Three days later, Tahir stood in one of the fields behind the Redclouds’ HQ that would normally be used for the training and practice for members. Currently, it had been reserved for a demonstration that would determine whether or not Tahir would advance to the third rank. Off to the side, three other Redclouds sat a short distance away from the edge of the field. Two of them were older men that wore red robes, executives of the branch that Tahir had seldom seen. The third was Esther, who looked on with a neutral expression.
“Right then. Let’s get this over with.” One of the executives said. “I expect interesting results, Tahir. Our scouts are confirming as we speak, but if your secondary report is to be believed, void spawn, hellhounds and bone golems are a measure beyond the capabilities of the average gold rank.”
“I had a good team.” In his report, Tahir didn’t mention anything about the lich or Neveroth. As far as anyone other than the trio and Callipho knows, they dispatched the void spawn, then went through the three floors of the ruin to find hellhounds, and a lot of undead. He also didn’t go into detail about treasure he found in the ruin, but the principle of the ‘finder’s fee’ was a major thing of the Redclouds. They didn’t care what you did with what you found as long as the mission got done. Extra scouts should be reaching the area that held the ruin now, assuming collective mages hadn’t caught wind of the ruin site and teleported there beforehand.
“Wonderful. Well we’ve prepared something for you that you should be able to accomplish well enough on your own. Especially with your recent history. Wouldn’t you say so Esther, dear?”
Esther gave a nod. “I am looking forward to seeing how you’ve grown. Are you ready to begin?”
Tahir nodded. He could hardly recall the details from a year ago, it might have even been on this very field, but when first joined the Redclouds and took part in some training with the members, they tricked Tahir into thinking Ester was a normal sparring partner, and tricked Ester into thinking that Tahir had a gold ranking and wanted to test his skills against someone of mithral rank. The result was to be expected. He was flat on his back before he could even process the fight had started. He imagined he’d get a similar result now, but after actually having a change to exchange a few blows with her. “I’m ready. Let's do this.”
The trial used illusion magic to create something based on the memories and records of Redclouds over the years, to create things for Redcloud members to fight or otherwise deal with. The illusion magic was particularly potent to the one taking the trial, and would hurt and incapacitate them if they weren’t prepared, but not kill them. The magic started, creating a formless shape that carved itself into being. Tahir let out a laugh as he saw the target of his trial, and looked on to his judges incredulously. “What, seriously?”
“That you respond so positively is a good sign. Let us hope you follow through. Begin.”
With a smirk on his face, Tahir called into his soul the fire and air spirits, and drew his blade as he rushed the spectral troll prepared for his trial.
###
A further three days past his trial, Tahir stepped inside the mage collective’s building. Despite their apologies, Callipho insisted they spend the money they got from the Redclouds on themselves. 500 gold pieces for the platinum mission. Meti and Theo further refused, pushing for Tahir to use it at the leyline crossing to bind with another spirit. If the sponsorship fell through, or if it afforded them some time before the mission that it was arranged for, the three of them would brave the wilds in search of that unclaimed leyline crossing - unclaimed in theory at least.
Despite the name of ‘unclaimed lands’, they were only unclaimed by any official country or kingdom. Elves were known to have their own nation in the north, though they refused to designate it, and several nomadic groups roamed around those lands. Likely one of them claimed the leyline crossing as their own, and while they didn’t plan to fight their way through if they were denied access, the prospect of just getting there was filled with danger. Another spirit couldn’t hurt as a way of preparation.
He made his way to the material supply store first, getting the usual amount for tier one spirit. The actual ritual went well, though he noticed a fair amount of people using the leyline crossing at the same time he did. It made him nervous; he definitely felt eyes on him as he drew up and went along with the ritual. A lack of disruptions and an unexpected choice of a spirit that flocked to him with the rest calmed him through the process, and he left the nexus of magical energy feeling much better than when he entered.
When he went back into the lobby, however, he found an unfamiliar figure waiting for him beside the desk. A middle-aged man who wore the dark blue robes of the collective, with a white trim that denoted a trusted and tenured member of the collective. A man with history it seemed. “Tahir, I presume? Congratulations on your recent promotion to gold rank at the Redcloud guild. I am Albanus Cyricus, perhaps you have read some of my work.”
Tahir’s stomach dropped, though he kept a straight face as he nodded to the mage. “A specific paper doesn’t come to mind, but I do recall the name. You are rather widely studied it seems.”
During their week or so of rest, Meti and Theo finally filled him in on their issues with the collective, but more specifically with Albanus. Meti met Theo while working under a mage named Ishaar Jelani, who studied Theo’s primordial soul and the effects the elements had on her body when they were close to - but not quite relapsing. He’d been on the cusp of coming to the same conclusion Tahir did, that Theo could balance out her elements by expelling them in the form of spells when she came close to a meltdown. Before they could explore that possibility, Ishaar died under mysterious circumstances, and Albanus went on to publish the work with a minor credit to the late mage. Since then, Theo has avoided the collective altogether. She essentially couldn’t continue the research there without Albanus getting involved in some way, shape or form. Meti has gotten offers, but vehemently refused to have anything to do with Albanus or his work.
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And now Tahir stood face to face with that same mage. Albunus’s hands clasped together as he spoke. “My reputation precedes me it seems. I sent a missive to the Redclouds, but since you are here personally, I would love to pick your brain about that theory you submitted in your report, my colleges abroad have reported that it might hold merit, and other Vudranian ruins have been discovered where they didn’t exist previously. I would love to know if anything you found within that ruin led you to the theory.”
“I see.” When Tahir wrote his report for the Redclouds, he submitted a theory that something with the magic that anchored the demiplane within the ethereal plane failed, sending it back to the material and creating the void-corruption in by being displaced from its original position. He didn’t think that other mages had read and were in the process of confirming his theory, but he couldn’t revel in the attention at that moment. He had to recognize this for what it was. A roundabout way of asking if he found any treasure in the ruin past the art objects and melted lumps of gold. “I’m afraid nothing in the ruin itself led me to that conclusion other than the sheer size of it. My theory was based on readings about planar magic and demiplanes that I’d done in the past. I’ve nowhere near the practical knowledge or mana pool to be able to test it.” He admitted.
“Very well. If you are willing to dive deeper into this theory, I would be more than happy to sponsor your future works. I believe we could do much together.” Albanus said.
“I’m flattered, truely, but I will have to decline.” Tahir replied simply. “I’ve applied for Redclouds’ most recent sponsorship already. I’m devoting my time towards making sure I qualify. Besides, I only submitted a preliminary theory. I’m confident you and your colleagues can follow up without my help.”
Tahir caught a flash of some other expression on Albanus’s face. Annoyance, anger, something along those lines, but it lasted for less than a second before the smile returned. “Very well, far be it from me to keep you from your calling. Should that sponsorship opportunity fall through, however, my offer still stands.”
With a smile, and a nod, Tahir turned and left the mage’s collective. Heading home, and periodically looking over his shoulder the entire time. Having met him now, Albanus didn’t seem like the kind of man who liked getting ‘no’ for an answer. Given what lengths Tahir knew him capable of going, he probably wanted to hide all of the new equipment that he got from the ruin until he left Esharia and came back. He could always claim that he bought or found them from elsewhere.
Fortunately, they elected to leave everything at Callipho’s shop. With all of them meeting there in the mornings for aura training, and Callipho being there most of the time anyway, it made for the safest place to store their valuables.
When he walked into his room, Tahir felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He looked around, and nothing seemed wrong at first, but he caught on to a couple inconsistencies with how he remembered the room. The rug he placed over the spots on the wood where he did the tier zero rituals - and subsequently burned the wood when he overtaxed them, revealed a small sliver of the blackened wood. He remembered keeping that covered to avoid people seeing the marks. Examining his room further, his bed had shifted slightly, as if someone had checked underneath for anything, and his usually neat notes were askew as well as in the wrong order than what he arranged.
Gods, they’d already been in his room. Maybe even while he talked to Albanus. Thankfully, he had no writings on the ruin and what he found there, but several pages worth of notes on his experiences with spirit summoning magic had been flipped through. They knew he was a spirit mage, and while the notes likely weren’t groundbreaking enough to steal, they could have easily been copied.
He sat at his desk for a long time, thinking about the best way to proceed. If they knew where he lived, they probably knew the places where he frequented. Could he expect Callipho’s shop to be raided next? Or Meti’s smithy? It almost felt like he needed to leave Esharia entirely to escape the collective’s influence.
I’ll ask the others what they think. He wouldn’t just cut and run of course. Especially not after their heartfelt response to him and not making fun of him crying over it. Besides, this was a grudge they already shared, and one that they continued to live in Balrech with for at least a year, so they’d likely have a way of dealing with it that he hadn’t. They just needed to hold out until the sponsorship’s deadline.
###
“Sorry. We should have warned you earlier that they might try something. I didn’t consider your own notes.” Meti, Tahir, and Theo paced along through their morning jog. The benefits for Tahir decreased significantly in terms of aura control, having done it for a couple of months already. The other two had much more to gain, and it still made for good exercise.
“That’s why I suggested we leave all our junk at master Callipho’s. He’s a little bit of a big shot, so they don’t really mess with him. It was the same way after…everything with Ishaar.” Theo kept pace with the others, but they’d learned that she could outspeed them for most of the run and still have plenty of aura when they made it back to the shop. “But you said you didn’t have anything worth publishing in your notes right? And they can’t say they know you’re a spirit mage without basically saying that they were the ones that broke in your room.”
“Doubtful.” Tahir replied. “There were others using the leyline crossing when I went to do the ritual, and at least a couple were watching me. They can say they figured it out because of that. And if I say no, or hells, probably the next time I go I’ll find they’ve doubled the price to access the leyline for non-trusted members or something.”
“Well, for the time being we won’t have to worry about that leyline crossing.” Meti said. “We can keep our work at Callipho’s. You can leave any more notes you make there, or with me if you’re concerned. The significance of new Vudranian ruins might have them be a bit more rough this time around, but I believe it will cease to be an issue once we leave Esharia.”
Keeping that in mind, a week passed. The group stayed around Callipho’s shop during the day, helping the alchemist with anything he needed and making sure they didn’t overstep. Tahir and Meti studied Zorhe’s spellbook for the easiest of spells that they could learn, while Theo continued to work on her aura control and reverse-engineered the potions they’d taken from the ruin - of which Callipho was glad to add to his own recipe book.
On the day that the gold ranked members who qualified for the sponsorship would be announced, all three of them made their way to the Redclouds’ building. To see exactly what their future would bring them.