Installment 013 [https://squirrel.dogphilosophy.net/Installment013.png]

They left Gruntle napping sprawled across the table in the dining room and returned to the parlor to discuss the boring parts of the negotiation - the responsibilities that Gruntle's new party would have and in return the amount and kind of investment in both money and assistance that would be provided, the shares due in return, how non-monetary gains would be accounted for, and so forth.

"...of divisible wealth including proceeds from sales of spoils, a minimum of 50% until a sum equal to our investment is repaid and then 15% subsequently for a period 2 years." Malagriel was explaining, as Melissa wrote out the agreed-upon terms down a scroll of parchment.

"What about non-divisible things like artwork or artifacts, or things like jewelry or gemstones if we don't intend to sell them?" Al asked.

"If this were a typical agreement, we'd have an entire addendum with detailed rules for valuation and under what conditions we may claim such things for ourselves, but I think we can dispense with it. We'll limit our share to coinage, so anything you don't exchange for coin is your own affair. Of course, we've got a few atypical requirements we'll be imposing in return." Malagriel looked to Melissa for confirmation. Melissa nodded.

"In addition to the aforementioned shares of your earnings, we will require regular correspondence, say, at least three times per season. Some formal allowance will be made for unavoidable loss of messages during transport, accidents do happen to couriers from time to time, but you'll still be required to make every reasonable effort to ensure your missives reach us. We won't dictate any particular length or format but you must particularly pass along descriptions of your accomplishments and any observations you find notable about Gruntle's behavior and development."

"Hmmm." Al pondered. "Our immediate plans have us headed into some very... un-cosmopolitan places. I'm not sure if Henhaven or Turnipseed have any reliable couriers who might be headed this way. Will we need to travel back here every season?"

"That won't be a concern." Bote assured him. "The Church of Indicina funds itself in part by courier services. We will have no trouble finding someone, regardless of where we go, so long as the church has any influence there. Sometimes even if not."

Al's eyebrows went up. "How did I not know that?"

"You are a wizard from a family of magical folk. Such people often have their own means for delivering messages."

Al himself hadn't yet learned any of those tricks, but he had witnessed or read about many of them. His mother's habit of occasionally showing up in his dreams to remind him of household chores was very annoying. His father preferred to conscript birds or rodents to carry his messages most of the time.

"Well, that's one worry taken care of, at least. Now, um..." said Al. He rubbed at his forehead for a moment, thinking, then continued. "I know you can tell me more about how dangerous adventuring is as a profession than I can tell you but...well, you did say that Gruntle has not had a lot of opportunity to directly participate in adventuring with you and...what if...you know..."

Malagriel nodded knowingly. "Ah, yes. Mortality. As with all matters of mortal peril there can be no guarantees and we hope you will take appropriate care to minimize risk." She looked to Bob, who nodded back. "If in the course of your enterprise Gruntle should meet his demise..." She paused and looked again to the other members of her own party. They all nodded assent. "...or for that matter any other members of your party, recover their remains as best you can and bring them back here. We can't make any promises, but Bob still serves Pecus and has the authority to perform certain miracles. We'll do what we can. We can discuss the prerequisites involved if and when it's needed. We will hold you legally blameless for any deaths."

Melissa dutifully added this to the growing contract, adding both aloud and in ink: "In the event that you experience misadventure requiring invocation of this clause, we also require that you inform us of the circumstances leading up to the death in as much detail as you can, as soon as you are able. It would be ideal if we had plenty of advance notice before someone shows up on our doorstep with one or more dead bodies." She stopped writing but continued speaking "While we promise you are indemnified against legal responsibility for deaths, if it happens as a result of stupidity or worse personal failings, you will be lectured and insulted to an appropriately unpleasant degree. Fortunately, I don't believe this will be a concern, will it?"

"No, ma'am" Al replied. "We try very hard to keep each other alive. It would hurt me if anyone in my party got killed. Including myself, I would assume."

"Reports vary." interjected Bote. "It depends a great deal on the sort of life you've lived and how much unfinished business you've left behind. Sometimes it also depends on how much you've angered various gods or other ...entities."

"I try to be good." muttered Al, who hadn't been expecting a serious reply to his half-joking comment.

"I'm just trying to be entertaining enough that any gods watching will find me too much fun here in the mortal world to want me to leave it." Wikwocket said.

"Well, however you approach it, just make sure you avoid dying. Shall we continue?" Melissa said, nodding to Malagriel.

"In exchange for your agreement to and performance of these duties as specified, " Malagriel announced, "we will advance you 500 gold coins, valued at 500 gold coins..." she saw Al's skeptical look. "I assure you such specificity is necessary in a proper legal contract, particularly one for which there will be a binding oath. If I may continue... we will also provide you with 10 alchemical elixirs for the healing of injuries, which should be valued at at 50 gold coins each but which we will list at 25, since quite honestly Bob and Melissa enjoy making them so much that we have more than we can easily find buyers for in Silveroak. It's a rather unique formula, I hope you like yogurt. I think this should be a good start for your venture. Is there anything else we need to add?"

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Melissa's quill caught up with the discussion...and then continued. "Yes," she added, "arcane writing supplies valued at, let's say, 100 gold coins. I will donate some arcane consultation and a copy of the current draft of my treatise on gnolls, which I hope you will find useful."

"'Arcane consultation'? Are you going to consult with the spirits to tell our fortunes?" joked Wikwocket.

Melissa gave her a look over the top of her spectacles. "Very well." she finally said. She pushed her spectacles back up, closed her eyes, and intoned:

"O spirits of the beyond, speak to us! I call upon you to impart to us your wisdom!"

She made a complex gesture with her hands. Her eyes snapped open.

"I sense the spirits are here." she said. "Speak, spirits! What would you have us know?"

A deep, hollow, inhuman voice spoke from the empty air in return.

"The gnome is a smart-ass.", it said.

"The spirits speak truth!" Wikwocket exclaimed, throwing her head back and laughing.

"Seriously, though, what sort of 'arcane consultation' did you mean?" asked Al.

"Are you truly a wizard?" the disembodied voice responded.

Al squinted at the empty air where the voice seemed to be coming from, then at Melissa. He gave his answer to her.

"Yes, I am also a wizard. Despite my best efforts so far, I'm probably more 'wizard' than anything else."

"Then why do you draw an ordinary weapon to face a threat rather than a tool of wizardry?" the voice probed.

Malagriel drummed her fingers disapprovingly on the writing-table. "Melissa, please..."

"Slayer of mirth! Despoiler of fun!" lamented the disembodied voice. "I am banished!" it continued, the last word fading out and then cutting off with a comical popping sound.

Just the slightest hint of a smile could be seen on Melissa's otherwise perfectly serious face as this happened. Wikwocket laughed harder, clapping and kicking her feet with glee. "Oh, I wish I could do that!"

Al brought his mace back out from under his robes. "I learned to work magic with a wand, you see." he said as he handed it over to Melissa for inspection. The head was a heavy studded ball of iron, and the shaft was a long, thick piece of wood. A strip of copper, engraved with a pattern of mystical symbols, was wrapped spiraling along the entire length of the shaft. "I actually made it myself, well, I mean, I made a wand out of it myself."

Melissa turned it over, examining it, tracing the spiral of symbols along the shaft. Then she nodded, handing it back. "A tolerably competent result. Not at all bad for someone who doesn't yet have extensive experience."

"Do academics have a script-book they share? That's almost precisely what Father said. Mom liked it a lot, though. A tool that combines potentially throwing bolts of lightning with bashing heads was a wonderful idea in her opinion."

"That brings us back to the point. Do you, in fact, know how to throw bolts of lightning?"

"No, of course not. Not yet, anyway. There's quite a lot to learn before I'll be able to do things like that."

"Have you learned any means of inflicting violence upon a foe by means of wizardry?"

There was one small spell Al had taught himself that was of some use in conventional conflict, but Al knew that wasn't what she meant.

"Well, no, not really."

"That is what the *arcane consultation* and the writing supplies are for. I have a selection of magical formulae in my library that I do not consider any sort of trade secret, many of which should be suitable for your current degree of practice and education. We will discuss your needs and then you will choose two of them, for which I will provide instruction and sources from which you may transcribe for your own reference. I will insist that at least one of them be useful for the direct application of magical violence. You're an adventurer now and there will be many, many times when your party will need you to have it to survive."

Al sighed. "I suppose I was going to have to eventually."

"Why would you, who knows something of military duties and now has taken up adventuring, be so reluctant about this? There's certainly no shame for a wizard to focus on other things, but such wizards do not, as a rule, take up adventuring."

"I just don't want to get lazy, that's all."

Melissa gave him a truly puzzled look.

"Let me see if I can explain...you seem to be an accomplished scholar. Have you ever met a wizard named Arnold Arcanisen?"

"No, that name doesn't sound familiar at all."

"Oh, that's right, I'm sure he's still using the original family name. Arnold Bookminder?"

"Bookminder? That does sound familiar." She considered. "Oh! Yes, I do believe he published a remarkably thorough work on the use of wizardry to raise, demolish and move buildings and villages? I have a copy of that one myself. I recall the writing seemed to casually assume quite a lot of magical potency on the part of the reader."

"Yes, that's him. He's my grandfather on my father's side. Have you ever met him?"

"No, not in person."

"Well... he's just as capable as his writings suggest, maybe more so. He never lacks for anything. Whatever he wants - food, supplies, clothing, communication, transportation... he just casually conjures it up through wizardry. He never needs to lift anything or even stand and walk. It's good that he's got an academic outlook rather than a martial one because I think he could probably utterly destroy or dominate whole nations through magic if he really wanted to."

Al paused a moment before continuing.

"He looks like a skeleton draped in a skin of grey pudding. Like he's trying to become a lich by some weird, gradual process. If his magic ever failed for even a moment, I think his body would fall over and fatally break. I don't want to end up like that. I know I've got some talent for it and I'll even admit that I find the study of it interesting and useful. I just want to make sure it only helps my efforts and doesn't replace them."

"I see. Have you ever used a bow or crossbow?"

"Yes, of course, most of us get introduced to them early on to get used to targeting for spellcasting later, don't we?"

"Then I think we have a psychological approach to make this work despite your self-imposed limitation. Now then, I think that covers everything, unless anyone else has anything to add or dispute?"

"I'm happy with it!" announced Wikwocket, who had been satisfied as soon as she'd heard the part about having a monetary advance to work with.

"I believe Al has something else." prompted Bote, who as usual had been quietly observing the negotiation up to this point.

Al hesitated. "It's nothing that needs to go in the contract...uh, I hope this isn't rude either, but...Gruntle is big and dangerous-looking, but you mentioned that he hasn't really done much adventuring before. How ready is he for this, I mean, does he have armor, does he know how to use a proper weapon, or does he just run around biting people?"

Grakthor answered. "He doesn't like wearing stuff. Only reason we got him to even wear the loincloth is taverns feed him better if he ain't naked. I taught him to use a shield, and taught him to use proper weapons. He's pretty good. You could spar with him before you leave if you want. He does bite people, too."

This did not particularly reassure Al.