“You know,” Cambrin was saying as we came back into the Herbararium, “I think this will do quite nicely.” He held a glossy white pearl up at eye level. It was large, especially in his smaller gnomish fingers. As it caught the flickering lantern light it shimmered. It was perfectly smooth and round.
“And this?” Ceylas said, raising one of the larger feathers she’d snagged from the owl.
Cambrin glanced at her and grinned. “Yes, that looks like a fine feather.” He tilted his head as he took it from his sister, then glanced at me. “Shall we try it?”
“On the hat!” Ceylas insisted, tugging at my haversack.
I chuckled. “Slow down,” I said as I tugged the latch at my shoulder so the sack could drop to our feet. I reached inside and pulled the hat free.
Merideth had already cleared a small space on her counter. Cambrin took the hat from me and placed it on the counter. “I want to preserve my magic so I’m going to take time to ritual cast. Give me ten minutes, please,” Cambrin said. He took the stool Ceylas had been sitting on earlier and positioned himself. He drew his thieves’ tools from his backpack and set about positioning the small mirror so it caught light. With the pair of pliers he held the pearl, letting the light glimmer on the surface as he hummed a phrase of words under his breath.
Ceylas quickly grew bored. She handed me the rest of the feathers she’d taken from the owl. I tucked them into the pouch I’d kept from the chest we’d opened yesterday. Cambrin had taken the larger of the two pouches. He’d said he had something in mind for it but he hadn’t told us any more than that.
Now, Ceylas wandered back outside. I hoped she wasn’t planning to head back to the tree but she’d been growing restless so hopefully the fresh air outside would help.
I stood beside Cambrin, watching the process. There wasn’t all that much to see really. He wove the fingers of his free hand around the pearl and turned it in the light so that the soft glow shimmered on every part of the sphere’s surface.
“Watch it carefully,” Merideth whispered to me. She kept her voice low so as not to disturb the magic user in his ritual. “If you observe carefully, you’ll see how he’s using the light and the incantation to charge the pearl with arcane power.”
It took what must have been a minute, maybe two, before I could see traces of purple energy begin to weave like nets around the pearl. As more time passed the white of the pearl became fully submerged in the purple luminescence. It gave off a smell as well. It was slightly acrid, like the ash that remained after burning incense.
After several minutes, and no further change to the density of purple energy swirling around the pearl, Cambrin picked up the feather Ceylas has given him. He dropped it on the pearl and it hissed as it shriveled, melting into a goo before sizzling away. It gave off a fetid stench but Cambrin didn’t seem to notice. He focused on the combination until the feather had completely melded with the pearl. Then he raised his now empty hand to the goggles that rested on his head.
I’d never seen him actually wear these before. They looked like some cool steampunk or gas welding goggles. I’d assumed it was just part of his aesthetic. It made him look cool, and techy. But I realised they must actually serve a purpose as he drew them down over his eyes. He settled them in place then used his thumb to flick open a latch that lifted a small cap from a pocket-like segment between the two eye-peices. He guided the pearl into the pouch, positioning it over his third eye. It began twirling in place in the glass-fronted centrepeice.
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Cambrin put the pliers down and picked up the hat. With his eyes closed he focused on the object in his hands. His lips continued to move, incanting the word of the spell over and over. His voice rose until we heard the strange word, “Aithint.” Then he fell silent.
I glanced at Merideth as the silence continued. She lifted a finger to her lips and tipped her head to show I should wait, and watched.
The final minute of the spell passed. Cambrin sat, silent and still. The pearl continued to spin, slowing and slowing until eventually it was completely white again, and still. Cambrin’s eyes fluttered open. Beneath the goggles there was a gleam of insight in his eyes.
“Remarkable,” he whispered, his voice rich with awe. Then he smiled, turned to me and grinned. “I’ve never done that before,” he said. Which I took to mean both Jake and Cambrin. It was one thing to think about casting identify as a player, but quite another to experience the process. At the table identifying an item involved being handed its item card so we could read what it did. But as I thought about the process of coming to know that information, just ‘knowing’ it, the whole process seemed much more mystical.
“What did you learn?” I asked.
“Let us complete our business with Merideth and then seek out Ceylas. She will wish to know about this object.” He turned to Merideth who was beaming.
“Clearly the pearl suits your purpose,” she stated. “I am pleased. So that will be one hundred gold coin. Was there anything else I can help you with today?”
“Do you have potions of healing?” he asked.
“I currently have three in stock, and a potion of greater healing.”
“How much would those cost?”
“Well,” she said, drawing her ledger back onto the counter. “The potion of greater healing is three-hundred and fifty gold pieces. The potions of healing are seventy a piece.”
I swallowed, realising this whole adventuring thing was going to be a pricey gig. Sure, we’d managed to each claim a dozen platinum in our trip yesterday but just the three basic healing potions would set us back twenty-one platinum. I turned to Cambrin, “I don’t have the coin for all three, but perhaps if we combine our funds?”
He nodded. He’d already drawn ten platinum out to cover the cost of the pearl, he drew a further two platinum and ten gold. I sighed, realising the pearl had already left him pretty tapped. I drew out my own coin laying twelve platinum and nineteen gold beside his two and ten. That gave us one-hundred and sixty-nine gold worth. Cambrin added one more gold to round us up to one-seventy.
“We’re still forty short for the third potion of healing,” I said, frowning at the stack of coin that pretty much accounted for everything we had.
Merideth, who had been watching us carefully count out the coin was also frowning. The soft ice of her irises gleamed in the lantern light. They were sharp and intelligent as she eyed us both. I could sense her weighing up something in her mind.
“Will you be doing a fair bit of adventuring, do you think?” she asked Cambrin.
“I think we will,” he said. “And I’m sure as coin allows we’ll be returning to you to stock up regularly.”
“We could also, possibly, seek out any components you might need for your potion making while we’re venturing into dangerous spaces,” I added, trying to sweeten the pot.
She tilted her head, considering, and I heard the swirl of dice in my head. (Persuasion: help advantage: 17+2 = 19) “Given you’re spending well with me today, I’ll accept the promise of ongoing repeat and loyal business with me and offer you three potions of healing for the one-hundred and seventy gold you have.” She nodded, satisfied with her decision. “Ongoing, repeat, loyal,” she repeated fixing each of us with a firm eye. Cambrin and I both nodded our agreement.
Satisfied, Merideth turned to draw three glass potion bottles from the shelf behind the counter. They were decorated in iron filigree which I realised offered the glass a modicum of protection from breakage. Inside swirls red liquid twirled with sparkles that looked like glimmers of sunlight.
“Thank you, Mistress Merideth,” I said, dipping my head at her as a show of respect. I took up the bottles, carefully putting each one into my haversack. After pulling the pack back over my shoulders I headed outside with Cambrin, hat in hand.