The Man In The Mask
1 The man was of medium build, short hair falling just above the ear, and a strange mask that had one eye painted on the right side surrounded with a grayish black color that engulfed the rest of the mask. He walked with confidence, slow and reactive. It seemed no act of surprise, ambush, or absurdity could hinder his course. Any change in his environment and it seemed that he would be able to just shift his movement continuing his course. I witnessed him walk with his stick from the wild, tap it against the chair next to mine pulling it out and sitting down in it without missing a beat.
"Rob this will be your entry exam. This is Espy." Kogee was middle-aged and gestured at Espy, the masked man. "Help him with his endeavors Rob. He will give a report to me and we will go from there."
"Kogee I'm sixteen and I've visited the Guild since I was ten. That is six years of service to Niar's Guild. Besides I am a personal student of Pam the master magician that helped in the lost magic breakthrough as well as stopped the feud between the Brawler's Guild and The Brave and The Bold." I knew Kogee did not enjoy dealing with me. He always seemed to ignore my greetings and give me grief. Kogee spoke as though exhausted,
"Rob those are Pam's exploits. You have no notable deeds of your own. Help Espy for a week and see what happens."
2 "Kogee I have been waiting for six years to join Niar's Guild, will you really impede me further?"
"By my count, it is 10:00 in the morning one day after your sixteenth birthday. You have waited ten hours to join the Guild. Some people wait years." At this I grew short,
"I have waited years. Six in fact."
"To join a Guild in Ekued you must be sixteen, so you have waited ten hours." I noticed Espy shift in his chair. He had not said a thing since he sat at the table. "What do you think Espy? Will you see if this boy is ready?" Kogee said this as he stood up from the table.
"Wait, Kogee we are not done here."
3 "You are right Rob. You and Espy are just beginning. I, however, am quite done." I watched him walk away with no more to be said. I looked at Espy wondering what is beyond the mask.
"So what do you need help with?" I waited for a response. He just sat there. After some time had passed Espy pulled an envelope out of his pocket and placed it on the table.
"This letter has an enchantment on it. Can you break it?"
"I deal with emotion magic and enchantments are in the spell casting category."
"I would think a student of Pam would learn spell casting. She, after all, is one of the best spell casters in these parts."
4 "My brother picked up spellcasting while I learned Emotion magic. What I can tell you that someone put a charm on this so that only you can open it. They also put a curse on it that pricks the finger of anyone who opens it but you. The charm is relatively easy to break. It reads, ‘I have a wish in need of a coin. I have a coin in need of a well. I have a well and need of water. Let it rain filling up the well with knowledge of the sea and then I may toss my coin at the sea and make my wish.' This person is asking you for help. You are the wise sea to this person that they wish to pay to grant them their wish. Hold on is this a quest?"
"Open the letter and find out."
"No way. It is addressed to you. That is not red ink, that is blood. I know anything that is blood sealed can have dire consequences to someone opening it other than the addressee."
"I see," Espy said pouring a little water on the edge of the envelope. It simply fell off and a letter slid out.
"Hold on, was that a part of the evaluation?" I was shocked it began so early. I love a challenge, but having a brand new conjurer open a blood sealed letter, with a curse to boot was just cruel. Most conjurers my age would have done it. So did Kogee pair me with Espy to make me fail quickly or does Kogee think that I am skilled with magic? Espy looked over the letter which from my point of view looked ridiculous since there were no holes in his mask. Was he using the painted on eye as an anchoring point for some type of perception spell? Was he somehow looking beyond the mask? He handed the letter to me as he stood. He left the tavern. I quickly followed reading the letter in bits looking up to see Espy, making sure not to lose him.
5 The streets were crowded. Today was the last day to receive goods before the water gate closed for three days. I was familiar with the city of Twin Rivers from maps that I studied before I came here. Now that I am here it all seems unfamiliar to me. There were so many people that I could not make out familiar points. Just follow Espy. The sea of people washed around the bow as Espy sailed to his destination at the same moderate pace, I stayed close behind to reduce the risk of being caught in the wake of people. His stick was somewhat a deterrent, but I could tell that the mask and confidence aided in his displacement of the crowd. He stopped at the pier. Two plump men emerged from the lower deck of a rather slender boat. The two were definitely related, brothers or cousins.
"So Espy who is the pup? Did Kogee give you another Niar's Guild wannabe?" The two plump men snickered to one another. "Well we had a simple task but now that we know you have an accomplice hmmm things change." His tone and pitch went up-and-down so much so that his speech felt like a sea voyage. "Two invitations to the Sea Kaptain's meeting should not be too difficult for the two of you hmmm." Espy held out his hand. One of the big-bellied men stepped forward Placed a small box and envelope into his hand and they giggled and hmmmed their way back into the slender boat where I was surprised they fit.
"So Rob what should we do?" I wasn't expecting Espy to ask me what to do. Usually, the magicians I worked under would bark orders and have me follow tightly to their instruction.
"Why would you ask me? You are the teacher. I thought I was to do what you told me not the other way around." He was calm, no hint of any emotion in his voice. Espy just said,
"You thought wrong. Now, what do we do?" I was puzzled. Normally thinking was the task of someone else.
6 "The letter said that the meeting is in four days so we have to talk to the Sea Kaptain to put them on the guest list before then."
"I'll give you a hint Rob. The invitations are being sent out now and those two were not invited, and they won't be."
"So you want to sneak them in?"
"Sneaking people into a high society event will be difficult." I thought to myself for a while. No doubt a magician would have come to this conclusion faster but, I figured they wrote a charmed letter with a curse as well as a blood seal. They must deal with written forms.
"They want us to forge an invitation to the meeting. Does the letter they just gave to you have the details?" Espy offered it to me. I saw a list of names, nothing else. "Well, where is the address? This is just names." The sun was setting. The twilight here had a strange effect on the water. The grey air seemed stale with no rush of people to swirl it about. The colorless night seemed to reflect my mood. Finding an answer in a sea of riddles would be tough. Then as if Espy saw my face glazed over thinking and not reaching a conclusion he said something just above a whisper.
7 "That is the guest roster." The breeze began to swirl the stale grey air and I thought for a few moments more. "We find these people and find their invitation. Then we can copy it give it to the two fatties and I join the guild." Espy took me to his home here in the city of Twin Rivers. All of the colors were off. Nothing matched and somethings had patterns on them while others were blank. As comfy as his home was it was a visual nightmare. Yellow curtains, red rugs, green chairs, and any other color you could have was somewhere splashed about.
"You may want to put in a quest at the guild for an interior decorator Espy. It looks like a rainbow found it's way into your home." Once I said that I realized it probably wasn't the best thing to say to my host. He did not seem to mind the comment, although it is hard to tell since he did not take off his mask. Not even in his own home. We reviewed the list after dinner circling four of the names as leads. Two owed Espy a favor and the other two were acquaintances. The following day we made for the pier. The largest ship in the area was docked at the far end. The city of Twin Rivers rests in between the river Pete to the west and Moklin to the East. The rivers run south into Lal Lake. This ship was so enormous that it could not go any further up Moklin river so we walked to the south most part of the pier where its' sails cast a huge shadow over the city.
It seemed to drain my cheeks of warmth. Hull Krusher was written on the side of this ship. The second in command stepped off of Hull Krusher to greet us. Lieutenant Snives was dressed in a different uniform than that of the officers belonging to the city. I looked over at Espy and as if he knew what I was thinking he said two words, "Kings Guard." Once we were in earshot Lieutenant Snives called out.
"Espy I'm glad you are here I may have a quest for you." We closed the gap standing just a few feet apart. "Espy, how have you been? The last quest went so well that the king himself took notice. Your dream of a quiet simple life will soon disappear with all of these remarkable stories." Espy spoke dryly,
"I agree. That is why I am refusing my invitation to the Sea Kaptain's meeting." Snives's face became very serious.
8 "Please come aboard." The ship was glorious to look at fresh paint, clean as clean can be, and not an ounce of damage. In the Lieutenant's cabin he began to ask question after question. "What do you mean? Did something happen? Did someone insult your name, tell me who. I'll have them cut up and drowned."
"How do you know about the meeting Lieutenant I missed your name on the roster."
"Well, captain Mount has extended his guest privileges to me of course. Oh is that it? The Sea Kaptain did not extend any guest privileges to you. Maybe we can talk to him, one more won't hurt."
"You are right Snives I will never be able to retire into quiet at this rate. Let it rest. I just came to ask of you a small favor. At the meeting don't mention my name. The last thing I need is my name floating around that pot of dangerous men. You understand don't you?" Snives sat back in his chair,
"You know you will be missed in our world. I guess no one wants to play the game forever. I'll do my best to snatch your name out of any boiling pots while I'm there."
9 "Thank you perhaps the winds will favor your sails over the enemies'." Espy said this as he laid an enchanted paper on the arm of his chair. I could tell it was brimming with magical energy. Snives walked us to the pier saying his farewell. When we were off the pier walking down the busy streets of this city I confronted Espy,
"You aren't on that list what happens when he finds out? He wasn't on the list either. What on Kaysna were you thinking?"
"Think boy, captain Mount was on the list. So ask him whether or not he could bring a guest and he knows we obviously didn't receive an invitation. Tell the most likely candidate for being his guest that you are going and he will divulge all of the information freely. We now know guests are permitted and that we can obtain that status. For one with such bright young eyes, you see little." I was discouraged. I was brought down not by the scolding but by the fact I may have just blown my chance to enter Niar's Guild. It has been my focus for six years. I hope I do not mess up my examination. I will not question the next move of Espy.
Espy lead me to a massive home. It was so large the East and West manner seemed to run out of sight, there was no end to the mass of building in front of me. The gate was equally impressive. A guard saw Espy's mask and ushered him forward. I walked behind him. Espy put his hand up as I approached. He obviously wanted to talk to the guard alone so I complied. I want to become a member of the guild so from here on I will not question his movements. They exchanged words and we entered the gate. As soon as both feet stepped over the threshold I felt a strong magic. It was alien and uncomfortable so I knew it had to be spirit magic. I could sense there were layers placed on top to conceal the spirit magic. Either the conjurer was sloppy or he wanted observant conjures to know there is protection from more than this realm.
To someone not trained to notice residual magic and spells set for observation such as this one, they would enter with not a care in the world. My theory is that any conjurer that could pose a threat would notice it and know it is a warning. Warning or not I needed to know where this spell is coming from. My master Pam taught me that cosmic magic, more commonly known as spirit magic is tied to this world with a physical item. I could not see or sense the ties of the spirit spell. Its intention wasn't clear. I guess the spell was there to track the number of guests who entered. I didn't train too much in spirit magic so I focused on the task at hand. The Lord of this manor was too busy to meet with unannounced guests so we were greeted instead by Butler Kany.
10 He must have been familiar with Espy because he brought a wet cloth which was used to wipe down the grayish black mask giving in a shine that made everything unsettling about the mask a boost. The eye was sharper and the black was more prevalent. A red line surrounding the eye seemed to emerge as the dust was cleared away. Butler Kany seemed to regret giving Espy a more piercing look. There was small talk between the two and then Espy broached the subject of the Sea Kaptain's meeting. I noticed his direct route with lieutenant Snives and the indirect route with Butler Kany. Espy was playing a game. Attack each player with a different strategy. Espy spoke to Kany, "I realize it must be an inconvenience to you and your master so a rejection of my request would raise no ill feelings. I need an invitation for my student here who has lost his."
I looked up surprised that I was put into this ruse with no prior warning. I thought it was just a test to see my adaptability. I didn't say anything until the Butler asked me a question, "Is this true? You look unaware of this fact." He was scrutinizing my reaction carefully looking for some hint of fallacy in my words. I looked down as if embarrassed,
"I was just surprised master Espy would bring to light something so embarrassing. It is a poor reflection on the master when the student fails." I looked at the ground and then away at the wall. I did not want him to see the lie in my eye. I was taught to speak the truth or not at all. This was very hard for me, but my composure had to hold, admission into the Guild was depending on it. In my peripheral vision, I saw Espy turned toward me placing an enchanted paper on the table stand. I could tell Kany saw this too because I could feel his eyes dart away for a mere second then back to searching my face for a crack for which he could worm his way in. Espy spoke as he neared me, cane in hand,
"This house has always seemed cleaner when you are around. You simply work your magic and not a thing is out of place." I understood that as "take this enchantment that will clean the massive building and hand us an invitation." The Butler must have interpreted Espy's statement the same way but didn't take the bait.
"I appreciate the compliment Espy this house is terribly large and is such a hassle to maintain. I do it without complaint because it is for the master of this manner and he is worth cleaning the house perhaps several times over." Espy understood the message,
11 "Perhaps there is a study to where I can produce a thank you letter to the Butler of this manner. I know the master's satisfaction is all that a Butler needs to continue his work. I would just like to write my own thank you so that he knows he is appreciated by all."
"Well of course. Follow me into the study." The Butler took the bait. Espy carefully created two more enchantments that I suppose helped in cleaning the house. He used a strange wooden tool that held the paper down in the corners and another piece which he used to run his pen along the side. His letters were exact and very legible. Afterward, Butler Kany showed us a drawer where the invitations to the Sea Kaptain's meeting was held.
"The master may not be able to attend due to his busy schedule. There is a small chance his schedule clears up so I will reserve these. The day before I will send for you regarding the matter." The Butler put them back in the drawer nice and neat. Then he showed us to the front door preparing us to leave. Espy stopped a few feet from the door tapped his came twice on the ground then spun in place to face the Butler,
"May I use the restroom?"
"Right this way." I could tell the Butler preferred the dusty mask compared to the piercing eye that faced him now. Espy whispered in my ear,
12 "Grab an invitation and I'll meet you back here." The two were off and I was standing there. When they were no longer in sight I found my way back to the study. The guest invitation made its way into my pocket just as footsteps made their way down the Hall. I froze. I was not used to all this, I want to be a part of the Guild. Lying and stealing and now what? Someone is coming. What do I do? I thought back to Pam's teachings, "a fight is won by avoiding it altogether." I focused all my energy into the center of my body. The footsteps were no longer audible. I blocked everything out. I heard nothing, I saw nothing, I felt nothing. All of my effort was aimed at using my emotion magic to transform.
I knew nothing could distract me least I transform into whatever I thought of. My mind was blank. I pictured a mouse. I felt my body change. A subconscious thought must have dictated my transformation. Instead of a mouse, I turned into a stinking lying thieving, "Rat! Get out. Get out you rat!" Butler Kany stomped about chasing me away. I was too large to fit into any of the cracks or holes in the walls. I figured when I was not at the front door where he left me the Butler would come to check the study. The only time I will be thankful someone is trying to step on me is now. He moved the desks and pull out a large book to try and squash me. I scurried along dodging the tramp of his feet and the slam of his book. My little legs could not carry me very fast.
The Butler cornered me. I began to panic. Do I skid by taking a hit, do I transform back and expose the operation, or do I think like a rat? The idea came to me. I ran for the center of his legs. Right as he lifted a leg to stomp me I stood up on my hind legs and let out a terrible noise. I could only imagine my big nasty yellow teeth showing making a shocking little surprise for our Butler. Kany fell backward on one leg. I scurried to the door. The plan worked. I just had to act like a rat. I scurried from room to room fleeing from the Butler, I did not think that my trick would work again. The Butler was on my trail. I found my way into the kitchen. My little rat legs brought me around the corner. A silver wash bucket was two inches from my face, I looked at my reflection.
In front of me was a nasty looking rat. I saw beady black eyes, wrinkled pink ears, and the teeth were repulsive. I saw my reflection and scared myself. I backed up and screamed. My little legs did not work the way I wanted and I saw myself rear up mouth agape. The terrible squealing gave me chills. This is what startled the Butler. I thought, "I don't want to be this nasty rat!" I stumbled backward. The fall seemed to take an eternity. My hands flew back in the air and I landed on my tailbone. "I have a tail bone instead of a tail." My thoughts were swimming in my head. I saw the water
bucket there on the ground in front of me. It looked smaller. No, I was bigger. The Butler swung around the corner same as I and asked what happened.
"The rat, it reared up and squealed and awful squeal. It was hideous." I spoke more to myself than the Butler. I realized I startled myself out of my transformation.
13 "Well yes, the dirty rat startled me with that trick as well. How did you make it to the kitchen? This is a ways away from the front entrance."
"I was chased. It seemed to be everywhere I was. I hate rats. I never want to see one again."
"Allow me to help you up. I suppose I'll find the rat later. Please do excuse this household on behalf of my master. There has never been a rodent in this manner before. I will dispose of it later." I followed the Butler to the door. Looking at Espy's mask gave me a little jolt. The blackish gray paint looked like the fur of the rat.
"Butler Kany what was the squealing and crash sounds?"
"A rather large rat snuck its way into this manner, chased your student around the house and gave us both a good scare. I will find it mark my words. Now let these problems be my problems." We passed through the outer gate. I was so tired I did not feel the presence of the spirit magic. Once we were through I told Espy how tired I was. I sat down on the side of the street. The last thing I remember was the countless people passing by.
14 I woke up to the blue ceiling of Espy's house. I sat up in the bed to see my belongings in the green chair across from me. Everything in this man's home was chaotic. I now saw why everything else was chaotic in his life. Espy sat at the table, mask still mounted to his face. I noticed he did part with his cane at the door. The only time I saw his hand not clutched around that spindly stick was when he was home. "Rob, what happened? You passed out in the middle of the city. That can be very dangerous."
"I transformed into a rat instead of a mouse and then I scared myself out of my transformation. Between that and the chase, I suppose I couldn't handle the strain."
"So you were the rat. Did you bring the invitation?"
"Sure I have it. I don't feel good about it but I have it."
"You don't like completing quests for people who pay good money for them?"
15 "I don't like sneaking around, lying, and stealing. Whatever the quest we should be able to complete it without doing any of that."
"So what do you suppose we do? How do we obtain an invitation to a private function that talks about pirate activity, paid protection, and future raids and smuggling operations?"
"Why are we helping people like that! Those two fatties can find their own invitation."
"Kraig and Mire are important informants the help prevent a lot of these things from happening. There's more than just black-and-white Rob. There is a gray area in life, maybe you are not old enough to understand."
"What I do understand is that when something feels wrong you probably shouldn't be doing it."
16 "Fine, Rob hand the invitation to me and you can be done with this quest."
"I am done with this quest." I was so angry that I tore the invitation into bits. "I will not be your rat running through your maze of lies." I stormed off without thinking. It was late in the night and I just stormed out of my host's house. Where was I going to go? I just walked to clear my head. I do not know if something pulled me there or if it was just the only place I was familiar with but I found myself at the pier. Hull Krusher was not docked but I did find the slender little boat that Kraig and Mire occupied. How do those two big guys fit in that tiny boat? One of the fatties emerged as if he heard my thought. "What do you want?" I called out to him and he just returned a blank look.
"You tell me. You are the one standing outside of my boat past midnight." I did not know how late it was. I had been asleep for some time.
"I want nothing, although I did yell at my host and leave."
"You seem familiar. Do I know you? Hmmm?"
17 "I am Rob. We met while I was with Espy. You in tasked us with granting you invitations."
"Well stop shouting it across the water come in and give me news of your progress." I followed him down into the boat. It was large underneath. I could not believe the amount of room there was compared to the deck. Then again they are paying a man to steal invitations to go to a meeting in order to discuss smuggling routes. I suppose the inside should be much larger than what is visible. I spoke with Kraig and Mire, they weren't too bad. I even learned which one was which. I stayed the night on the boat and woke to Espy exchanging invitations for money. I was so shocked I walked over, snatched the invitations out of Mire's hand, and looked in disbelief as I stared at not one invitation but two.
"But how." Mire pushed me down snatching the invitations back. With a voice more pitchy than usual,
"A deal is a deal hmmm now off my boat you have your money hmmm." I scrambled off the boat with Espy at my heel. As soon as I was on the dock Espy cut a path home. He was fast. I caught up asking what to do next.
"Meet Kogee at the tavern. Your evaluation is long passed over. With a cut of the reward, I had plenty of money to stay at the tavern. With nothing better to do I waited two days at the tavern. On the third day, I saw Kogee on my way down to breakfast. He began to speak,
18 "Espy told me, " I cut him off,
"I don't know what he told you but I want no part of your Guild. If these are the type of quests submitted to your Guild I want to be far away from its workings. Espy had me do things I thought were wrong. I will not hand that power over to the rest of you." Kogee had a short laugh,
"I know! He said you are perfect for Niar's Guild. You actually tore up the letter. Wow. Now one thing you should know is that Espy did not make it into the Guild because he showed low character. That fact makes him the perfect evaluator. Come boy did you really think one of the most prestigious guilds of Ekued would have you doing such things. That was a quest sent directly to Espy and not through any guild. Meet the master in a week at the end of Knowledge Pass. You are ready to enter the world of wizards."
"What about the invitations. I saw two of them."
"He is a calligraphist. Making these things is what he does. Lord Trite has him write all of his letters. He most likely just forged those two invitations. It is rather easy when the man writes everything written by Lord Trite. It is the same font every time."
19 "Who is Lord Trite?"
"He is the Lord of the manor you visited."
"He could have done that in the first place why bother with stealing it?"
"Rob, think. You were under evaluation. He probably just wanted to see if you would do it." Everything was sinking in. Lieutenant Snives and Butler Kany were just tests. He was going to forge the invitations from the start. He knew Lord Trite was not attending. He was showing me the dark side of magic to see if I could be tempted.
"Well, Kogee I'll see you at Knowledge Pass. I am ready for the world of wizards."
20 "Stick to your character boy and you'll be successful."