The Tactician's Eye

[kash]

At Wyrdwood Academy, Serendipity

Kash looked in the mirror. Today he would be embarking on his first mission on behalf of his alma mater, Wyrdwood Academy, on a quest to find the Tactician's Eye. It was a lost divination spell, said to be contained in an old spellbook from Fell, and it was now allegedly in the hands of a sketchy book dealer working in the underground of Essyrn, the Golden City. As an interdisciplinary research fellow working for Wyrdwood, Kash had a clearance to represent the academy in matters related to the procurement of rare books, and for this mission, he was authorized to spend a rather large sum of money on its behalf to ensure that the Tactician's Eye was retrieved successfully.

He had requested earlier that the academy arrange for another to accompany him, preferably one with great physical strength to cover for his own weakness in that regard. Kash wanted to make a good impression on whoever it was that was accompanying him, and he brushed his hair forward and made a pretty face in the mirror before putting on an undershirt and donning his armor. He didn't want to cover up his face, so he kept his helmet hanging on the back of his horse's saddle in case he needed it later.

As dawn broke, he departed on horseback towards the tower where he and his companion were supposed to meet up, arriving about three minutes early.

[Whim]

The Lexiconnoisieur was the only proper inn at Wyrdwood. It was an upscale establishment for visiting scholars and the like, situated just below the winding trail to the castle. Its rooms were upholstered with plush velvet, even the bedposts were stylized to resemble crows. Oliver had never got to stay at an inn like this before in his life, and he was far too nervous to enjoy it. The boy rolled out of bed before sunup, and devoured six eggs, sprinkled with fresh tomato and basil, and a large side of pork without tasting any of it. He spent the better part of the morning imagining clever things to say or ask. The bookseller's son never even far south as Adela. And so he spent the night reading everything about Essryn so as not to seem provincial. Maybe with a good impression they might teach him some spells, or let him join the academy, or something...

Atop a mule, and clad his colorful cape, Ollie made his way to the gates of Wyrdwood. It was silent in the early morning glow. Too early for students, far too early for teachers; only the gargoyles above kept vigil. Across the empty courtyard he saw a singular horse and rider. Ollie called out in a small voice, not even sure if he should be at Wyrdwood unannounced. The gate was open, after all, but you can't just have anyone wandering in and plucking tomes off the shelves or menacing students!

"Hello? Are you Kash, by any chance? I'm Oliver Driftwind. Well, Ollie for short." He offered Kash a hand in greeting, thick and calloused despite his small stature. Kash looked like no wizard Ollie had ever known. "Is it just us going to Essryn?" Oliver was expecting some meek little scholar to protect. Kash was tall and statuesque; more than capable at handling himself on the road...

[kash]

As Kash approached closer on horseback, he got a better look at the man in front of him. He introduced himself as Oliver Driftwind, or Ollie for short, and, as per his muscular, stocky build, it looked like he was exactly the kind of powerhouse Kash had requested. He was riding some sort of mule rather than a horse, which Kash found a little odd, but at least it would be able to carry any extra weight if they really needed it.

Kash shook Ollie's hand from atop his horse and greeted him, "Yes, I'm Kash. It's nice to meet you, Ollie. I assume you've been briefed?" He looked out past the gates. What lay far beyond them, in the desert land of Essyrn, was the fabled Tactician's Eye, and the two of them were going to find it and bring it back to Wyrdwood.

He tugged on the reins of his horse to prepare it for departure. He turned to his partner, "It looks like it's just going to be us. Rumor has it that some ancient divination spell from Fell - the Tactician's Eye, as they call it - is in the hands of some book dealer in Essyrn. We don't know much apart from that - the name of the book dealer, if this rumor about it being in Essyrn is true, or even if this book exists - but it's our job to make sure that if it does exist, it ends up in the hands of Wyrdwood."

He smiled, finishing, "We're authorized to spend a good sum of money on this journey and to represent the academy in matters pertaining to the book. Other than that, we're on our own. We better get going while the day is young." Kash started to depart slowly on his horse, motioning for Ollie to come with him. Any more questions or concerns Ollie wanted to bring up could be discussed as they traveled. He figured they were going to have a lot of time to kill anyway.

[Whim]

The boy blushed just a bit at Kash's appraisal. Between his old armor, and the mule he took from home, Ollie knew he was not much to look at. "They told me most of it. I think. It's kind of funny because my parents own a little bookshop in Altas Verde. Of course we mostly sell Almanacs and storybooks. That was before I got into all of this. I don't know much about booksellers in Essryn." He smiled dreamily. "But I always wanted to see it! Riding a dragon across a sea of sand...

"So the book tells you everything that is happening, everywhere? It sounds wonderful, and I don't know very much about magic, but how will you even find the right pages? I imagine it must be feet thick! Well, theoretically it must be infinite." Their mounts clopped down the cobbles and toward the castle gate. Wyrdwood was beginning to come to life. Packs of dozey students crept from their quarters toward east tower where classes were held.

Waiting for them at the far gate was, at first, what seemed to be a man mounted atop an enormous bird. Upon closer inspection it was a young man, covered in feathers, with the legs and talons of some enormous bird of prey. He wore a pair of goggles and sported an ill-fitting robe of a Wyrdwood scholar. He was called Caelun, and was waving them down frantically.