A gaes - 1.9

Lex clung to the raven with both hands, looking at the Captain.  "I did, yes," she hesitatingly said, "But I just wanted to scare him off, he was harassing us."

The Captain lowered his sword and gave a long sigh.  "I was afraid of something like that.  What you did is understandable, especially given that it was," he paused and continued with an aggrieved voice, "Sir Kade."  He looked at the floor for a moment, "But I do not agree with your course of action, nor may I condone it."

He handed the scythe back and said, "Red, it's good to see you again.  You're going to be a student this year, right?"

"I am, yes sir," Red intoned in his gravelly voice.

"You know this ritual could have gone wrong if it was disturbed, why didn't you go to the school?"

"We haven't yet been evaluated, sir."

The Captain gave another sigh and turned back to Lex.  "Ok, then here's what I can do for you.  We can settle this now with a minimum of fuss or muss, if you agree to be bound to me for community service every Sunday this semester."

"Every Sunday," Miles yelled, jumping to his feet.  "That's far too much!"

"It is," the Captain said, sheathing his sword.  "But it has two things going for it.  One, hearing the length will satisfy the magistrate and Sir Kade won't be able to press for more.  Two, I will be able to decide what community service entails and you can tell them, Red, that although it will be hard work, it will be less harsh than what the magistrate will likely order, especially given who Sir Kade's family is and his political connections."

"I would accept the deal," Red said, turning to Lex, "Captain Smart is a good man.  He worked me hard when I was assigned to him, but I believe I can say that I profited by his tutelage.

"Thank you, Red," the Captain said.

"You're welcome, sir."

Lex helplessly looked back and forth between Ann and Miles and shut her eyes for a moment then looked up at the Captain.  "I'll take that deal then."

The Captain nodded.  "Raj, Edgar, come on in."  As Lex stood up, Captain Smart took an ornate box and held it out to Lex.  "Place your right hand on this and repeat after me.  Now, Red," he said, turning as Lex placed her hand on the box.  "If this was any sort of long ritual, we would do this at the station, or at least station a man out in the hall and not inside the room, but this can be interrupted without adverse effects."

He turned back and said, "Now, repeat after me.  I."

"I."

"Insert your name here."

"Uh, you said this could be interrupted, I gave my name as Lexie Justice to the gate, but it's not my birth name."

"Oh, you're a Justice?"  He shrugged his shoulders.  "It won't really matter.  A geas will bind to your soul and your name is more of a formality, but I would advise you from now to consider the name you gave at the gate as your real name from now on, especially since it looks like you're aspiring to be a mage.  Magic doesn't like lies, but changing your name is a decision and as long as you adhere to that decision it isn't a lie.  Now, repeat after me.  I…"

Familiars and trouble - 1.8

Ann took her place in the center, smoothing down her robes, and began chanting the words of the spell.  "Et qui audit, quaero spiritum pythonem…"  As she did so, focusing her magical energy on the objects placed around the circle, the candles began to light on their own, sending thick spirals of smoke up into the air.  The lock of hair that she'd placed in one marked circle flared and vanished and in the central circle ahead of her a smoky cat began to appear, slowly coalescing into the shape of a ginger tom.  It meowed plaintively and pawed at the circle surrounding it then looked in her direction and relaxed, sitting back on its haunches and licking one paw.  As she finished the ritual, a bright light surrounded her and her new familiar for a moment then narrowed into a single beam of light connecting them.  As the light faded, everyone slumped back, momentarily drained.

The cat stepped over the chalk outlines and jumped into Ann's lap as she sat there.  "Whew," she panted, as she stood up.  "I guess it's your turn, Lex.

"Wait," Miles said, "Wait until you're ready.  I've done this a few times, I'm more used to it.  You don’t want to run out of energy in the middle."  He looked up at Red, standing just inside the door with his scythe at the ready.  "One down, Red, thanks for making sure we weren't disturbed."

Red nodded at him, "It has been my pleasure."

Ann and Lex switched places and Lex cut a lock of her hair to go into the proper spot as Ann leaned over and started blowing out candles.  Lex looked around her then started chanting the memorized ritual, ""Et qui audit, quaero spiritum pythonem…"  focusing her magical energy and the candles started lighting again.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door.  Swiftly moving into action, Red opened it a little ways.  "This isn't a good time," he started, before he stopped and the person in the hall said something.  He stepped back from the door and said, "A familiar is being summoned, as you will recognize, please do not disturb it.

Lex's voice started to shake and Miles grunted out through gritted teeth as Red calmly and loudly said, "Do not stop Lex."

A Captain of the town guard stepped swiftly across the threshold, drawing his sword and holding out an arm towards Red, who carefully presented his scythe for the Captain to take.  Not moving from where he stood, the Captain began peering at the chalk outlines and listening to the ritual.  As it ran its course, he relaxed some and handed the scythe to someone in the hall as the whispy smoke outline coalesced into a full-grown raven whose head was only slightly lower in elevation than Lex's was while she was seated.   It cawed and flapped up into the air as light shone around its body and as the beam of light connected them, a large bump grew on the side of its head, matching the one Lex had, distorting one eye.

The Captain raised his sword into an on-guard position as the light died away and the crow flapped its wings and landed in front of Lex.  "A member of the King's Guard," he said, "Swore out a warrant today that you announced yourself as a witch."

Familiar events - 1.7

"We need supplies," Red rasped.  "Indoors would be better.  It would be bad if a candle blew out."

"Quite right," Miles said, "My room is a little occupied at the moment, how about your room?"  Lex looked over to see him looking at them rather than at Red.

"Why not Red?"

"I rented a rack," he rasped, looking straight ahead.

Lex immediately understood what he meant.

"What's a rack?" Ann asked.

"Imagine a large wine cellar," Miles said, "only with big flat shelves and instead of bottles of wine you have a person in each slot.  It's quite economical, perfect for someone saving their money for a big purchase."

"Why didn't he just sleep with you?" Ann asked, a wry expression on her face.

"Well, normally," Miles answered, "We would have shared a bed to keep the costs down, but this was our last free night and he wanted to commune with the stars and since I had other things on my mind he volunteered.  Now, we're going to need to stop by a general store.  We need some chalk, some string, a few candle bits and you already have an idea of what familiar you'd like, right?"

The two women started discussing some ideas they'd had for a familiar and the party soon found themselves in Ann and Lex's room with the necessary supplies.  Ann had decided to go with the traditional cat, while Lex wanted something that flew.

"Do you want an animal," Miles asked them, "Or would you rather endow a familiar spirit into an object?  I happened to choose my lute."  He whisked his fingers over the strings and it almost sounded as though the lute giggled.

Lex shrugged her shoulders.  "I did not know that was possible, but I do not have anything objects that I would be emotionally invested in.  I think I will call it in a raven form."

"Me too," Ann said, "There's just something nice about a cat.  There was a cat at home that had learned how to use a doorknob, so the kitchen always needed to be latched shut at night when nobody was in it."

"Then let's begin," Miles said, starting to measure out string for radii so they could be sure to get perfect circles of the appropriate size.  "You know, I've heard that you can buy compasses for this.  We should keep our eyes open.  If we do any more rituals in the future, it would make it much easier."

"It doesn't mention it in this ritual," Lex said, looking up from it, "Is a certain manner of dress required?"

"Not particularly," Miles hedged.  "The first time I did it, I was clothed."

"Why cast multiple times," Ann asked, "Does it get any better?"

"No," Miles responded slowly, "It's just sort of flashy, something fun to show off."

From his spot over on the bed, Red finally spoke up and rasped, "It's his pickup line."

Lex laughed and Ann blushed.

"Ok, so let's get you seated," Miles said, "The caller in the center and a supporter on either side."

Lex laughed again.  As she took her place in a side circle, she teasingly said, "So that's what you did last night."

Can you thread the needle? - 1.6

Red stepped out into the hallway and Miles followed, nodding at the two women.  "Here they are, Miles."

Miles grimaced at the thought that he probably hadn't made the best impression on their new partners.  "Red, I love you like my brother, but this is way too early in the morning to meet anyone."  He reached over and gently shut the door.  "And too early to interrupt their beauty sleep."

"I said forenoon and you agreed."

"I wouldn't have agreed if I'd know you meant forenoon forenoon," he said, looking wistfully at the closed door.

"Red said that you are dexterous," Ann interjected.

Miles shrugged and played a quick riff on his lute.

"Are you perhaps dexterous in other ways," Ann asked, pointing at the door lock.

"Absolutely not, miladies!" Miles said, looking all around him at the hallway before rolling his eyes and giving a couple exaggerated head nods that made it clear what his real answer was.

"How much is he like Kade," Lex suspiciously asked, directing her question to Red.

"Oh no," Miles said, holding his free arm up into the air at a right angle, "I'm nothing like the guy.  No means no.  Don't get me wrong, I know I'm a very handsome man with some extracurricular activities," he said, glancing over at the closed bedroom door, "But I'm nowhere near as full of myself as he is and I hope you'll find me rather a pleasant person to be around."

"Very well," Ann said, "This could be the beginning of a fruitful partnership.  My name is Ann and this is Lex."

"Nice to meet you," Miles mumbled, reaching up to tweak the brim of his hat at them as he turned to Red.  "So, Mr. Forenoon, what did you have in mind that required meeting at this ungodly time of day?"

"We need to go to the school," Red rasped, "Register, and be evaluated."

"I thought," Ann said, "That we could be evaluated during the first day of class?"

Miles snorted.  "Thanks for reminding us, Red.  The first day of class," he said, turning towards Ann, "Is the first day of Hell week and you wouldn't be evaluated until later in the day.  You want to be evaluated before that."

Red nodded and started leading the way to the school.  "What're your familiars," he rasped.

"We don't have any yet," Lex volunteered as Ann blushed.

"Oh, hold on," Miles said, stopping in his tracks, "Red, if they don't even have familiars, they might not even be level one yet."

"We're level one!"  Ann called out, her eyes narrowing.

"Don't get upset," Miles said, "Look, I have..." He broke off as he pulled out several papers from a pouch and flipped around until he held out one paper triumphantly.  "I have the familiar ritual right here.  Let's just go to a park, we'll work on casting it, and you'll have something."

"I'd like that,"  Ann said, as she felt the anger subside, "We appreciate your offer, thanks."

Lex merely looked on dubiously.

Wake up! - 1.5

Lex cleared her throat as she stepped forward and pushed her hood back, attracting everyone's attention and clearly exposing the bump on her cheek which twitched and moved as they watched.  "I am a witch," she said.  Not wanting to be left out, Ann held up her hands and pointed at her scales.

The two squires fell back against Sir Kade, who looked disgusted.  He looked back and forth between Lex, Ann, and Red.  "You deserve each other," he finally said as he walked into the tavern, followed closely by his lackeys.

Lex stepped towards Red.  "I'm not actually a witch.  I made a Pact," she said as she pulled her hood back up.  Red nodded, understanding what she meant.  She'd gained her magical powers through a Pact, likely made with an Old God by appearance.  In return for an unspecified amount of service to be paid at some unspecified future date, she had been granted a portion of that God which would slumber in her and slowly awaken, granting her increasing magical powers as she discovered how to make it awaken.  It was a Faustian bargain that people made when they didn't already have magical power yet wanted to attain some more than anything else.

Ann stepped forward and put her hand on her friend's shoulder, directing her attention to Red.  "You have a friend, you said?"

"I do.  His name is Miles.  Let's go get him."  Red directed them to another tavern, more dilapidated than the one they'd stayed in the night before.  They walked up to a room at the back and he held out his scythe.  "Hold this for me, please, you should wait out here for a moment."  He walked in, leaving the door open behind him and the girls could hear the sound of drapes being thrown open and a curt, "Merciful Heavens above, it's not even noon yet and this may be my last weekend to sleep in!"

"Come along Miles," he rasped, "I've found a couple others for our party.  I'd pull your blanket off, but it wouldn't be fair to them."

The two girls looked at each other than stepped over and looked through the doorway to see a good-looking brown-haired man with an arm thrown over his eyes and a woman on either side of him.  A blanket over kept them decent, mostly.  Ann whirled back against the wall, blushing, while Lex stepped in, unclipped a waterskin hidden in a fold of her robe and wordlessly handed it to Red before turning and walking back out of the room.  Red smiled and stepped closer to the bed, rasping, "Miles, my friend, you look thirsty."

"No, don't," Miles called out, "I'm coming, I'm coming."  Red stood watching there for a long minute as Miles gave no sign of actually moving then poured a little of the water onto Mile's ear.  Some splashed onto one of the woman who shrieked, pulled the pillow out from under Mile's head and put it up between them as a shield as the other woman laughed.  Miles groaned and climbed out of the bed over someone as he pulled his clothes on then tucked his tunic into his pants and slowly pulled a thick leather vest on.  He buckled on a rapier and a few other accouterments then picked up a broad brimmed feathered hat and a lute, his eyes clenched mostly shut the whole time.  "Very well, take me to our new partners."

Thinner - 1.4

"The term will start on Monday," the stranger rasped.  "I want to create a party."

Ann peered into his hood, trying to see his face, as Lex leaned forward and responded.  "We're mages.  What would you bring to a party?"

He idly drew one finger along what would be the top half of the war scythe if it were unfolded.  "I fight.  I fight very well and I'm intimidating."

The two girls looked at each other and Lex shrugged.  "We could use a fighter," Ann said.  "We could also use someone more, well more dexterous if you have any suggestions?"

The figure nodded.  "You wouldn't want to follow a stranger through dark streets," he rasped.  "Meet me here tomorrow, at morning bell.

"That's an excellent suggestion," Ann drawled, thinking about his dark streets comment and how late it was getting.  "We already have to meet someone at morning bells.  We could meet you at forenoon?  Also, what's your name?"

"Forenoon would work fine," he rasped.  "My friend Is Miles.  They call me Red," he said, gesturing at his robe.

"Just the robe?"

"I told you, I fight very well," he rasped.  "Things bleed.  It doesn't show as much with this color."

"Ok, then forenoon we'll meet you here."  Ann looked over at Lex, who nodded in agreement, and the two stood up and exited.

"That was a waste of time," Lex said as they stepped outside the tavern.  "Only one person and he 'fights, very well'?  Maybe we should have gone in separately or gone to the school first or put up an ad."  As they turned down the sidewalk to to head back to more reputable parts of town and The Middle Court, a brown-haired man in shining plate armor raised his sword in front of them, blocking their path.

"Ladies," he said, waggling his eyebrows at them and raising his other arm to show his armored bicep.  "If you're looking for muscle… you don't have to look much farther than… Sir Kade," he said reverently as though his name was something to be prized.  "Don't worry," he said confidently, "I'll escort you, keep you safe."

The girls looked at each other, dumbfounded.  This was how he was introducing himself to them?  Like that?  And at sword point?  Lex raised her arm to begin casting as Ann dropped a hand onto a dagger, but a sound of wood sliding against wood and some metal clicks came from behind them and they spun around to see the man in the red cloak, his war scythe standing ready at his side.

The knight snarled at him.  "Stay out of this, Red!" he yelled, letting his sword arm drop.

The man in the cloak ignored him and said to the girls, "You should be fine heading home by yourselves.  I'll meet you here at forenoon, then?"

"Yes, thank you," Ann said as they hurried around Sir Kade, who stood there looking frustrated as they hurried down the pavement.

Kade walked forward while Red folded his scythe back up and snarled, "When will you learn to stop poking your nose into business that doesn't concern you?"

Red didn't say anything but merely stepped backward then turned and walked off into the night.

The next day found the two girls waking with a smile on their face, having enjoying a mattress much softer than the ground they'd been sleeping on for the past couple weeks.  "Thanks for coming with me, Lex," Ann said, looking over at her friend.  "I'm glad you came with me."

"When your father first assigned me to you," Lex said, "It didn't take long to learn that you were the type of master I wanted.  As if I would have let you go off and adventure and leave me behind with them."

"I'm not your master," Ann hurriedly interjected.  "I freed you before you made your Pact.  You can go anywhere.  But I'm glad I have a friend here with me."

"I couldn't have asked for a better friend," Lex said.  "I want to hitch my wagon to yours."

"All the way to the stars," they finished in unison.

They reluctantly got out of the comfortable bed, put their robes on and used the water closet, then cast a quick cleaning spell on themselves to freshen up for the day.

Stopping to grab some fruit and bread for breakfast, and to refill their waterskins, they found Torin outside.  He guided them to the college, then back home, pointing out several landmarks and mentioning how different sections of town that they passed changed at different times of the day.  Ann paid him his coin and he ran off as they headed back towards the tavern, only to find Sir Kade standing outside as though he'd never left.

"Ah, there you are," he said smugly, his eyes roaming up and down their robes, "I was beginning to think that you weren't going to show.  And I knew you didn't want to miss… this show."  He took up a pose again, displaying his physique, as Red stepped out of the tavern behind him, his scythe folded up.

"They're not interested, Kade."

"That's Sir Kade," he said, whipping his sword out as he turned.  "And I'll be the judge of whether they're interested.  Ladies," he said, turning to look over his shoulder at them then directing his attention back to Red.  "Take a look at him!" he called out loudly, "And decide who you'd rather be with."  Two squires stepped out of the tavern at his shouted words and quickly pulled back Red's hood, showing his face for the first time then just as quickly stepped back out of reach, giving him a wide berth and rejoining Sir Kade.

Red didn't seem to have an ounce of fat on him.  Lank grey hair fell limply over his seemingly over-large cranium.  His eyes bugged out of hollow sockets.  His cheekbones looked as though they could cut and his paper thin lips barely seemed to meet over his too-large teeth.  "I made the mistake," he clearly rasped, "Of acting like you when I asked a witch to make me thinner."  His eyes burned with fury as he looked at Sir Kade and the squires before he reached up and pulled his hood back into place.