There were many perks to being a mage.
For instance, whenever Tor Moraine and his troops had to set up camp, Tor used an enchanted tent that set itself up or tore itself down when he spoke the appropriate command words. Meanwhile, his men had tents of the boring, non-magical variety, which required old-fashioned elbow grease to be built.
Sure, Tor could have created enchanted tents for his men as well, but Bethe assured him that the extra work was good for them. It had something to do with military discipline and self-reliance. Besides, it was also a smart idea to occasionally remind his people who the boss was.
There were many perks to being the Lord of Agisgrad, as well.
The interior of Tor's tent was quite spacious. It was so spacious, in fact, that it was split into two 'rooms' separated by curtains. In what passed as the bedroom, there was a large, round bed surrounded by a canopy of diaphanous material. The canopy's original purpose was to protect the sleeper from insects, but that was rendered unnecessary by the tent's bug-zapping ward, which fried any insect that tried to get in. The tent's temperature was also magically regulated, so no matter how hot or cold it was outside, on the inside it was always nice and cozy. Because of the tent's amenities, Tor never had to rough it when he was away from home.
In the tent's other room was a table big enough to sit six people. Tor used this table for meetings. He also used it as his desk for reading or to compose missives to Lady Lucinda, the woman who kept Agisgrad running like a gnome-built machine in his absence.
Against one of the tent's canvas walls was one of the most important things that Tor brought with him on his adventures: his wizard workstation. It was a multi-tiered table upon which all sorts of supernatural paraphernalia were placed, like the apparatuses used in alchemy, a small chest filled with precious gems used for divination, and a medium-sized cauldron. Wizards and witches had all sorts of uses for a cauldron.
Behind the workstation was a shelf filled with books. Tor called this collection his 'mobile library', and they represented only a tiny fraction of the written knowledge he had amassed over the years. The rest of his collection was, of course, back in his personal library in Agisgrad.
His wizard's workstation, bed, tables, chairs, and the rugs that covered the tent floor were all stored in a pocket dimension when Tor didn't need them. When he did need them, each object could be summoned and set in their proper place through the casting of a simple spell.
Tor entered his tent with Bethe close behind. Unclasping his cloak, he swept it off his shoulders and hung it on a cloak rack that stood beside the entrance flap. Bethe, who was clad in armor and armed with at least one visible weapon, had nothing to hang on the rack, which was already filled with an assortment of different colored cloaks.
"Have the men been instructed to stay away?" Tor asked as he removed the pouch that contained Zenzephiriil's fairy dust from his belt.
"Of course, my Lord." Formal as usual, Bethe stopped just past the entrance to stand guard. Tor cast a sidelong glance her way. He smiled, for he was amused by how she kept up the appearance of only being the captain of his guard. The fact that they were lovers was the worst-kept secret in Agisgrad.
He knew that she would relax after they spent some time alone. She always did.
Tor beckoned her over. "Come, have a closer look. You know how much I enjoy an audience." With a playful grin on his face, he turned his attention towards his workstation and the ritual he was about to perform. That grin gradually disappeared while he worked.
Most of the pouch's contents were poured into a special, glass vial. After plugging the vial with a cork, he brought it up towards his face to have a closer look. The fairy dust within sparkled with fey energy. To Tor, those sparkles were a promise of arcane possibilities. As he learned tonight, fairies weren't especially difficult to locate, and convincing one of them to part with her dust proved to be more simple - as well as much more fun - than he expected. However, according to his research, their dust was a difficult component to work with. Only the most capable of mages could try.
Thankfully, Tor was supremely confident in his own abilities. Since he had such an easy time getting the dust, surely he'd have an easy time using it, too, right? He was excited to use it for the first time tonight, and he also looked forward to experimenting with it in the future.
Bethe approached, choosing to stand behind him, to the side, and with plenty of room between them. "You never explained why you needed the fairy's dust, my Lord."
"I didn't? How careless of me. Please give me a moment and I'll fix that oversight."
Tor put the vial away in a cabinet that contained all sorts of rare alchemical ingredients and spell materials. On a rack was the tooth of an adolescent dragon from Atia, a continent far to the east. In a jar filled with alcohol were the eyeballs plucked out of an abyssal horror. Tor nearly lost his mind when he and Bethe vanquished that living nightmare. Hanging like jewelry off a small stand were the braided hairs of a Ramposian drop bear, one of the nastiest little fuckers that Tor had ever encountered. Drop bears got their names because they looked like little bears that dropped onto the faces of anyone unfortunate enough to sleep under one of their trees. It was because of them and creatures like them that Tor refused to sleep outdoors.
That was only a small sample of what was inside his workstation. And there was so much more locked away in his mage lab back at home.
From the top shelf of the cabinet, Tor withdrew a piece of white wood. It was about one-and-a-half inches in width, seven inches in length, sanded smooth and varnished to a glossy sheen. The handle, which was the thicker end, was covered in intricate carvings of leafless tree branches. The tapered shaft was mostly featureless except for a few symbols carved near the tip.
The piece of wood was a wand, one of the magical implements that Tor used most often in battle. While Bethe and her soldiers used pikes, bows, and swords in combat, he used wands, rings, and other items of power instead. Almost every article of clothing he wore served one or more mystical purposes.
"I need the fairy dust to perform an enchantment ritual," Tor explained as he handed the wand to Bethe, inviting her to inspect it. "And this fine piece of wood is what I will imbue with fey energy. I had it crafted by the finest woodworker in all of Agisgrad." He probably didn't need to brag about that last bit, because by now Bethe should have already known that he always used the finest items in his enchantments.
"Once the ritual is complete, I'll have a brand new Wand of Weakness." He spoke as excitedly as a boy who was about to open his birthday presents.
Following a thorough inspection, which included running her calloused thumb tip over the branches carved into the handle, Bethe handed the wand back to him. "Who or what will you be using this wand on?"
"Maybe I'll use it on you, dear Captain. I'll sap your strength so I can have my way with you whenever I wish."
Bethe frowned at him. But after a few seconds of staring at her lord's twinkling eyes and smile, she couldn't help but giggle. Tor was sure that the warrior woman didn't giggle like that for anyone but him.
Chuckling, Tor set the wand down to one side of his workbench, then found some chalk. "Tomorrow, we will make our way to the actual target." He used the chalk to draw a circle on the center of the bench. Although he drew it free-hand, the circle ended up looking perfect, because Tor and other wizards practiced drawing circles
a lot
.
"Can you tell me more about this target so I can prepare my men accordingly?"
"We'll be hunting a witch!" he exclaimed as he began to write symbols around the arcane circle. "An orc witch, to be precise, holed up somewhere in the mountains to the north and east of our present position. According to my sources, she is quite powerful. I suspect she'll have all sorts of eldritch nasties protecting her lair, so we will need to plan accordingly."
"Understood, my Lord. May I ask why are you targeting this witch? Does she have the Lyre of Tears? Or does she know where it is?"
"The latter. She should know its location, as well as other information that will be useful to us. And it's a safe bet that she will not share that information, willingly. Starting tomorrow morning, make sure our troops are given those items of protection against dark magic that I had the Mage Collective create."
"It's already done, my Lord. They're now equipped with the belts that protect against death magic, and they've each been given those potions that bolster their wills against mind control. I took the liberty of assigning these items to them on our first day away from Agisgrad."
Tor turned to her, one of his white brows arched. "Oh? And how did you know to do that, Captain?"
"Instinct, perhaps?" A sly, little smirk tugged at a corner of Bethe's full lips. "Or perhaps I'm able to anticipate your orders because I know you better than anyone."
