Soul Bound

1          Soul Bound

1.1        Finding her Feet

1.1.4      An Intriguing City

1.1.4.8    I screen

Into the room stepped a weather beaten man in his 60s, body still strong and spine still upright. With a clear air of authority he said a few words, panic subsided, and people left or started picking up the pieces. Rather than mage robes, he was wearing a blue silk shirt under a leather sailor’s tunic. He had a far look in his eyes, but smile lines beside his mouth indicated he had a kindly side. He wasn’t smiling now, though, as he weighed the master of apprentices.

“Master Andreas, is the journeyman dead?”

Andreas: “Yes, Grand Master. Journeyman Pietro was level 25. We’ll preserve his things for him, and he’ll be back to collect them in an hour or two. A little experience lost, but no worse for wear. Probably be a bit grumpy, though.”

Explanations followed, and Massimo came over to Kafana, healed her, and gave her a comforting hug. “Remember what I said this morning.” he whispered in her ear, “For now, listen a lot and speak only when you need to. You are not to blame, but there are some who don’t like priests, and they may look for an opportunity to blame you anyway. Let me do the talking.”

The man in charge finally turned to Kafana.

“Madame Kafana, allow me to introduce myself. I am Bernardo Nafaro, late captain of the galleon San Isidoro out of port Savada, and currently serving as Grand Master Water in the Mage Tower of Torello.”

She gathered herself to return the courtesy properly, damned if she’d be intimidated.

“Captain Nafaro, I am the questing spirit Madame Kafana Sincero, acknowledged personal friend of Lord Claudio Landi, chosen of Cov and apprentice of Torello’s Sanctum Guardian Suor Isabella, apprenticed also to Columbina, the chief cook at the Speckled Dove. I am very pleased to meet you.”

Nafaro grinned broadly, flashing white teeth that contrasted with his darkened skin. “And also a lady of dignity and courage, I perceive.”

“Alas, they are all that is left to me. I came here seeking to learn to be more in control of the outcomes, when I use my voice to cast reinforcement magic. And now I think I shall be lucky if Master Andreas allocates me a mentor who will let me so much as touch a doorknob.”

“A questing spirit, you say?” he turned briefly to Massimo, who was hovering protectively behind Kafana. “She is a busy person?”

Massimo vigorously gestured with his hands: “Absurdly so. I have not stopped running since Suor Isabella detailed me to guide her first thing this morning, and I have still to get her to the orphanage near Mud Gate in Basso by 4 bells of the Afternoon. She has not even stopped to eat!” the expression on his face revealed to all his opinion of how dire that was.

Nafaro nodded understandingly, and turned back to her:

“Then let me repair this tower’s reputation of hospitality. Andreas, I leave tidying up and reporting this mess to you. I shall take on all responsibility for seeing that Madame Kafana receives appropriate training for her magics. Follow me, if you please.”

And, with that, he led her out back to the foyer. Despina smiled to her as they passed.

“Just stand anywhere inside the circle with the intention of following me” he said, then stepped in and vanished.

They arrived in a small dining room. A server appeared immediately at Nafaro’s side with three menus as they sat down. There were no prices listed by the dishes, just the magical properties they were enchanted with. At her hesitation he reassured her. “One of the privileges of being a Grandmaster is being allowed to invite guests to dine here free of charge. I recommend getting something with enhancements to clear thought, as we’ll discuss your options after eating. Don’t worry about time, I can make sure you don’t have to walk to your appointment. You won’t miss it.”

She relaxed and studied the menu for a minute or two, before picking a chicken salad for her main. Looking at the comprehensive list of deserts, she was slightly surprised.

“I see you have sorbet, but no ice cream or gelato. Are they not popular here?”

“Ice cream? What’s that? I’ve not heard of it, and I’ve visited ports in four of the six inhabited regions of the world.”

“It is a dessert I rather like. If I ever get around to cooking it, I’ll save you some.”

The server came to take their orders, and over the meal Nafaro talked about far off lands, and about how magic differed between places. He explained that the approach taken in Torello to teaching magic was to divide it into 16 disciplines, according to which two elemental attunements were most important for that sort of magic.

She remembered doing well in water, order and light, with some in chaos and fire, so she asked which disciplines those pairs corresponded to, and how high she could expect to go in each. From the resulting discussion she gathered that he didn’t entirely approve of the Torellan approach, though he didn’t directly criticise it.

Many people around the city were capable of amateur casting in one discipline. To be accepted at this tower required proof of the ability to do so in two disciplines. Journeymen had to demonstrate familiarity with three disciplines and competence at one. Masters must be acknowledged as being competent at two, and produce a masterwork of high standard.

High Masters were the experts and trouble-shooters that others called on when things went wrong. They were expected to achieve Mastery in at least three disciplines and conduct original research. By tradition, the Torello tower limited their numbers to 64, though of course there were High Masters from other cities. The Grandmaster of an element was the mage acclaimed by the annual grand council of High Master mages as being the very best at using that element. There could only be 8 of them, and currently there were 6.

In past times there had been Archmages, who were not tied to cities, but roamed the whole world. The most recent one, Archmage Elymas, had been competent at 9 disciplines, an expert in 3 of them and the very best at 2 of those. He’d died 80 years ago, and there hadn’t been once since.

After the meal was cleared away, Captain Nafaro turned formal.

“Kafana, as I see it, you have four options.”

“Firstly, you could take the path normal for mages in Torello. Let the master of apprentices allocate you to a master from order-water. He will expect you to live in the Novicarium building for the first year or two, and dedicate all your time to attending lectures, when not doing chores for the senior mages or administration. You will get two days off a week, Racday and Zerday. You’ll learn a lot about theory, and many different ways to cast magic, from drawing pictures to using herbs. You can even attend lectures at the university - we have a mutual arrangement. It isn’t a bad life, though scions of noble houses complain.”

“Secondly, you could seek mentorship elsewhere. There are masters in the city you could hire as tutors. Singing is a more common means of casting in Iberia than it is here, but you might find a tutor who uses that as their primary means of casting. Worst case, you could even take ship abroad.”

“Thirdly, you could try to go over the head of the master of apprentices, and plead to the council that an exception be made for you on the grounds that you have other calls upon your time. I don’t rate your chances highly. Too many voices on the council who are dubious about the whole idea of summoning questing spirits, because it is too similar to the shadow-fire discipline of diabolism, which in the past has devastated whole cities. Some mages even go so far as to claim that the deities don’t actually exist, or that they are just powerful devils.”

“Lastly, if you’d be willing to trust me, I could take you on as an apprentice myself. I have many demands upon my time, so I won’t be available quite as often as most Masters would be, and even my friends would call me ‘stubborn’ and ‘untraditional’. But I will be willing to take into account the demands you have upon your time, strange though they may be.”

“Do you have any further questions you’d like to ask? I’m not in a rush. If you want to take more time and come back another day when you are ready to make a decision, that would be entirely understandable.”

Kafana thought for a moment.

“I am ready to make a decision now, but I want to tell you something and ask you one question before I do.”

“I am here at Cov’s invitation, but I am not alone. There are five other questing spirits that arrived with me, who are allied with me in common purpose. I wish to tell you what that common purpose is, so you know what end you will be aiding if you choose to aid me. Our common purpose is to free people’s minds, open them to the possibility of there being more than two solutions to most problems, because we believe that by doing so we will aid them in making this a better world. Also, this ring I am wearing is an artifact from Francis the Navigator. It provides a boost to my attunement to water, and I suspect in hindsight that it was this that was responsible for the measuring sphere exploding, not any particular merit of my own.”

“The question I wish to ask is somewhat impertinent, for which I apologise in advance. And perhaps the answer is obvious to someone born here, but it is better to have these things stated rather than assumed. What is it that you get out of offering me an apprenticeship? You are kind, yes, but that does not explain these lengths.”

He laughed in delight and turned to Massimo. “Is she always this modest?”

Massimo replied, thoughtfully, “She can be tactful, but with people she trusts she is breathtakingly straightforward. Lord Landi granted her the name ‘Sincero’ and that understates the case. She is direct as a battering ram, charging fearlessly and giving of herself without sparing. It is why Cov adores her so much. She is going to change the world or die trying, because she will not compromise with evil.”

She glared at Massimo.

“She also has a temper.” he added.

Nafaro addressed her: “Then let me avert your annoyance. I offer you an apprenticeship not out of charity, but from self-interest. I like seeing the status quo stirred up a little. Put it down to my water nature, but I don’t like inflexibility. I don’t want everything shattered and all order destroyed, like chaos wants. But evolutionary change and improvement, diversity to try new things; that I don’t want to see stifled. I think I shall enjoy your company very much, especially if it challenges my assumptions in a thoughtful way. My reputation, which is a bit roguish won’t suffer - if anything it will be enhanced. And, who knows, I might get some ice cream out of it.

[Do you wish to spend 1 skill point, to advance to the “apprentice” stage in the skill “Mage”?]

{Yes please, System.}

[You are now apprentice in three different professions. Good luck, Kafana]

{Thank you, System.}

Wait, what? She shook her head. Think about that later.

“Ah, well. Ice cream would explain it. Thank you Captain Nafaro. I accept your most generous offer.”

[Title “Mage” acquired.]

[Skill “Mage” acquired.]

[Skill “Mage” has reached level 2.]

[Skill “Mage” has reached level 3.]

[Skill “Mage” has reached level 4.]

[Skill “Mage” has reached level 5. You have attained the “apprentice” stage.]