in fact, more likely a well. A minute later, the older mage completes his spell. "Sloppy work," he remarks. "Not surprising from a hedge wizard. There's no active magic left – it's just that no effort's been made to cover the "scent" of magic here."
"Why do that?" Rory asks. "Most people wouldn't notice anyway, would they? And there aren't many mages in Lamu, are there?" He looks about, realization dawning as to just what this used to be. He stops his chatter, and sucks in a breath. "Oh no," he whispers.
"Not to mention that even people with no sense of magic would sense the strangeness about this," the raccoon agrees, gesturing to the artificially round area of the ground. "What is it?" Canticle asks, sharply, at the sudden worry in Rory's voice.
The unicorn blinks, looking up at the mage. "A lot of people died here, didn't they?"
"Wha… well … I don't know," the mage says, looking suddenly concerned himself. He scans the bare ground. "No sign of bodies," he murmurs. "What makes you think that?"
"It's a village, see?" Rory says. "That's a well, and those used to be huts."
"My word," Canticle says, blanching. "Yes … this must be it. I'd best find out what happened here." He slides his pack off his shoulders and sets it to the ground, leaning his staff against it as he undoes the top flap and starts digging for reagents.
"Must be what?" Rory asks. "This fire wizard destroyed a whole village? Is this why we're looking for him … her … it?"
"No, no," The mage shakes his head. "This is the village on my map, I assume. I had no idea it'd been razed. No way of having any idea, in fact, given how recent this fire was – within the last five days, I'd say. The College has gotten the usual complaints about this hedge wizard – youknow, tortures fuff'nars, eats babies, et cetera. To be honest, I hadn't lent it much weight … most of the time I track people down with those sort of rumors flying, and it turns out to be some little old lady selling love potions made of sugar water, with no powers whatsoever. Have to look into it, of course. But this… " he resumes his search through the pack, setting out various implements.
Rory is about to express shock about fuff'nars being in the area, when he hears, "Eating BABIES?!!" He forgets to bother with stage whispering at this point.
"Er," the raccoon's ears flatten against his head at the unicorn's outburst. "Figuratively speaking. I believe the specific reports were of, ah, let me see… " He scratches under his chin. "Terrorizing the locals with threats of fiery destruction, demanding tribute in the form of goods and services, and, hmm, sacrificing sentients to the 'god of fire'. I think the last referred specifically to healthy adult males, to be precise. I realize that this sounds terrible, but given how long it takes news from Lamu to reach the College, I rather expect it to be wildly exaggerated by the time I hear it. "
"Being sacrificed sounds awfully terrible," Rory agrees, looking around at the remnants of the village. He trots about, doing his best to poke around for what he supposes ought to be clues awaiting whomever might be inspecting such a site. Not that he really has any idea just what would constitute a "clue", and he's fairly certain that he hasn't any spells to "Find Clue" without knowing specifically what he's looking for.
The Rath'ani, rather flustered, finishes setting out his items, then snaps his fingers. Standing, leaving behind the assorted accoutrements, he walks to the center of the village and chants a short spell. It finishes, and he shakes his head, then repeats the exercise a few more times. "No," he says, at last. "No one died here. Or at least, if anyone did, someone went to a lot of trouble to conceal it. There's no animal remains, including ashes, here."
The raccoon walks back to his things, scooping up the various items, then carrying them back to the circle. "Nonetheless, I think I'd like a better picture than that of what happened. It'll be worth the trouble." He starts scribing a circle into the ground with the end of his staff, continuing to the unicorn, "This will take at least an hour, maybe two. Is there anything you'd like to know or do before I start?"
The unicorn postulates, "It wouldn't make much sense to hide that people died, and not bother to hide the spell in itself, would it? I mean, a fire could be made to look like something natural. Or like a dragon did it, or something." He pauses a moment, pondering. "Well … is there anything I can do to help? I'm only good at cantrips and minor spells, and barely at that. I don't even have any supporting studies yet for scrying, but I still try to practice. Is there some way I can help without getting in your way?"
After considering his offer, the Rath'ani shakes his head. "No, thank you, Rory. Given your background and training so far, I think that it would be best for me to cast the spell alone. But perhaps you and Silhouette could go look for survivors. Don't go too far, though."
Rory nods. "I can do that!" He moves away from the ashes to find a somewhat clear spot to sit down, and to start wrapping some bandages around his hooves – so he can move about more sneakily, rather than clomping about on any hard surface he encounters.
While the unicorn does that, Canticle completes his circle, sprinkling powders from two different bags into the runic grooves carved by his staff, and setting four small oblong stones at regular points on the circle – one to his left, one to the right, and the last two before and behind him as he stands within it. Holding his arms out before him, he begins to chant.
The unicorn then tries to tip-toe away, not wanting to disturb the more experienced mage … or draw undue attention to himself from any wild-eyed, fireball-lobbing mages who might be lurking nearby. He keeps an eye out for any familiar-looking shadows.
Silhouette, as always, has no trouble keeping quiet. She slips off ahead of the young unicorn, signing, I'll be back, as she weaves off between the waist-high grasses. No fireballs rush over the horizon to pelt him in the meantime.
Rory ponders using a magical scout to check out the area, but reminds himself that using his own magic so near to a scryer's attempt to find traces of magic in the area is – at least to his figuring – bound to cause some difficulty. So, he settles on testing his mundane (and meager) ability to lurk around, starting with a perimeter about the village, looking for any obvious signs of life (since he's not skilled enough to notice the not-so-obvious ones).
The grass around the burned-out village rustles about him as soon as he enters it, immediately foiling his efforts to be stealthy. As he picks up one hoof, trying to find a better way to move through it, he loses his balance. He hops forward, attempting to regain it, but unfortunately the loose end of the bandage around that hoof snags on a rock, and he plummets face-first towards the ground.
Despite his best intentions of trying to be a good, quiet little apprentice, Rory's response is a shrill cry of "AAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!"
Thud. The ground doesn't seem surprised. Something else is, though, judging by the rustling noise the unicorn can hear off to his left, as he lies, stunned with the breath momentarily knocked out of him.
Rory would exclaim something here, but as he's without breath, the best he can do is try to roll himself over and check his nose.
Rolling over proves feasible. One finger comes away from his nose wet, with a trickle of red clinging to the digit, and it stings a little, though no serious damage seems forthcoming. The rustling in the grass fades into the distance, and then he catches a shadow before him. She signs, Are you okay?
The unicorn takes as long as it does for him to regain his breath, then he pants, "Ow. Mostly. Ugh." He checks his hooves. "I think I didn't tie these right."
Poor Rory! Sil exclaims, sympathetically. I thought I saw a young Lacinus running off that way, after you fell, but I think whatever it was is gone now.
The unicorn slumps. "I blew it." He flaps his mouth in a raspberry. "I just hope I didn't ruin the spell."
The shadow slips out of sight for a moment, then returns. Canticle is fine, she signs. He's still chanting and everything.
Rory rubs his nose, wincing. "All right. Well … I guess go back to what you were doing. I'll … uhm … keep looking." He tries to figure out what direction the Lacinus might have gone … and shy of that, pick a direction and head that way.
Unfortunately, the Lacinus, if that's what it was, seems to be a good deal better at stealth than Rory was, and the young unicorn finds no sign of it as he searches the immediate area. Nothing much of interest turns up while he waits for the scryer to complete his spell, except for the corpse of an exceptionally large Carpenter Beetle o' Doom.
Rory jumps up and down on the beetle several times to make sure it doesn't get up and ruin the scryer's spell. (Not that a dead beetle ought to do that, but if it did, why then, that would be all the more alarming!)
The unicorn successfully flattens the bug body, making many many smashed pieces of chitin the process. Just as he's finishing the job to make it a neat oblong of crushed bug, the Rath'ani mage calls out his name.
The unicorn tromps back over to the Rath'ani mage. "Did you find out anything?"
"Not yet," the raccoon's voice reverberates. "I thought you might want to see the results of the spell, so I'm holding it." As he comes back into view, the unicorn sees that the other mage's magic circle is covered in a white fog that laps around his ankles. A shimmering, distorted haze surrounds the caster as he steps out of the circle, dusting off his trousers.
"Oh yeah!" Rory exclaims, and he pads over to a spot where he can peer at the circle, though keeping a respectful distance.
Nodding, Canticle utters the final syllable, and the hazearound him disperses, while in the white fog where the circle had been, an image forms of the village. In the image, its small huts are intact, a bucket and rope beside the well, and tall grass all around. A single tendril of flame appears on the horizon, then rapidly closes on the village. As it nears, Rory can see it is shaped like a great, crested snake, with a kind of "saddle" on its back. Crouched in the saddle is a small figure. Lacinus dash around, howling and barking to each other. A few older Lacinus gather in a semicircle to face the oncoming fire-snake.
It halts before the semi-circle, and the figure on its back slides off and stands. The figure is that of a young human, with a tattered fur draped over her back, and a mane of bright red hair crowning her head. Red and yellow streaks of paint adorn her face and cheeks, while her tunic is dingy with ashes. She points to the Lacinus with one hand, barking at them in their own tongue. Two of them grovel before her, but the third only bows his head, barking something in answer.
The female human growls, and the fire-serpent dives towards them. The two grovelers scatter backwards, but the one with the bowed head does not move. The serpent's motion stops before striking, hovering so close that Rory thinks he can smell singed fur through the illusion.
Rory shrinks back in fear. "It's … it's the dragon! From my dream! Or … " He's not quite so certain about it. The figure he saw wasn't quite like this. "… sort of," is the best amendment he can come up with.
The raccoon blinks, glancing briefly to Rory, but returns his attention to the still-ongoing spell. The woman steps next to the Lacinus, and Rory can see that either this is a very large Lacinus, or the red-haired girl isn't very tall. She gestures angrily at the canid, barking something else, but the Lacinus makes only a single quiet comment in reply. Whirling about, she points to the serpent, and the fire elemental rears up, a pillar of flame stretching above the confines of the image. She turns back to the canid, and pounds her fist against his chest. She yells something, and the village empties, Lacinus pouring out of it. Only the single older figure remains with the girl, his head still bowed.
The unicorn frowns, figuring what's going to come next. "Those poor Lacinus!" he whispers.
She pounds on his chest with her fist again. She doesn't look very strong, standing beside the much larger canine, and if her blows hurt, he doesn't show it. The fire serpent arches over both of them, landing in the middle of the village. Where it strikes, inferno blazes. It rears back, and hammers into one of the houses. Then again, and again. As the flames leap behind the Lacinus' back, the girl throws her hands into the air, and turns away from him, taking two stomping steps away. Then, she says, in perfect Rephidim Standard, "Sunfire! Father burn you!"
The girl turns back to the older Lacinus, reaches out, grabs his hand, and turns, jerking him with her. The Lacinus yelps and staggers, caught off guard by the move. She takes advantage of getting him off-balance to haul him away from the burning village, finally stopping a distance away, and toppling the bewildered-looking Lacinus to the ground beside her.
Rory tries to lean in a little, watching for any landmarks that might give him a rough idea of where this particular "scene" is taking place in relation to the village.
Though the scene is largely consumed in flames now, Rory catches a glimpse of the well, and surmises that the confrontation took place about ten yards in front of it, towards the burnt line of grass, and the spot they are now at is just a few yards outside the circle. The fire-serpent rages around within the village, while the girl holds aloft her arms, her face and body glowing in reflected firelight. She shouts something, but the sound is overwhelmed by the crackling flames, as the circle of fire becomes complete, the entire area burning.
The unicorn attentively watches, this time regarding the girl, anxious for anything distinctive about her, other than the already distinctive-enough fact that she's human and red-haired – anything that might offer some sort of clue about just what sort of person she might be, other than just someone who pushes around Lacinus and commands fire-serpents to roast things.
The image is small enough that details on the human figure are difficult to make out. She looks pretty young, judging by her slight build and flat chest – conceivably, she could even be a boy – her tunic is pretty baggy – but her legs have feminine curve to them, and her jaw line has a delicate cast. Plus, she's got long shaggy hair, not that that means anything, really. As he watches her, the fire-serpent slithers from the inferno it has created – the elemental itself distinguishable by its ornamental saddle. The girl points to the Lacinus on the ground, barks at him, then mounts the serpent, and it races off again, down the path it made on arriving. The Lacinus climbs to his feet, looking sadly at the ruin of his village, while the image fades away.
The raccoon mage tilts his head as the scene finishes playing out, then turns to Rory. "Do you speak whatever language they were using, by chance?" he asks.
The unicorn shakes his head. "I only know Rephidim Standard, Babelite, Silent Sign, Kavi, the Emir's language, Jupani, and Zelak. I never got out much here, so I never learned the local language."
Canticle blinks at the recitation. "Only know… ?" He shakes his head. "Never mind. If worse comes to worst, I can use a 'tongues' spell to communicate with them." He scratches one cheek. "I'm not sure if I should hunt down the girl first, or see if we can locate one of the Lacinus and ask them about her. Looks like she is our hedge wizard."
Rory suggests, "I really think we need to find the Lacinus. Someone might be hurt. And we really need to learn more about her. She could turn us into roastie-toasties."
The raccoon contemplates the dispersing fog. "True. Very true." He rubs his cheekruff, then looks to the setting sun. "We can do that in the morning, I suppose. We can camp … ah … maybe not right here, for now."
The unicorn nods. "I'll help set up." He takes a deep breath, looking around at all the destruction. "And I guess I could try to do something to help hide our camp in case there are any nasties about at night. I really hope we can help these poor Lacinus."
