BECMI Chapter 66 – Trade Matters

I had the interest of all the men at the table now. “How do they work, and could we lay our hands on such spells?” Master Marius asked me solemnly. “I can make Blood-bound spells for any who care to buy them,” I said carelessly. “You will not be able to pass them on… but neither can they be stolen for use by others.” The two wizards shared an instant look. “That is a very useful effect, Lady Edge!” Marius the Bronze exclaimed in approval. “It is, is it not? It’s like wizards don’t like their books being stolen and their private spells copied and dispersed to all and sundry for no compensation. A truly shocking concept to many thieves and merchants, I know.” Quiet chuckles rose around the table. “What do these spells do, Lady Edge?” King Antius asked, deeply interested in this matter. “, or , is effectively a shrinking spell. It reduces the size of an object to one-quarter its normal dimensions, including its weight. Once it is shrunken, the Caster then has the option of reducing it to a scroll.” I had them fetch a keg of beer, which was set upon the table in front of me. They watched me Cast the spell, and the keg shrink down to a fraction of its prior size and weight. Before they could ask to test the weight, the keg seemed to flatten as it sat there, and slowly fell over, the image of the keg reduced to arcane signs and images as it rolled up into a Scroll and sealed itself. I plucked it up. “One keg of beer, bound for one day per Caster Level,” I said lightly, having noticed all three spellcasters murmuring spells of , and all of their faces paling just a bit nervously as they got an in-close view of my Caster Level for themselves, having to wince and look away. I tore the Scroll apart, and the keg of beer, returned to full size, materialized in front of us as the remnants of the Scroll vanished. “The volume you can affect is roughly one cubic foot per Caster Level, as well. If you Up-cast it, you can start doubling the volume by Valence, or the duration by double, if you know how to do such things.” All three Casters nearly fell over themselves in sudden excitement. “Upcasting?!” the wizard Rimblefyr exclaimed excitedly, the grass of his hair right on end. “Such a thing is possible?!” “You have not discovered such a thing yet?” was my even reply. “Ah, well, the study of magic is four thousand years further along in my day, Master Rimblefyr. Yes, it is most certainly possible. “On to .” A again appeared in front of me, all of them impressed by how casually I used illusion magic to accentuate my words. “A is more about dimensional storage, being a significantly enhanced version of . However, it also requires a material component… a finely woven cloth up to ten feet square.” The image of such a cloth appeared before me, with an image of King Antius standing next to it for comparison in size. “A may hold a volume of goods in storage equal to the cubic size of the squared cloth… so don’t make rectangular cloths. “Typically, one makes a scaffold or pit, places the at the bottom, and then fills it with the desired materials.” Crates of revealed armor and weapons were lowered into the pit, stacked up with speed, and then the spell was Cast. The entire pit full of crates shrank down and became a woven image upon the white cloth at the bottom. The cloth was folded over twice, then rolled up and presented to the image of the king. “Also lasting for one day per Caster Level. It may also be Upcast once from its V Valence to double the duration, or be Upcast from a VIII Valence to double all the dimensions, although one must then get a much larger cloth.” “That… could easily resupply an entire army with but a single spell!” the Azure Knight spoke up, his eyes intent on the image. “That one spell is the equivalent of several wagonloads of supplies!” “Or valuable trade goods,” I confirmed. “The Upcast Version is basically the equivalent of a large cargo ship’s entire hold stuffed full, or a fairly large wagon train. “Owing to the material component, which is destroyed unless you’ve a magical cloth that can respin itself specifically for this purpose, the is used for larger cargoes, while is quick, convenient, and used for smaller valuables and more discreet trades.” “And one could conceivably insert many scrolls or rolls of cloth into a dimensionally-expanded container,” Marius pointed out thoughtfully. “I will buy this spell from you, Lady Edge!” “As will I!” Rimblefyr agreed quickly. “I have several agents who would also be quick to acquire this magic,” the Catcher nodded along. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. “Sixteen hundred gold for the spell, and twenty-five hundred for the . I will need to draw your blood to make the Ink, and your spellbook to it out in,” I replied firmly. “I can stay after this meeting is over long enough for you to retrieve these things, if this is needed.” “That is appreciated,” Marius nodded gratefully. “Also, we would like to learn of the Amulet, and the danger it presents to us.” “As of right now, the only danger it presents is me,” was my even response to that, retrieving mine. “This Amulet is one of three. Your King has the other we hold, and the third is located a great distance to the south of here. I aim to retrieve it. “This Amulet was made by one of the spellcasters who formed the spells of this very Inn, as it cleverly taps into aspects of the construction which are not apparent if you were not one of the people to design them. In essence, the construction of this Inn was more of an experiment than a hired job, as the wizards involved put in spells and used magical techniques that they doubtless did not fully understand, messing around with levels of Temporal Magic, basically to see what happened. “Their meddling with temporal forces they didn’t understand created the Portal below, something they have doubtless tried to duplicate elsewhere and failed to do. Is there a magical confluence or other special magical zone nearby?” I inquired firmly. “Down.” I looked over at the Great Jordie. “Down,” the archpriest and Bishop of Darkmoor repeated again. “Beneath us is an expanse of black rock, of unknown type, found nowhere else in the Northlands. Few dare to mine through it, and the only place of note that has done so is underneath Castle Darkmoor, out on the ridge there.” He indicated the castle that was east of the town, which we’d seen in our initial foray here. “The dungeons of the place seem to generate monsters and mutants out of nowhere, and beneath it extend tunnels and chambers that almost seem to have dug themselves, connecting to magical locations and vaults of horror and doom whose wealth and treasures have attracted a great many fools over the decades, nay, centuries the Castle has stood there.” I noted several of the men looking away at the descriptions of fools delving into the place. “Monsters regularly escape from the Castle and flee into the wilds elsewhere, or attack settlements and have to be put down,” the Azure Knight broke in soberly. “The City itself is used to random monster attacks, as are those who live here, but the treasures that can be gained from within them are not to be denied. My mighty magical steed came from an encounter with a dragon deep in those dungeons, and great and terrible were the challenges I had to overcome to reach its place of slumber, best its riddles, and depart with my strange prize.” I simply nodded to his tale. “A true Magical Dungeon will always sit at a place of power. Doubtless it was involved with the strange results of the enchantments those wizards used when making the Inn. “Regardless of that, I had forty long years to study the Inn, and I know its magicks backward and forward, far better than those who designed this place. “While I was traveling backwards through time with my comrades, I placed Temporal Beacons in the ether at each and every stop we made, something like anchor points across time, locking in the path and Portals, making the road we traveled like a string anchoring down the whole of the temporal network. With this Amulet, I have locked this Portal here to exactly one other location: the far future end of the Beacons in my time, creating a stable temporal loop. “You need not fear any random creatures traveling from the Portal, although that does not stop any time-lost creatures who are randomly thrown into it and may exit it in the future. Now that it is active, a magical containment field around it for extraplanar and magical intruders is a wise precaution. “The Amulets we have will either leave it in random receiving mode, or connect to the future I hail from, to the end of the Loop. You may connect to there at a point of ten minutes after the last contact was made, or up to a one to one by time since the last contact. I will instruct you in how to do so shortly.” “That...seems like something one could take great advantage of,” Lord Marius pointed out immediately. “I presume one could do the same from the far end?” “Yes. For instance, I could remain here for a month, then return to the time I left ten minutes after doing so. One of you could walk through, spend a month in the future, and then return minutes after departing, as if you had not left at all.” They all looked at one another, considering what could be done with that knowledge. “I myself intend to take full advantage of this,” I stated coolly. “Members of my company have expressed an interest in doing mercenary work here in Darkmoor. The dwarves of the band indicated a deep interest in learning the artificing knowledge of their ancestors, if possible. The elves are eager to hook up with their forefathers and learn of the ways of the ancient elves, bringing them back to their kin. “On your end, you could use it to pursue weapons training which might otherwise take a considerable period out of your day, to simply take a vacation, or if you wish to pursue more cross-temporal trading directly, that would be possible. Arrange a company of men to pursue advanced training, bring them to the future, and return them shortly after you have left, instead of spending days or weeks of time here. “There are many possibilities, many dependent on exactly how often the Portal is used. “To that end, I would ask for an official introduction to the dwarven and elven lands of Darkmoor for those who follow me.” “The introductions are a minor matter I can easily facilitate,” King Antius agreed slowly. “As for the mercenary work…” he hesitated. “Trust issues?” I asked easily. “I could not seem to help noticing that many of your human followers were Northmen,” he stated carefully, watching for my reaction. “Yes. They were a warband of fools who thought they were following a great treasure map in the Bleaklands in the future where the Inn is located. They stirred up the local anthroids, were chased inside the Inn, and were barely holding it against their numbers when I arrived. Then the dragons came, butchered the remaining hobgoblins, and made it plain they were not leaving the way they’d come. They opted to follow me, and remain in my service. “You will have no issues with them. Are you worried they will see the Northmen here as kin?” I laughed softly and coldly at his expression. “Northmen will war among themselves as readily as against southerners, and typically the first humans a Northman ever fights are other Northmen who are not their kin. You will have no issues from them on this front, as they are not kin to any Northmen of this era. “However, while not afraid of the sea or water, these are not skilled sailors, either. That is not to say they are not eager to learn of such things, but they are skilled infantry troops at this time, and have not had the cross-training of proper navy or marines.”