Sorry, this is another chapter of setup. I know, it's a little bit dense, but I hope it's worth it. We'll be getting to the action next chapter.

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“That is my story.” Luhan said, wiping the tear from his eye. “Now, maybe, you can see why I didn’t want to tell it.”

David was all choked up. He had forgotten why he had wanted to hear the smith’s story in the first place. He could only nod. Luhan got up to check whether the scrap metal had gotten hot yet. Apparently, it wasn’t, because he pumped the bellows again, then returned to the table with a fresh face, as if he had allowed the sadness to pass through and out of him.

“Is there anything else I can do for you?” His voice was a little gruff now, but he wasn’t being unkind. His words brought David back into the moment.

-I guess even he doesn’t know about the mana conversion rate he’s getting. There could be something he hasn’t told me about, like a faith in a metal god or a blacksmith ritual, but I feel like that kind of thing would be too convenient. No, the clue to how he’s doing it is definitely hidden in his story; I just need to figure out what that is…

“Oh, yes. We found this chest, underneath Isaac’s stone. He gave it to me, and told me that you could probably open it. Could you give it a try?” Saying that, David took out the chest and put it on the table. Luhan studied it for a minute.

“Interesting. You say this was buried in Isaac’s field, below that rock of his?” He studied it for a few more minutes. “This box was made with excellent craftsmanship, even if it is a bit plain. The lock though, is really something special. Just from looking at it, I would say that it’s probably a Gordian Knot.” He said this last as if it was something really impressive. When he saw David’s confusion, he continued, “A lock made with thirteen tumblers. It’s notoriously difficult to open. Whoever locked this box must have really wanted it to stay shut.”

“Does that mean that it’s impossible to pick?” David asked, disappointed.

“If you had gone to almost anyone else, it would have been. Fortunately for you, however, I happen to have been trained with locks. Master Wollung thought that lockpicking and lock creation were great ways to give me experience with the more detailed, finer end of blacksmithing. I happened to get quite good at them.” With that, Luhan pulled out a roll of cloth, which contained his lockpicks.

“Now let’s see here…” There was a click sound and the smith put his hand on the chest, just as the door burst open.

“NO!!!” A man shouted from the doorway. But it was too late, Luhan had already opened the chest. From inside, a billowing cloud of black and green smoke burst out, and quickly swirled around the smith, pushing itself into him, through his nostrils. It lasted only a moment, but for that brief period of time, the smith’s terror was written all over his face. Then the cloud had completely pushed its way into Luhan, and it was over.

The man who had burst in moved quickly towards Luhan, who was standing completely still, frozen in position since he had first opened the chest. David was still frozen by shock, at the sudden events. When he had gotten all the way to Luhan, he started chanting in some other language, one David didn’t recognize, even though he had learned many, if not most languages of Royal Road during his time at the Library.

“Asham yllar oklur llyr wein cadis adad llan tilue jutoa …” With a intense look of concentration, David saw the mana begin to flow through the man’s body, becoming a pure deep green as it pooled in his hands. He began to weave the mana in his hands into a complex shape, even as he added more from his mana supply.

*Ding*

You have seen some of an incredibly complex spell. Although you are unable to see the rest of it because the spell is so far beyond your abilities, your Mana Sight has increased by 3.

Mana Sight is now level 8

You can see more fine distinctions in mana

“NO.” The smith’s voice echoed, differently, oddly, as if a different person was trying to speak through him, with a different set of vocal cords. “NOT THIS TIME, DRUID.”

The smith waved his hand and the spellshape in the other man’s hands twisted and contorted, to the point where it was unrecognizable. As the druid attempted to undo the damage, Luhan turned and walked towards the back of the shop. David followed him, uncertain of what was going on.

“Luhan?” he asked uncertainly. “Are you alright?” The smith ignored him as he opened a door that David hadn’t noticed, before. David followed the smith into, an armory. That was really all that it could be called. It was a room, about half of the size of the shop, that contained a bed and weapon racks. The room did not seem so large, though, because much of the floor space was dedicated to the weapon racks. They contained every kind of sword imaginable, from the cavalry sabre to the katana, even some swords that David had never seen, nor even heard of before, and the workmanship on each was enough to bring a blacksmith to tears. The swords radiated a deadly elegance from every inch. Each seemed like the kind of sword to be labeled legendary. Even without checking their stats, David could tell, from their sharp edges and solid presence and the silver mana that radiated from the blades, that any swordsman would give up everything he owned, even his soul, for just one.

You have discovered the Hermitage of the Swordsmith

The master swordsmith who knows metal inside and out created 217 swords while he secluded himself from the world. Each is a masterpiece and a work of art in its own right. To own even one would be a mark of distinction for anyone.

For being the first to discover the Hermitage of the Swordsmith, you gain the stat Affinity to Metal, and it has been increased by 20. You would also gain incredible fame, but the nature of your class prevents you from gaining any fame.

The smith walked quickly down the central path towards the bed. Kneeling down, he reached under the bed and pulled out a long, thin case. David watched from a safe distance as he checked its contents. It was a khopesh. From what David could see, it was nothing like all of the other swords – it was plain, unadorned, and it didn’t radiate death or silver mana, like the others did. Luhan closed the case and shouldered it, turning and walking past David. David followed as he walked out, past the other man, who was still struggling with his spell shape.

“Luhan!” David called, but the smith didn’t respond. David grabbed his shoulder, but the smith didn’t stop, and David was just dragged along with him.

-I’m not strong enough to stop him.

When the smith stepped outside, he began to run and David was shaken off immediately. He watched as Luhan ran past the edge of the village, accelerating, going faster and faster, off into the sunset.

-Where is he going?

“Where is he going?” David started when he heard his thought repeated out loud. It was the other man, the one who had burst into the shop. When he didn’t respond, the other man grabbed his shoulders and shook him. “Are you deaf, boy? I asked you a question. Where is he going?”

“What? Why? What was that smoke that went into Luhan? What spell were you trying to cast? Who are you?” That was all David could manage, in his confusion.

“Questions later. For now, we have to catch that man, before it’s too late. You have to tell me where he will go, though.”

“How should I know?” David was confused, why should he know where the smith was going to go?

“Lynnfes doesn’t have full control yet, so the vessel’s greatest desires are what is motivating him right now. What does the vessel want most, of anything in the world? Family? Gold? Treasure? Adventure? A woman? Anything he might have mentioned, even in passing could be a clue.”

“I guess that would be his love, Astrid.” The smith’s tale had left no room for doubt that she was what he wanted most in the world.

“And where would she be?”

“Orillis.”

“Okay. We need to move.”

“Wait. Answer my questions. Who are you? Why are we chasing Luhan? What was that smoke that went inside him? Why did he suddenly act so differently?”

“I am Llyr, druid guardian of the Shifting Forest. I can answer the rest of your questions as we move, but we need to go now.”

-This is Llyr? This odd man is my teacher?

Llyr was tall and tan, with long black hair – interspersed with some gray – that was tied up in a bun. He also had pointed ears. He was a wood elf, David realized.

Llyr whistled, loudly, and at the same time, created a small ball of completely green mana which flew away, past the edge of town. He turned to David.

“Can you ride a horse?”

“Well…” David didn’t want to be left behind, but he’d never even seen a horse before.

“That’s fine, Sal can do the work.”

-Sal?

Two horses appeared at the outermost edge of the village, galloping towards them. When they arrived, David was a little disappointed – neither looked very special, they were just normal, brown horses. Llyr quickly jumped onto the first one’s back, and looked back at me.

“Well? Get on. We haven’t got forever.” I somehow managed to scramble up and onto the other horse. Then they began to move. Immediately, I could tell that this was going to be painful. With each stride, I bounced a little, landing again on Sal’s back. There was no cushion or saddle to soften the impact, so each time, I felt the whole of it with my already battered behind. As we moved out onto the plains, our horses so close together I could reach out and touch the other, Llyr spoke.

“You asked me what it was that entered the smith. Its name is Lynnfes. It’s a corrupted nature spirit. Long, long ago, before Jotunnheim was even a country, the plains that you now see today were largely forestlands. It was said that you could go months without seeing the sun, so large and dense was the forest that encompassed it. What is today the Shifting Forest was just a small subsection of that massive forest.”

“Lynnfes was one of the nature spirits who watched over that forest. He and his fellows spent their days aiding in the growth of the trees and watching over the forest animals. They ensured that the natural order was kept.”

“Then the first men came to this area. At first the nature spirits were not best pleased with the men, who cut down the trees and hunted the forest creatures. They sent weeds to choke out their fertile plants them and ravening wolves to eat their domesticated creatures. They sent small insects to ravage their crops and rodents to eat the food they stored. Finally, the people realized that the nature spirits were the cause, and they pleaded to the nature spirits to stop their assault. Still, they didn’t want to leave. Eventually, after the people begged and pleaded with them, the spirits decided to negotiate a deal with them. In return for ending the waves of insects, rodents, wolves and weeds, the men would promise the spirits that they wouldn’t cut down any more of the forest than they already had and wouldn’t hunt more forest creatures than they needed for survival.”

“Some of the nature spirits were discontent with this. They wanted man gone completely. However, in time, their anger subsided – after all, man had not cut down much of the great forest, he had only begun to scratch the surface of the forest. Many years after the deal was brokered, a wizard came to the forest. Deep, deep into the forest, he went. When he reached a small glade near the forest’s heart, he built a tower with his magic and resided within it. This man puzzled the nature spirits. He had not violated their agreement with the other men, but he did not seem to have any contact with other men, nor did he come out of his tower. The spirits decided to send a representative to find out what the wizard was doing. Lynnfes was chosen for this task.”

“Lynnfes entered the tower. The spirits sense of time is a little different from ours, especially with nature spirits, who work frequently with the trees, whose lifetimes far exceed our own. However, the spirits noticed when Lynnfes had not returned. For the first month, they considered that perhaps he had simply not yet made contact with them yet. But when the time for the gathering came and went, the other spirits began to worry. In the second month, the spirits restrained themselves. Perhaps, they said to each other, the time inside the wizard’s tower flows differently, for at the time it was not uncommon for powerful wizards to alter the flow of time, for one reason or another. In the third month, the other spirits began to gather their power for a strike against the tower. No matter how altered the time stream, Lynnfes’s business should have been over and done with.”

“That was when it emerged from the tower. A dark miasma spread through the forest, withering the trees. The other spirits moved quickly to the area where it was thickest. They grew weaker and weaker as they approached through the swirling cloud until finally, they were no stronger than ordinary men. Then, they heard the weeping. They reached the middle of the cloud, and there, they saw him, cradling in his hands a wilted flower. It was Lynnfes, but he was changed, twisted. They approached and begged him to tell them what was wrong. He told them his story.”

Llyr’s face was twisted with sadness and disgust, as if he had been there as Lynnfes told his tale. And what a tale it was.

“Lynnfes told them that when he entered the tower, the wizard had greeted him graciously, and brought him upstairs, playing the good host. When Lynnfes had sat down with him to talk, however, the wizard entrapped him with a spellcircle, which had obviously been prepared beforehand. It bound him and drained his powers from him. Then, the wizard began to experiment. He told Lynnfes that he was discontent with the incredibly long life gained by working with incredible magic power. He wanted the immortality of a spirit. He tried to pull Lynnfes’s mind from his body, so that he could replace it with his own. He succeeded, partially. He had forced his own mind into Lynnfes’s body, but he couldn’t remove Lynnfes’s. Lynnfes had left the tower, still in control, but the wizard had grabbed control of Lynnfes’s powers and he was using them to drain the life energy of everything around him. Lynnfes told them that the wizard was using this energy to grow stronger, to the point where he would have full control over the body.”

“The other spirits were shocked by his tale. That a man would force himself into a spirit’s body was unthinkable. Some, including Lynnfes, argued that he ought to be destroyed, to prevent any more harm coming to the forest. Others, many of his friends, didn’t want that. They wanted to help him, to remove the wizard from his brain, to separate the two. Before the decision could be made, the wizard took control of Lynnfes’s body and ran. The other spirits tracked him as he laid waste to the forest, growing stronger and stronger. Finally, they cornered the wizard, trying to kill him – they had long since become enraged. As he fled from them, the wizard had used Lynnfes’s powers to suck the life energy from the trees and the forest creatures, leaving behind a swath of dead trees and animals, which soon crumbled to dust. In the end, the wizard was too strong, and all of the spirits’ powers combined was only enough to seal his essence in a box. The box that you found under that rock.”

“In sealing Lynnfes, the other spirits had exhausted their power and their life force, and their immortality was gone. However, Lynnfes had not destroyed all of the forest, and their duty, to protect that forest could not be left undone. They left what little remained of their powers to one of the men, and tasked him with protecting the forest. That man was the first guardian of the Shifting Forest. Since then, the title, the powers, the duties, the story, and the chest have been passed down from guardian to guardian. Each selecting their successor before they die. I was chosen and told this story, and given the ability to seal Lynnfes again, should he ever escape his prison.”

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Llyr paused. When it was clear that he was not going to continue, David asked.

“So, that was what you were trying to do in the shop?” Too late, David realized that this wasn’t exactly tactful. Llyr glared at him, and then sighed, which was a little odd, considering that they were both traveling at top speed on the horse.

“No, and I’m not even certain why. Which is a problem.” Llyr looked gloomy.

-Quick, something to distract him. Wait…

“Llyr, I have something to give you.” David pulled out Donovan’s letter and handed it to him. Llyr opened and read it, which took a while because the wind kept flipping the paper all around.

“So you know Donovan, then. Interesting. He says that you’re the first Sage seen in ages. I could feel that you had some magical power from the beginning, very odd in one so young. You being a Sage would explain that. Apparently, I’m to show you a number of nature spells, and you can learn them just by seeing them.”

“Yes, please.”

“Well, although it may be a little rushed, I’m going to need your help with the sealing spell. Maybe together we can succeed where I alone failed.”

Sealing Lynnfes

It was your actions that led to Lynnfes’s escape, now you must help to reseal him, or he will drain the life from forests and creatures across Versailles.

Difficulty Level: B

Rewards: Unknown

You can’t refuse this quest. You have accepted this quest.

“We can start the demonstrations tonight. Even with Sal and Urra carrying us, it’ll take us several days to reach Orillis – that should be long enough for you to get the basics. For right now, though, take this.” He handed David an acorn. “This was one of the first exercises I practiced as a Druid initiate, you should too. Meditate on that acorn. Know that all life comes from a seed.”

-Mmm… Don’t know how I should feel about this. It’s certainly an odd sort of exercise. Well, if I’m going to do it, I might as well do it well. Ommm. Ommm. Ommm. Acorn…. Acorn… Acorn…

David heard a ding, and opened his eyes.

New Stat: Concentration

-Concentration protects against the interruption of spells, right. Awesome!

David closed his eyes and resumed meditating. Every once in a while, he would get the notice that his Concentration stat had increased, but he was more interested in the acorn.

-What exactly am I supposed to do with this?

After a few hours, it was completely dark, except for the light of the moon. It would have been dangerous to go any farther – one of the horses could have broken an ankle in a hole it didn’t see in the dark – so Llyr pulled them over to rest for the night.

“I’ll show you my nature spells, though they would have been much better suited for daytime.” He said, when they had sat around the campfire.

“There are four areas druids specialize in – plant spells, animal spells, healing spells, and alchemical mixtures. Plant spells work best when there is strong sunlight, a water source nearby, and good soil for the plants to grow in; they are for growing certain plants, enhancing the effects of plants, or using plants to attack or defend. The animal spells need an animal to be reasonably near; they are for calling for an animal’s assistance or binding an animal to you as a companion, but I won’t show them to you until we have a need – animals don’t like it when you call for them without needing their assistance. The healing spells are not as powerful as a cleric’s, but they are reasonably effective. I won’t show you any alchemical mixtures, unless you want to convert to the druid class, but they are incredibly useful.”

Then he demonstrated a huge number of spells in quick succession. Sprout (Tier 1: a spell which causes a small plant to pop up), Root Trap (Tier 1: a spell which causes roots of nearby plants to bind your foe in place), Grow (Tier 1: a spell which accelerates the growth of the target plant by a little), Simple Heal (Tier 2: a spell which heals the target), Thornbush (Tier 3: an AoE spell which grows a thorn-filled bush around a group of enemies, causing them damage), Vine Bind (Tier 3: a spell which grows vines around an enemy, binding them in place), Sleep Mushrooms (Tier 4: a spell which grows a patch of mushrooms which release a spore that will put most foes to sleep), Mid Grow (Tier 4: a spell which accelerates the growth of a plant), Poison Spores (Tier 4: a spell which grows a flower which, fully grown, releases poisonous spores), Illusionary Flowerbush (Tier 5: a spell which grows a bush of flowers that release a scent that causes illusions).

Llyr stopped, and David realized that when Donovan had written the letter, he had only been able to learn spells up to tier 5 on sight. David told Llyr that his limit was not tier 8, and Llyr continued demonstrating with Underbrush (Tier 6: a spell which causes many plants to grow, covering a large area, allowing the caster to hide from enemies), then a bell sounded.

*Ding*

Mana Understanding has increased by 1

Mana Understanding is now level 5

-No advance in my abilities to learn magics on sight? That’s worrying. Maybe it’ll get even less frequent in future.

David dismissed the system message, in time to see the next spell. Enlarge (Tier 6: a spell which causes the target plant to swell to a larger size), Bell Flower (Tier 6: an AoE heal spell which grows a flower that will heal all those who stand near it), Mid Heal (Tier 6: a spell which heals a target), Novice Instrument Flower (Tier 7: a spell which grows a flower that can act as a novice bard for a party, giving simple buffs to the party and simple debuffs to foes), Calming Scent (Tier 7: a spell which causes a nearby plant to produce spores that calm all nearby enemies), Flower Garden (Tier 7: a spell which causes a field of flowers to grow in the area, with random effects), Sleeping Tree (Tier 8: a spell which grows a tree which produces stronger sleep spores, able to put more powerful enemies to sleep), Binding Tree (Tier 8: a spell which grows a tree that entraps an enemy and grows around it, trapping them and choking them), Advanced Growth (Tier 8: a spell that greatly accelerates the growth rate of a particular plant). None of them involved any sort of spellshape – they were all balls of deep green mana.

When it was clear that Llyr had shown him everything, David spoke “Okay two questions: why is your mana conversion rate so high and why are none of the spells anything but balls of mana?”

“Mana conversion rate? The second one, I understand, but what is mana conversion?”

“When you need to use a spell, you convert some mana from its neutral state, to the sort of mana most appropriate for that spell – nature mana, in this instance. But most people, Donovan included, only get a tiny fraction of their mana converted. Your mana looks to achieve full conversion. How do you do that?”

“I’m sorry, I still don’t understand. Maybe you should walk me through how you cast a spell.”

“When I cast a spell, I draw some mana from my supply, here.” David pointed to his right breast. “The mana travels through my body, up my arm, and out through my palm. When it crosses my skin, I push my thoughts and feelings about the sort of thing that I want the mana to become. For nature mana, I suppose I would use thoughts about plants and animals. Then, when all the mana I need for a certain spell is out of my body, I push my intent into the ball, and then it becomes whatever spell I need. That’s how I cast spells. But I only get maybe 10% conversion.”

“I don’t know, that sounds pretty much like how I cast spells.” Llyr looked puzzled. “Maybe it has to do with our experience in casting spells.”

“No, it can’t be – Donovan himself was getting less than I did.”

“Hmmm. Maybe you don’t really have the feel of the elements – the fire, the water, the wind and so on. It sounds like you push your understanding of an element into the neutral state mana in order to make it that element – maybe your understanding of each element isn’t up to snuff. I’ve spent most of my days living as one with the forests and their creatures – maybe you need to spend more time around each of the elements.”

David was stunned.

-How could I have missed something so simple? It was literally right there, all along. But wait, how should I get to know each element well, then. Should I just sit watching a flame all day for years? I don’t want to spend that long, just to get a little more powerful.

“Do you think that there might be a faster way to gain an understanding of an element?” David asked, hopefully.

-There’s no way this game is designed so that I have to spend years just to get good with one element.

Llyr frowned. “Shortcuts are dangerous. They often leave you without a proper understanding and incomplete knowledge often fails you just when you need it most.”

“Okay.” David gave up on the idea.

-I guess I can just raise my Mana Mastery and use more powerful spells, instead.

“What about the spellshapes?”

“Most spells can be cast with only intent and mana. All spells can be cast with a spellshape, but only a rare few spells require the mana to be molded a little beforehand. Molding the mana into a spellshape makes the spell more powerful, but it also takes much more time, which, for mages in a battle, can be fatal. This is why the simplified versions of the spells are the ones most often taught.”

“How does molding the mana make it a particular spell? Why does mana need to be shaped at all?” David asked.

“Those are interesting questions, which all apprentices of the magic arts have asked since the beginning of magic. However, I don’t have an answer – others may be able to give you their theories, but I have yet to hear of one that has been conclusively proven true. Magic practitioners know only three things for certain: the knowledge of which spellshape is right for which spell is embedded in the mind of the mage, no two mage’s spellshapes for the same spell are the same, and shaping the spell makes it more powerful – by how much seems to depend on how many times you’ve cast that particular spellshape.”

“Oh, one other thing. Most mages tend to have a circle spellshape with various sigils inside. They claim that it’s the most stable spellshape, but mine, and other druids’, tend to be more freeform.”

-Hmm, I wonder what each of my spellshapes are?

“How am I supposed to help you catch Lynnfes? Will you teach me the sealing spell?”

“I can try, but the sealing spell is Tier 25 - the penultimate tier of spell that mortals can cast – and you can only learn spells up to Tier 8. I think the best way you can help would be to distract Lynnfes while I seal him into another container. Maybe, with you playing front man, I can finish the sealing spell before he can interrupt it.”

David, confused by the sudden rush of information, said, “Wait, what? Two questions. One, there are only 26 tiers of magic spell mortals can use?”

“Yes. Beyond that, there are magic spells that only more powerful existences can use – like spirits, demons, and gods.”

“Okay, didn’t know that. Two, we’re sealing Lynnfes into a container, right. So what will happen to Luhan’s body?”

“Well, there isn’t really a precedent. The sealing spell targets the core of entities with ephemeral physical forms, so it might just pull the corrupted spirit out of the smith’s body.” Llyr looked distinctly uncomfortable with this explanation. They both could feel a ‘but’ hanging in the air. David stared into his eyes. Llyr continued, “But, far more likely, the smith’s body will be destroyed by the spell and his soul bound into the container along with Lynnfes’s and the wizard’s.”

“Is there no other way?” David’s eyes begged.

Llyr shifted from side to side, then said “Magic has no hard limits. Pretty much anything you can imagine is theoretically possible.” David brightened up, but Llyr continued, “However, inventing a spell which can do something more complex than ‘burn this foe’ or ‘grow this flower’, like a sealing spell which ignores physical forms and goes directly for a particular soul, will require significantly more power, as well as finesse. Considering that this will involve sealing a spirit, even one weakened by years of being sealed, the spell will need to be even more powerful and fine-tuned. Such a spell would probably be a Tier 26 magic, if it was even within the bounds of mortal abilities.”

“I might be able to create a spell of that level, given enough time.” David said.

“I think that you are underestimating the power of the higher tiers. You know magic up to tier 8, correct? As you get higher and higher in the tiers, the tiers get farther and farther apart in terms of power and difficulty. Tier 8 is enough to kill low-level enemies, around level 30 or so, in one shot, right? Tier 11 is enough to kill a level 80. Tier 13 is enough to one-hit a level 150. And it just keeps going. At tier 25, you could kill a dragon without its magical barriers in one well-aimed shot. If you missed, you would probably destroy a mountain range. Those few throughout history who have attained tier 26 were all forces that reshaped the earth itself – creating lakes and forests, mountain ranges and valleys, plains and deserts.”

“There’s also the problem of backlash. Although I have attained the 18th tier by myself, I have been bestowed with a power that gives me the use of the tier 25 sealing spell that I plan to use. If I didn’t have that, miscasting the spell would cause backlash that would probably destroy all those around me and destroy our souls in the bargain.”

“How about the power of a spirit?” David asked. “Could we contact a spirit who would be willing to help us?”

“That’s really more the province of a shaman. As a druid, I don’t have any spells that will allow me to contact spirits.”

-Didn’t Donovan give me a letter of recommendation for a shaman, too?

“Llyr, Donovan also gave me a letter for a shaman that he knows. If I go there, I can probably learn to summon spirits, and maybe I can learn something that will separate Lynnfes from Luhan.”

“That would take more time than we have. Once Lynnfes gains control of the smith’s body, which will be soon, we will have a much tougher fight against him. Such a fight could easily end in our deaths, which may not mean much to a freedman, but I only have this one life and I don’t intend to sacrifice it for one I don’t know, no matter how good of a man he might be.”

“Could you stall him somehow? Maybe you could put him in a state of suspended animation which prevents Lynnfes from gathering power?”

Getting into the planning now, even if he was still clearly unconvinced, Llyr replied “I have a spell that can put a target in a coma. However, the state of suspension can’t be maintained for long – the person in the coma can’t survive like that indefinitely – they’ll die within a few months from lack of food or water.”

“That’s fine. I think the shaman is close enough that I can get there and bring them back, within a month. Do we have a plan?”

“Fine. I’ll give it a shot. I don’t like the idea of killing an innocent, either, you know. But, if you’re not back, or if you fail, you’re going to have to help me. I’m not certain I can do it on my own.”

“Agreed. So this is the plan: …”

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