"I'm much less useful than Felicia when it comes to casting spells. I'm very good at combat – even better now that I've been empowered just like her – but I have fewer spells and none of them can be used to heal or revivify. What use would Thule have for me? Or am I just there to act as an emissary to negotiate on her behalf before she arrives?"

He plucks off one of his hairs and gives it to Felicia as a scrying focus in the case she needs to cast it.

"Instantly is better than our best communication magic; Call Winged Messenger can be instant, but it can also take up to three months if it feels like it, and it takes a fair amount of resource to cast.

We don't have any reliable teleportation, either; we'd be hiking up the Trod from Seren, which is a kind of magical pathway where you don't get tired from walking and sleep is especially refreshing. If we do nothing but travel as fast as possible, two days to Temeschwar if I'm the slowest person, maybe another week to the Thule border through Hercynia and Skarsind; we'll probably want to hire Elias some locals to travel with in Temeschwar, he can pass for either a herald or a draughir and Temeschwar's the kind of place we can find some people who won't ask questions and will discourage anyone else from doing so either.

I should point Detect Magic at you, Felicia - you've probably got something we can pass off as an Eternal boon, you can brush off people being over-curious about it because it doesn't look actively blasphemous, and than can be how you do the diamond thing.

As for the Thule - being good in a fight is useful if they decide to push you, and you can find out what they might be interested in, and if they have anything you're interested in - then get yourself out again safely and regroup here if the answer is no, or call Felicia in if there's something there worth having. Having any novel magic at all should be good enough to get their interest and get you to someone who knows what they're talking about - other than power for its own sake, the thing the dragons are most interested in is interesting new magic, whether it's directly useful to them yet or not."

Sigh, walking. She was a street urchin once, walking isn't foreign to her, but she's been spoiled by the Bronze Orchard wizards Teleporting her everywhere she needs to go. 

"Is it that we'll be traveling together to Temeschwar, and then split up there, with the two of us going to Anvil and Elias continuing north on to Thule? And yes, I'd be fine with you casting Detect Magic on me. Some of your people were asking about my equipment yesterday – they have enchantments on them, although it's nothing fancy, so I don't think it'd be a problem."

Felicia accepts the hair, and gives him her Wand of Cure Light Wounds in return. Elias will have trouble using it, but it's better than nothing. She can heal herself just fine with magic.

"Understood. Is proselytizing illegal in Thule? We're not the proselytizing types, but your description of the dragons does seem like it would greatly interest Conrad, although He does have trauma regarding magical dictatorships. I believe I'll be able to handle myself so long as I have other people traveling with me. In this case, I think I'll take most of our gold coins after the diamonds have been bought – Felicia can make money through her spells, but I can't."

He stashes the wand on his belt.

"The Thule country's called Otkadov, Thule's the demonym. They'll care if you actively undermine their power base and not at all if you don't. I suppose they could make your life more difficult by selling your description and what you've been saying about gods to the Empire if they don't think they can get anything else out of you, so you might want to be a little careful on that account.

Yes, we'll travel to Temeschwar together, then hire Elias some bravos and split up there. It's not that there aren't religious types in Temeschwar, but we're much more likely to get away with things there than at Anvil. We'll get through there quicker if we can use some of the gold to hire the bravos, they love a bit of strange foreign currency, and that would cut down on the risk of running into someone nosy first.

Right, Detect Magic next."

Allegra steps a little closer to Felicia to cast; another thirty second long, repetitive speech about the Spider and the Web.

"That makes sense. It seems that Elias will be the one who'll have to travel more, so I can use our money to pay them. As for you, what compensation would you want for your time? You have already helped us a lot. I believe that you wanted us to reimburse you for the crystal mana you spent on the ritual on Elias yesterday. Oh, and you wanted the mental ability boosting spells, right?"

She also has a bunch of enchantments on her, but none of them are Winter.

Two of them are Night, one 8 and another 12, and the third is a Spring 12.

"What were the results?"

"Night eight and twelve, Spring twelve - that's good, we can easily pass the Spring one off as a healing effect and the Night ones could be covering other things, or interesting curses that explain away any weird behaviour. That looks fairly reasonable for someone who's had a serious run-in with an Eternal and got a bizarre but useful power from them. They're a bit low magnitude for that effect, but magnitudes can be weird when it comes to Eternal provided effects, so I think we're good; if you ask them not to, most people won't cast anything on you to start with, and those who do will be considered a bit rude by other people and probably not get much follow up.

I should maybe have tried the boosting spells before I started planning things! What exactly do they do, again? I seem to remember they had a short duration so I should plan to have something specific to do with them.

Mostly what I want is - my people here to be safe, and to benefit from this? This is a considerable opportunity, an entirely new realm with new magic - oh, we should try to attune a tuning fork to here before we get to Anvil, in case there's a conjunction right away and you have to hurry back to your world. I don't have a tuning fork but they should be readily available in Temeschwar, assuming we're talking about the thing you use for getting the right note on a musical instrument and not something more complicated.

Anyway. What I'm thinking overall is, right now everything is quite small potatoes; I want to see what we can, set up out of it? And then take a cut of that, rather than something up front - other than basic expenses, I'd like to replace the liao when we're in Temeschwar, for example."

"That's good. It's certainly much easier to notice your world's spells being cast – many of ours are undetectable if you fail to resist the effect.

Fox's Cunning boosts Intelligence, and Owl's Wisdom boosts Wisdom." She thinks for a moment about their research on caster levels. "At my current state, each spell will last nine minutes.

Sadly, it's not so simple. Planar tuning forks have the shape of mundane tuning forks, but they have a tiny amount of spellsilver in them that lets them attune to planar energies. I don't know how to make one even if I had spellsilver, though – that's a wizard thing. I could try learning how: I have some training in spellcraft and could try to derive it from first principles, but it will a struggle."

Her smile falters when Allegra proposes a cut rather than a flat fee, but it's reasonable for her to ask that.

"If you want to do profit-sharing, perhaps we can make an agreement to work together? You are already taking care of our cover story and being our guide, after all, so it makes sense. However, I'm not sure how that would work with you being with your...group. I don't know what the exact story is, but you seem to be this settlement's leader. You did say that you were a Vate earlier, and that that title carries status. Generally, we don't make agreements like that with anyone outside our church – it's somewhat against our principles – but I believe I can make an exception here, because of the circumstances. If we were to make an agreement, I'd prepare truth-magic so that we can trust each other."

"I don't think we even have spellsilver, but if we're lucky one of our magical materials will substitute; if not, we can get someone to teach you Night magic and you can almost certainly put together an arcane projection to create or prospect for it, maybe even consult the Azoth about it; those won't be quick, though.

I'm the Brand of the settlement, but I've got people who can run the place in my absence for a while; I'd want to check back at least once a season and make sure nothing is going wrong, but I've set them up to mostly run themselves these days, all I do is look imposing and meddle a bit.

I'm happy to repeat whatever you like under truth magic, I haven't had occasion to lie to you about anything yet, and hopefully I won't in future if we're going to work together. I'm not sure we know exactly what a profit sharing arrangement would look like yet; I must admit, my main motivation in all this is more to make sure the narrow-minded don't get a chance to squander the whole opportunity by kicking up a fuss about you, than anything else, but it'd be - negligent of me not to secure something more solid out of it."

"What is a Brand? I assume that's simply your title as a leader, but does it have other connotations or responsibilities I'm not seeing? If you need to stay in contact with your settlement, I could prepare a Sending for you once a week or once a fortnight so that you can be updated on happenings in your settlement. And yes, I do think it's best to hold off on making the agreement formally until we've actually verified that my revivification spell can work – I have no reason to think it wouldn't, though."

"What preparations do we need to make for travel to Temeschwar? It's only two days journey by foot, yes? Could we shorten that to a single day? Felicia can cast Lesser Restorations for us to ward away fatigue – it is an energizing spell. The two of us need to pray to prepare spells for the day, so it would be good for us to know what sorts of dangers or hazards we might expect in the journey so we can prepare appropriately.

Felicia's spells are more for support and healing, whereas I can only cast offensive spells."

"Brand does basically just mean leader - connotations are that people choose to follow you, you commit to putting their welfare above your own, and there's a ceremony," she vaguely gestures at the burn scar on her left cheekbone. "It doesn't mean that I have to report to anyone or even stay with a particular group, but I should make sure those who have chosen to follow me are provided for. It'd be good to check in once a fortnight, that sounds like enough to make sure no-one feels abandoned without them feeling like I'm crowding over their shoulder all the time.

I think Lesser Restoration will only do the same as the Trod will - it might let us get less sleep? I'm afraid I'm really not up to jogging all the way there these days, so it's going to take two days unless you can contrive some way around that limitation, and that's two whole days, walking at least fourteen hours in the day; we've left it a bit late already to make it in two days counting today.

It's a major route from Seren, and this area is dead quiet, so we'd be very unlucky to encounter anything dangerous on the journey; if we skirt around Seren rather than going through, which seems like it might be a good idea, I suppose we could encounter a wild boar or something; I'd expect to be able to do the journey on my own, and that's the only segment where I'd expect to even be wary.

When we get actually into Temeschwar, we'll need to be normally cautious for pickpockets and so on, especially because we want to hire less than entirely scrupulous help, but we all look like we can handle ourselves and I'm not expecting any real trouble.

If you've got anything that - causes fear, or makes people confused, or generally lets us easily get away from a situation - if we completely fail to stay out of people's way, someone gets nosy, we might want a way to put distance between ourselves and them before they can recover, in a way they will recover from entirely and not cause a big investigation. Serious injuries, people going missing, dead bodies on a main road attract a lot of attention."

"Lesser Restoration removes the fatigue caused by sleep deprivation, but it doesn't remove the body's need to sleep. I think it will have to be two days, then.

Why would it be a better idea to go around Seren rather than passing through it? Not that I'm doubting you – I'm just curious. We can handle ourselves adequately with regard to pickpockets and wild animals."

She smiles widely. "That's my specialty. My god has a deep connection with spells that befuddle or enthrall, indeed, one of my boons from Him is related to that. I have a spell that can make people act friendlier for a time, Charm Person, as well as other ones that are non-damaging but useful for getting out of sticky situations."

She relays to Allegra the spells she plans on preparing, as well as a description of what each one would do. She's preparing a wider spread of spells, since she's totally unfamiliar with the situation. It seems safe enough, but there's no reason not to fill up her spell slots. Unlike Allegra, she has to choose which spells she can cast and how many of each – Allegra's casting situation is more similar to the sorcerers of her world. She's setting aside two second-circle spell slots for the mind-boosting spells.

0: Stabilize, Purify Food and Drink, Mending, Enhanced Diplomacy
1: Command, Liberating Command, Cure Light Wounds x3, (Entangle)
2: Silent Still Charm Person x2, Hold Person, Owl's Wisdom, Fox's Cunning, (Barkskin)
3: Detect Anxieties, Detect Desires, Prayer, Protection from Energy, (Suggestion)
4: Cure Critical Wounds, Sending, (Confusion)
5: Breath of Life, (Wall of Thorns)

"We need an hour in order to pray, preferably someplace quiet. Would you mind us praying here? Praying is silent." It doesn't have to be, but generally the Damianite and Conradian clerics pray silently.

It's much simpler for Elias to think about what spells he ought to prepare. Not only does he have much fewer slots, he also only has offensive spells, for the most part. Still, he wanted to choose spells which are less likely to be lethal. He relays his plans to Allegra and Felicia.

1: Dark Whispers, Demand Offering, Hidden Diplomacy
2: Bull's Strength, Widen Aura

"I'm not sure Widen Aura is the best approach, all those first level spells sound very useful, do you have anything a bit more like them? I'm hoping to end up with nobody in your aura at all until we get to Temeschwar at least, if you've got anything Entangle-like you can pick up for that slot instead it would likely be more useful.

Obviously we'll mostly try not to be casting any of these, because I'm not sure we've got the best cover stories for all of them yet; we should work out on the road what we might want to sell in Temeschwar and how to cover for it?

Maybe I'll try to teach you some of our magic theory on the road when I've got the cognitive enhancers up, that sounds like a good way to try them out.

Yes, if you want to pray here while I go and make arrangements to be away for a little while... I'm sure I don't have to tell you this, but I do know where everything is in here, that sounds like the kind of thing I should tell people I don't know very well yet who I'm leaving in here unsupervised."

"Hm, I think I'll replace Widen Aura with Invisibility – Felicia doesn't get access to the spell at all. It would be useful if I need to scout, even though I'm not really suited to that role. Armor makes it hard to move around. Still, it's useful if you want to make the first hit unopposed in battle: unlike Greater Invisibility, regular Invisibility breaks if you try to attack someone. The spell is fragile like that.

Yes, it would be good for you to tell us more about this world's magic so that we can make adequate cover stories." He's not trained in stealth, but he is trained in disguise. A little bit. Not by much.

"I would love to learn magic theory from you. And no, we will not steal anything: we don't know what things are valuable in this world, and it would make you unwilling to help us. It wouldn't be in our best interests. It's bad for building trust. My truth spell is an area spell that affects everyone that enters its emanation, and it's also an enchantment, which means you can probably verify it's present using Detect Magic. When I cast that spell when or if we make our agreement, I can additionally attest that neither of us stole from you."

If there is nothing else to say, Felicia and Elias will pray for an hour and then come out when they're done.

Allegra nods, checks a timepiece in her bag, and heads out to let people know she's going travelling and find someone to receive messages. She's back promptly in an hour's time, with a backpack under a thick warm cloak as well as her satchel bag looking more full.

Felicia and Elias take ten minutes to unpitch their tent and fold it up. Elias carries most of the items.

"Is there anything else we ought to bring?" She notices Allegra's coat covering her backpack. They have coats in their bag – that's something you carry around with you when you're in Sarkoris Scar – but not full cold weather gear. It's not that chilly out, although she could see it getting that way soon, if they're traveling north.

"I can prepare three of Endure Elements tomorrow to protect us from cold weather. Does it get very cold here?"

"I've got food and water and so on for me, we can kit you out if you're missing anything you'll want in a couple of days away from civilisation, there are wayhouses but I'd rather avoid having to stop at one.

Here, not really cold - but we're heading north, and it'll start dropping cold at night when we get nearer Temeschwar. I tend to travel in a good cloak unless it's incredibly warm, I hate carrying a tent so I generally just sleep in it, the trods let you get away with that better than it would usually work.

Otkadov is basically a frozen wasteland all year round, they have to use a lot of magic to grow food; I suppose we might want to pick up more furs for Elias in Temeschwar if he normally relies on your magic?"

"I don't expect us to run out of food or water in two days, but Purify Food and Drink will help us survive in the wilderness if we do have to forage for anything. Still, I think that's just me being overly cautious.

Otkadov might want me after Elias is done talking with them, actually: one of my jobs at home is growing plants in heated greenhouses. The two of us also lived in a very northern place, where the ground was frozen most of the year. One of the spells my deity grants to me is the power to enrich soil and make it more productive. Actually, that might be where my Spring enchantment comes from. When you become a cleric, you gain access to a portion of your god's domains, and I am attuned to Damian's Plant domain. The realm of Spring is about plants, right?"

"Yes, that sounds like a good idea." Paladins get access to Endure Elements, but antipaladins don't. Ugh. So unfair. He wants to petition Conrad now to grant that specially to His antipaladins – He already gives Prestidigitation to His clerics."

The two of them are ready to head off and follow Allegra on the trail, standing about a pace behind her. 

"Yes, plant growth is generally Spring, although more wild plants than neatly cultivated ones - the farm ritual cycle starts in Spring but the ripening phase is Summer and the harvest is Autumn, if you tried to do the whole thing in Spring it'd be as good for the weeds as for what you actually wanted to grow.

That does sound like something that's worth offering the Thule though - relatively harmless and something they'll want very badly."

Allegra waves cheerily to a number of people who just happen to be hanging around near the road out of the Steading; it seems to be a popular spot for people who are obviously on some kind of subtle sentry duty to do some knitting, or climb trees.

The first part of the route is not a magical trod, but just a boring cart track through the forest, which meets up with a slightly larger track a little way in.

The walk is enjoyable so far. The weather is very pleasant and not cold, and there are plants all around her. Plants! Not just rock and snow everywhere.

She looks at the sentries for a while, but doesn't give them any extra attention. The both of them have their weapons shrunken and either sheathed or hooked on their belt.

"Yes, that's one of the bad parts about the spell. It's possible to control it to an extent, but the weeds will inevitably get some of it. We've found that it can increase productivity by about one-third above normal. It seems you have similar plant growth spells, or rather, rituals, too? Rituals are more expensive, right? Because they use crystal mana? The Plant Growth spell I know doesn't require material components, and I can cast it once a day, although it only applies to a half-mile radius each time. If it's a really big farm, I'll need several days to cover it all."

"Yes - it seems like you have a lot more spells without expensive components, almost everything we do is ritual magic that takes crystal mana to cast, and often multiple people working together to hit the magnitude.

We have a basic set of spells that everyone learns first - detect magic, create bond, operate portal - then there's a small set of combat spells, repel, entangle, paralyse, shatter, venom, weakness, empower. Then there's the healing set, heal, mend, purify, restore limb, and a couple of odd ones, night pouch and voice for the dead.

Everything else is a ritual. I think other countries might have a few different spells, but we've had a lot of people looking through the design space for a while now and the best we've come up with recently was combining the cure for weakness and venom into one spell.

I mean, that's just realm magic though - there's a lot we do with herbal preparations and hearth magic, too, they're just not my specialist field."