“Oh, and I guess I need to set up a postal box,” Nym added to the end of his explanation. “That has nothing to do with all the other stuff, just a thing I need to take care of and haven’t figured out how to do yet.”
“Ah, yes, plague-bug infestations and mystical animals possessing stronger magic than me, and being reachable by drop box.”
Nym’s face flushed slightly, and Archmage Veran’s expression turned shrewd. “Who, pray tell, are you expecting a letter from?”
“Not really important here,” Nym mumbled. “Forget I mentioned it.”
The levity faded from the archmage’s face, and he grew serious again. “May I see the ring, please?”
“Oh, I actually left that back at the glacier. I don’t think it had any hidden magics on it, but for a creature that powerful, I wasn’t willing to risk bringing it into your sanctum without talking to you first. It’s sitting on the desk in my suite.”
“A sensible precaution. Let me just… ah, there.” Arcana formed around Archmage Veran and pulled the ring across space. It fell into his outstretched hand, around which a new cage of magic formed. “Hmm. Interesting. A very elegant design, but not new to me. Yes, I believe your initial assessment was correct. It does exactly what you thought it would, and nothing more.”
“So do you think this is worth following up on? I’m kind of heavily invested in not dying of old age in the next two decades, and while I’m not saying you won’t come up with the solution, I’m not against hedging my bets here,” Nym said.
“Quite understandable, my young friend. I won’t be offended if you want to make a bargain with this entity, though I will advise as much caution as possible. If it is as powerful as you say it is, sorry, you say he is, there’s nothing in this world that I know of that can protect you. You will be relying on him to keep his word with no way to hold him to it if he decides not to.”
“Nothing beyond the threat of future retaliation from myself, which… he didn’t seem all that concerned about facing an ascendant.”
“Then, if you’re going to proceed, I may have a few trinkets lying around that would prove useful to you,” Archmage Veran said. “Come, let us see if we can improve your chances of success.”
Nym followed his mentor down a hallway, only to double take at a door that he was sure hadn’t existed before. He’d been down the hall many times; it led to the library after all. “This wasn’t there yesterday.”
“Indeed not. I don’t make a habit of just leaving doors lying around when I don’t need them.”
“I… but… okay.” Nym let out a defeated sigh and followed Archmage Veran through the new door.
They were inside some sort of trophy room, though it was a strange one. Various pedestals lined the walls, set between cabinets with glass doors. Knickknacks, trinkets, and curios of all shapes and sizes filled the cabinets, while some of the larger and more durable pieces sat on the pedestals. Stands with blank busts or hands displayed rings, bracelets, necklaces, amulets, and the like. Plaques were bolted to the walls, or directly to the pedestals, each one with little gold plates that had text stamped on them.
At the far end of the room, a dozen staffs were held in place on hooks on the wall. Various wands and rods flanked them, and even more of what Nym recognized as mage blades surrounded the wands. The entire wall was filled with what could really only be weapons designed for mages.
“This… this is an armory. An archmage’s armory,” Nym said.
“Indeed it is. I would not recommend trying to find your way in here without me by your side. Some of the most powerful wards ever made by human hands guard this place from would-be thieves. I would not be leading you here if not for the fact that your success in bargaining with this fox creature would discharge one of my own debts to you. In light of that, it seems the least I can do to help prepare you.”
“I appreciate that,” Nym told him. He’d never much relied on tools to work his magic, mostly because he’d lacked the funds to purchase them and the knowledge to craft them on his own. Considering that it took third circle magic to make something permanent, very few tools were available to the public. Oh, people had small things that would last for a little while, a few weeks or a limited number of charges, but those inevitably broke or wore out and needed replacement.
He doubted there was much of anything in Archmage Veran’s armory that would wear out or break. And if it did, it was probably because it was inconceivably powerful and was designed that way. Some of the things he was looking at were no doubt priceless, possibly one-of-a-kind and created by the archmage himself.
“Now, if you don’t mind some advice, I have a few things that I think you’ll find helpful for such a task, and there are a few spells you should definitely learn before you return to the far north. You are welcome to browse, but let me point out some of the more relevant instruments,” Archmage Veran told him.
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He opened one of the cabinets, or rather, he caused it to open itself by means of the glass disappearing as it had no actual door. A small brooch floated out and hovered in front of Nym. It was shaped like a spider’s web, with the spider itself sitting in the center. Maybe it was a trick of the light, but he could swear he saw the spider twitch.
“This is enchanted to catch bugs of all sizes that might come near you once it’s been activated,” Archmage Veran told him. “It can’t be moved once you’ve powered it up, but it does cover an impressive range. It should be useful if you encounter a nest of scarabs that you are unable to personally attend to for some reason. It does so by filling an area with webs and making something similar to a golem that tends to them. Actually, many tiny golems. They are quite thorough.”
Nym couldn’t picture an immediate use for it, since he would no doubt be able to destroy any scarabs that needed destroying with his own magic, but perhaps he might need to leave it somewhere to guard something for him. Either way, it was small enough that it wouldn’t hurt anything to take it with him. If he didn’t end up using it, that was fine too.
Archmage Veran crossed the room to a pedestal which had a small mirror on it. “This is more for me than you, I’m afraid,” he said. “This is an arcana analysis tool. It is inferior in every way to your sight, but if you use it to take readings and send them back to me, I might be able to advise you on how bad the infestation is and where to find the source. It won’t tell you anything directly that you won’t be able to see for yourself.”
The mirror was about the size of Nym’s hand, and came with a wooden traveling case to protect it. The inside was lined with a soft material he didn’t recognize and already formed to hold the mirror snugly. As Archmage Veran set it inside and closed it up, he added, “This by itself won’t be that useful to you. There is a third circle spell I’ll teach you to relay the information back to me. We’ll also need to discuss long range communication spells, which I know you’ve been interested in for some time now.”
That was true, but there was always something that was a higher priority and the field itself was complicated. It was tied closely to long range scrying spells, since he needed some way to find the recipient of his magical messages, and vast distances were a huge problem that required a lot of ongoing arcana investments in the magic to overcome.
“Moving right along, this may prove valuable to you if for some reason you are unable to teleport to a more accommodating location.” Archmage Veran held up a key made of brass and hung from a thin leather cord. “I can’t tell you how often I used this in my youth. Ah, it may not… smell the freshest. I don’t think I ever cleaned it out when I was done.”
“Cleaned out… the key?” Nym asked. He squinted at it, trying to see what the runes on it were.
“This is a hidden room. I’m afraid I can’t demonstrate it here, but if you channel arcana through it properly and turn the key, it will open the door to a space outside of space. Quite useful if you need a safe place to rest, or a quick hiding spot.”
Archmage Veran mimed inserting the key into a lock and turned it, but nothing happened. “I’ll show you how to power it later. If we used it here, the wards surrounding this room would have a fit.”
He passed the key over to Nym and continued on towards the end of the room where the weapons were. Before he got there though, he stopped in front of a pedestal with a glass box on it. Inside was a little golden ball covered in fine runes so tiny that they looked like lines crisscrossing the ball’s surface. Archmage Veran considered it for a moment, and asked, “How much do you know about scarab infestations?”
“Not much yet. I’d planned on digging through the library for a bestiary with information on them soon. I figured I’d talk to you first, because I wasn’t going to take the job if you had told me you were close to breaking the curse yourself.”
“A fine, logical plan,” the archmage agreed. “Alas, I was not able to meet your expectations. There will be plenty more to discuss, but let us talk about the source first, as it relates to this final tool. Scarabs are not naturally occurring animals. They are the result of a curse being unleashed by a human with more power than brains.
“Oftentimes, some brash young grave robber finds a talisman of some sort, usually in a tomb they have no business being in, and quite often hidden amidst a dazzling amount of other wealth. They foolishly take the talisman along with the rest of their ill-gotten gains, and in doing so, activate the curse. The talisman begins creating the scarabs, which are most often flesh eaters, who will then kill the grave robber and all their friends. Hopefully, this happens before they escape the tomb itself.
“Normally, this would be the end of it. The scarabs would eventually starve and die, and with the talisman left behind in the tomb, it becomes dormant and waits for the next idiot to touch it. In some cases, however, a particularly foolish mage who thinks he is clever will manage to remove the talisman without activating it, only to accidentally empower it later. The scarabs will then become an infestation with plenty to eat, plenty of space to spread, and a talisman endlessly creating more and more of them.”
Archmage Veran held up the orb. “This will contain that curse. At least, it will attempt to. When you find that talisman, activating this orb will cause it to come apart and surround the cursed object to seal it. This should stop the infestation from spreading, though it will do nothing to clean up the scarabs that already exist. If the curse is too powerful, well, then we shall have to consider more extreme methods.”
He handed the orb over to Nym and said, “Come, you have much to learn about the subject and we have yet to touch on the worst-case scenario. We shall retire to the library and I will point you in the direction of the information you’ll need.”
“There’s a worst-case scenario?” Nym asked.
“Yes. It is possible that the talisman has bonded to a host, that the scarabs, rather than consuming the unfortunate fool who found the talisman, are using them as a power source. In that case, they would not only multiply far more rapidly, but the source of the infestation would likely be mobile and far more difficult to find. Given the location of this particular outbreak, I’m not willing to rule out the possibility quite yet.”
“Oh,” Nym said. He looked down at the stuff he was holding in his hands. “I think I’m going to need to bargain for a better payment.”