The construction crew toiled away at the bottom of the hole. They were
clothed in Leadrobium[1] suits, which were supposed to shield them from the
frighteningly high magic levels of the Unreal Estates. Located next to
Unseen University, Unreal Estates were where all the books, spells,
implements and instruments of magic were sent when they were deemed useless
or had never worked to begin with. The construction crew was here to bury
two volumes of magic that had nearly killed the Librarian, a defective
wand, and a self-activating spell that the Alchemist's Guild had created to
turn copper into gold but in fact turned anything with proximity into Quirm
Cheese. They finished at last and gently lowered the crate into the hole,
surrounding into with sawhorses to keep people out. They then got as far
away from the hole as possible, running as fast as someone can in
Leadrobium. They didn't seem to care when the sawhorses started to walk
away. The workday was done; they would fill the hole in tomorrow.
About five minutes later, a figure came rushing through the evening sunset. He was running. Behind him came a strange looking chest with many tiny legs on the bottom, following him closely. They were being pursued by a small horde of people waving- well, Rincewind wasn't sure what they were waving; he'd left too soon to find out. He darted into the nearest ally. They rushed by, as angry crowds always do, and Rincewind kept running down the ally. He tripped and fell over something wooden. He looked down, and saw it was a living sawhorse, flashing its safety light in a threatening manner.
He scuttled backwards- right into a giant hole. Above, he heard a snapping noise as the Luggage tore the sawhorse to pieces.
"Oy, let's gettim!" came from the distance. That would be the mob. Rincewind looked around for something to cover himself with. The hole was full of old books that were decomposing and shedding a soft octarine glow as they went. In one corner, he saw the glint of- Yes, it was a helmet! And some gauntlets, gloves, boots, and a chest plate. These should disguise him nicely. He put them on and scuttled up out of the hole. Crowds never go for someone cool and collected. There was a stomping noise, and the crowd was back in the ally. Rincewind tried to look surprised. The helmet had a long skinny visor. It was flickering images at him. Numbers and geometric symbols flickered on and off.
"Oh, gods. This is magic armor."
"Hey! You in the bucket! You see a guy run through here? He had these long flowing robes like yours, and had this big chest running around withim', and. . . Get that imposter!"
The crowd rushed foreword at Rincewind, who cowered. Suddenly, the visor gave a blinding flash of light. And then the numbers flickered back and stayed there. There were words, too, and a set of crosshairs settled on the nearest attacker. The helmet wrote ADVERSARY- ATTACK NOW. Rincewind raised his hands in surrender, but halfway there they froze, pointed out at the lead mobster. The gloves began to glow. Rincewind made a flicking motion with his fingers.
"What the he-" started the lead mobster before a ball of light fantastic hit him.
Rincewind looked down at his hands in amazement. He had done magic! He turned to the next thug and waved his hands. A long piece of rope shot out of his wrist and some more octarine flew away from his palm like a fireworks display. The mob members screamed and ran. Rincewind stopped firing and looked at his hands. What had he done?
----------------------- [1] Made by blasting lead with frighteningly large amounts of magic
About five minutes later, a figure came rushing through the evening sunset. He was running. Behind him came a strange looking chest with many tiny legs on the bottom, following him closely. They were being pursued by a small horde of people waving- well, Rincewind wasn't sure what they were waving; he'd left too soon to find out. He darted into the nearest ally. They rushed by, as angry crowds always do, and Rincewind kept running down the ally. He tripped and fell over something wooden. He looked down, and saw it was a living sawhorse, flashing its safety light in a threatening manner.
He scuttled backwards- right into a giant hole. Above, he heard a snapping noise as the Luggage tore the sawhorse to pieces.
"Oy, let's gettim!" came from the distance. That would be the mob. Rincewind looked around for something to cover himself with. The hole was full of old books that were decomposing and shedding a soft octarine glow as they went. In one corner, he saw the glint of- Yes, it was a helmet! And some gauntlets, gloves, boots, and a chest plate. These should disguise him nicely. He put them on and scuttled up out of the hole. Crowds never go for someone cool and collected. There was a stomping noise, and the crowd was back in the ally. Rincewind tried to look surprised. The helmet had a long skinny visor. It was flickering images at him. Numbers and geometric symbols flickered on and off.
"Oh, gods. This is magic armor."
"Hey! You in the bucket! You see a guy run through here? He had these long flowing robes like yours, and had this big chest running around withim', and. . . Get that imposter!"
The crowd rushed foreword at Rincewind, who cowered. Suddenly, the visor gave a blinding flash of light. And then the numbers flickered back and stayed there. There were words, too, and a set of crosshairs settled on the nearest attacker. The helmet wrote ADVERSARY- ATTACK NOW. Rincewind raised his hands in surrender, but halfway there they froze, pointed out at the lead mobster. The gloves began to glow. Rincewind made a flicking motion with his fingers.
"What the he-" started the lead mobster before a ball of light fantastic hit him.
Rincewind looked down at his hands in amazement. He had done magic! He turned to the next thug and waved his hands. A long piece of rope shot out of his wrist and some more octarine flew away from his palm like a fireworks display. The mob members screamed and ran. Rincewind stopped firing and looked at his hands. What had he done?
----------------------- [1] Made by blasting lead with frighteningly large amounts of magic