The merchants approached Kaitlyn in the morning to stay for a few days. This prompted Kaitlyn to send a Fapallo to the satyr village asking them to send her more essentials like flour and salt. When they came inside for breakfast, she asked the dark elven warriors for similar requests, asking for them to deliver a message to Haytham. The dark elves nodded as they resumed their escort of the evil wendigo towards their village.

The satyrs brought her some ground flour late that afternoon, along with some of their own trade goods to bargain with the merchants. The common room became a bit turbulent as they dickered and Kaitlyn had to step in once, using her magic hands to separate a merchant and satyr who had turned “bargain” into “insult” one another.

Fortunately, one of the benefits of a large amount of magic mean Kailtyn’s magic hands were strong. She was able to lift each of the people trying to argue into the air and carry them outside where she dropped them unceremoniously on the ground. She stood in the doorway with her hands on her hips.

“When you are ready to stop acting like children and get back to business you may come inside,” Kaitlyn said, “until then you are to play in the mud like little boys do.”

The others inside burst into laughter at her scolding and when the pair came back in they were red in the face and much more polite. Once she saw they were behaving, Kaitlyn quietly had one of her hands deliver fresh bread to each table. She would not allow anyone to start drinking until they finished their haggling in the afternoon.

Kaitlyn was disappointed that Haytham failed to arrived that evening with the requested fruits and extra ale. However, no one complained at the simple fare and she found herself busy enough that it was only in passing she was able to even remember the request.

Do-yun, or Jee as he was known in the common room, stayed for two weeks. During this time, Master Garthis came three times. Thinking Do-yun was only a four-tailed kitsune, the mage was polite but not obsequious. He delighted in the adjustments Do-yun had made to the illusion spell.

“I’ve never had the opportunity to work with a kitsune,” Master Garthis said, “I love the efficiency that glyph adds. Is that something you figured out or something you were taught?”

“I adapted it after an encounter with an especially vicious illusionist attempted to kill me with the other kind of illusion,” Do-yun said.

“Oh, the rare kind,” Master Garthis said, “I’ve never seen it in use except under very controlled circumstances. Can you tell me more?”

“Wait,” Kaitlyn interrupted, “other kind of illusion?”

“Yes,” Do-yun nodded, “would you like me to explain Master Garthis?”

“Please,” Kaityn’s master waved for the kitsune to take the lead.

“The kind of illusion you have been taught is about fooling the senses externally,” Do-yun said, “it tricks the way of the light and smells and touch. It is something like an artist working on a painting only using all the senses. The other kind of illusion is…. well I would use the word evil.”

“It has some purposes which aren’t evil,” Master Garthis protested. “Why I’ve seen the Masters at the University of…”

“They are few,” Do-yun interrupted, “and even those that might be the exception are questionable in my opinion.”

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“Why?” Kaitlyn asked.

“The second kind of illusion actually implants the sensations directly into a person’s mind,” Do-yun said, “many a scholar argue it isn’t actually illusion at all, it’s mind control.”

“You can’t control an unwilling mind,” Master Garthis protested, “that has been confirmed by the gods themselves.”

“That doesn’t mean someone being implanted with false images and sensations aren’t controlling a mind of sorts,” Do-yun said.

“You take such a harsh view of it!” Master Garthis said. “I haven’t studied it myself, I’ve never had occasion and I don’t have anyone to practice with… perhaps you are right that it isn’t a very ethical form of magic. I know the few times I’ve seen it used it has been a last resort to restore sanity or maintain peace by trapping people within a labyrinth of their own mind.”

“It sounds…. awful,” Kaitlyn said.

“It is,” Do-yun said. “The sorcerer I fought used it to try to keep me from approaching him. One the reasons it can be so pernicious is that the commands can be vague, so a spell saying ‘torture his loved ones’ can draw images from the victim’s own mind. It takes more power than determining the images yourself, but it is a level beyond what the method Master Garthis taught you can do.”

“That is…. that is possible?” Kaitlyn felt shocked.

“Yes,” Do-yun said, “it is an uncommon practice and most mages learn more the defenses than they do the attacks.”

Kaitlyn turned to her master, “Can I learn these defenses?”

“You don’t need them,” Master Garthis said, “the house definitely gives you vast protections against such invasions.”

“I’m not sure I’d say vast,” Do-yun said, “but if you are inside this house it would probably take someone near the immortal power to crack the defenses.”

“Shouldn’t I still learn it?” Kaitlyn asked, “someday I plan to be able to travel again.”

“We will get there,” Master Garthis assured her. “You have come far, but your control and the complexity of your spells is still growing. You have the focus now, but spells which provide defenses are exponentially more complex than the ones I’ve taught you so far.”

“It is the duty of your master to provide protections to an apprentice while they are in training,” Do-yun said. “Your master gets to be lazy by letting you stay in this place and have it do the protecting for him.”

“Lets,” Master Garthis rolled his eyes, “I would have brought her to my manor years ago to train her properly if I could.”

“It is an interesting method to see the apprentice living alone and self-sufficient in their survival,” Do-yun said, “if I ever take another apprentice, I may follow a similar path. It has provided her with interesting experiences she would not achieve otherwise. And certainly if the apprentice is not a child, this prevents much of the fighting about independence.”

“Ah, but there is also the issue that many an apprentice would wish to go and experiment,” Master Garthis said, “as her master, I don’t have to worry… much… that Kaitlyn will experiment and get herself killed.”

“You have to worry at all?” Do-yun looked surprised.

“I told you I was in a magical state all fall and winter,” Kaitlyn said, “Master Garthis had no idea if I would live or die.”

“It was less than an ideal experiment,” Master Garthis grunted a little, “and I will thank you not to do it again.”

“Not willingly,” Kaitlyn agreed.

“No! That is not what we agreed on you furball!” shouting interrupted the lesson and Kaitlyn stood to separate the merchant from a werewolf.

Rashir was baring his teeth slightly and stepped back when Kaitlyn moved between the werewolf and the human. The merchant did not and Kaitlyn used two mage hands to pull him away. She glared at them both and asked, “What could you possibly be arguing about?”

“This…” the merchant stuck an accusatory finger towards the werewolf. Rashir growled deep in his throat.

Kaitlyn narrowed her eyes and said, “Are you going to call names again Master?”

The merchant looked at her and suddenly seemed to remember what happened the last time someone called names. He ground his teeth and said, “customer, I was going to call him customer Mistress.”

“Good,” Kaitlyn nodded, “Now, I suggest you both step back a moment and consider whether you wish to trade or fight. If you would like to go outside and play, I will escort you outside. Otherwise I expect you to be polite to each other. And Rashir, you absolutely know better than to threaten the peace of my house.”

The werewolf looked mortified to be called out. Kaitlyn knew he valued the tavern and access to others he got here. His people were not welcome everywhere. She wasn’t sure whether the merchants knew they were werewolves, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to find out. If the merchants found out because one of them shifted angry…. it could turn very quickly into more than just name calling.