Ready for some more Thaumcraft? Well, here ya go then!
Chapter 12: Thaumaturgical Conundrums 2 - Vis Crystals & Bandits
After wandering the maze of back alleys for who knows how long, Tlopfest and his guide make it to what appears to be a run down house of some kind. Knocking on the door and whispering something, the strange man beckoned Tlopfest over. As Tlopfest approached, another person looked out to the duo from an eye slot. After a moment, said slot closed again, and the door opened up. The strange man giddily walked through, while Tlopfest followed behind, eye glowing a light yellow-green and visibly on guard.
Making their way down a flight of stairs, they eventually come to a large room. Said room appears to have been carved out of a natural cave, with hints of stalactites and stalagmites sticking out from the floor and ceiling. Yet while there are no visible torches, there are hundreds of vis crystals growing on the walls of every single kind of basic element, all glowing to shower the cavern in an eerie light. Tlopfest is visibly shocked to see all of them here.
"Wh-H-" Tlopfest sputtered.
"Hehe, welcome to our lair, monster." The strange man gestured to the cavern. "Here we have more of those crystals that you would be interested in." Walking through the cavern, not only are there the crystals, but plenty of other robed people wandering about, breaking the crystals off the walls and dropping them into wheelbarrows.
"How the devil did you get these here?"
"Oh, we didn't put them here - we just found them and have been using them ever since, '' the man said nonchalantly. Picking up another ignis crystal, the man continued. "These crystals can easily enhance any mage's power output, just with a tap of their wand. The more in-tune with their element, the bigger the impact." Putting it back down, the man walked back to Tlopfest. "Of course, we can't have just anyone be able to use these, oh no. And that'' the man poked Tlopfest on his chest, "is where you come in. Seeing as you have an active interest in these crystals, why don't we make a deal, hm?"
Tlopfest narrowed his eyes at him. "What kind of deal?"
"Oh, a simple matter really. See, one of our clients had decided to not pay us for their crystal usage. We want you to get those back for us, and teach that idiotic mage what it means to mess with the Crystaline Group."
"...So, you want me to basically do your dirty work for you?"
"Well, none of us can easily do it. We are both non-mages and happen to have our faces plastered all over the city." The man shrugs. "Having a monster like you, especially one that seems to not be actively hunted, would help us deal with this greatly."
"And what exactly am I supposed to be able to get out of this, hm? I'm not after money or anything you know."
"Ah, of course. Should you get to that mage and bring us proof of 'fixing' their mistake, you can have some of these crystals that we have been farming."
"Ok, next question, how the hell can I trust you in keeping that side of the bargain?"
"Oh, these crystals just keep coming. Truth be told, while we can and have been able to sell them quite nicely, we keep having too many to work with. Besides, seeing a mage be given a lesson that they won't forget is always good to see for us."
"Well, I can't exactly blame them for that part I guess. Many of the mages/nobles here are pretty 'better-than-thou,' which can be kinda annoying." Tlopfest pondered the situation at hand. "They didn't specifically say that I had to kill them or anything - just show that they got taught a lesson, or at least get their payment or something." Tlopfest looked at the man again. "If you give me one of each now, I'll deal with that situation of yours and come back for the rest, deal?" Tlopfest stuck his hand out to the man.
"Hehe, you have yourself a deal monster." The man shook Tlopfest's hand. "Get this beast some crystals, stat!"
"Well, at least I know they're all authentic." Tlopfest stood outside of the original alleyway he had met that man. In his hand was one complete thaumometer. "One down, one to go. Those guys had better keep their end of the deal, I swear…" With that, Tlopfest pocketed his thaumometer and headed towards the inn.
"Now then," the strange man, who finally told Tlopfest his name was Geoffry, sat Tlopfest down at a nearby table and started pulling out some scrolls. "This is the man that you will be looking for." Geoffry slid one of the scrolls over to Tlopfest, unrolling another one that appeared to be a map onto the table. While he was doing that, Tlopfest unrolled the scroll handed to him, instantly recognizing the man depicted.
"Wait, Wardes?" Tlopfest looked at the poster confused, seeing as it was definitely Wardes.
"Ah, you already know of the mage? Great, that will make your work much easier." Gesturing to the map on the table, Geoffry continued. "It appears that this 'Wardes' has recently come back to town, staying over here." He pointed to the inn where the group checked in. "He was last seen with some strange pink-haired girl. We need you to get in there and teach him a lesson for us."
"Ok, now I'm getting worried. How did they notice Wardes and Louise, but not Guiche or I?" Tlopfest turned to Geoffry. "Ok, right. Anywhere else that I should look should I not find him there?"
"Hmm…" Geoffry called over one of the other members, getting some more information whispered to his ear. "It appears that he has also gone back and forth to Albion quite a bit recently." Geoffry pointed to the port. "Perhaps he may be there?"
"I knew Wardes was bad news. First talking about the letter before Louise, and being spotted going to and from Albion, what with that civil war and everything? What is that man hiding?" Tlopfest kept thinking about this unfortunate situation he found himself in as he approached the inn. "Well, at least they didn't give me a deadline or something, so I'd better try to find a decent way to deal with him without having him blow my head off or something." With that, Tlopfest headed into the inn and instantly spotted the rest of the group, sitting down and eating. "Guess they got tired of waiting for me. Can't really blame them for that."
Tlopest sat down with the group, trying to figure out what they were talking about. Though he didn't have to wait for long, as Wardes turned to him rather quickly. "Ah, you're back. Have a nice walk?"
"Eh, it was fine. Not much going on I suppose.." Tlopfest kept a wary eye on Wardes, both from before and with the new information about the crystals.
"These crystals can easily enhance any mage's power output, just with a tap of their wand. The more in-tune with their element, the bigger the impact." Geoffry's words echoed in Tlopfest's head.
"What could Wardes need extra power for….?"
"-Tlopfest!" Louise shouted, startling him back to reality.
"W-what? Sorry, did you ask me something?"
"Yes! Wardes was wanting to duel you in the morning, see how you really hold up against a mage."
"...But I already did that." Tlopfest pointed towards Guiche, causing him to choke on his food.
"No, no" Wardes started. "I mean a true mage, not just a mage in training. You are Louise's familiar, are you not?"
"Well…yeah, I am." Tlopfest narrowed his eyes at Wardes, his eye starting to glow slightly red-green. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"Well, Louise seems to have summoned quite the familiar, so I just wanted to see how well you could handle yourself."
Tlopfest stared at Wardes for a moment before sighing. "Fine, but in the morning, alright? If we're gonna duel, we may as well be at our best, right?"
Wardes smiled and stuck his hand out. "May the best man win."
Tlopfest shook that hand, still leery about Wardes. "If he really does have some vis crystals…I guess this would be a good way to see just how much power those things can give to the mages of this world."
After chatting about some other things for a bit more, the group headed upstairs to bed…well, most of them at least. Guiche decided he would go about and wander the town for a bit.
"Can't exactly say I'm entirely surprised at that. I just wish he'd get his head out of his rear already and just focus on his actual girlfriend…" Tlopfest was outside his room, leaning on the balcony with Derflinger by the side.
Derf then decided to pop out of his scabbard to chat. "Partner, are you sure about this whole thing? What with those 'Crystaline group' people and stuff…"
"I know, I know, they aren't exactly the best looking buch." Tlopfest sighed, putting his head down on his hands. "But they have access to vis crystals somehow, and right now that's my only way of even possibly having another shot at Thaumaturgy here."
"You've gone on about Thaumaturgy for so long at this point. How great is it exactly that you keep being captivated by it?"
"Well…I mean, it has some really useful things in it, and, well…I did tell Louise I'd look into seeing if it was possible. And I mean, it seems to be somewhat, given that I was able to make a crucible from Colbert's cauldron." Tlopfest got said item out to emphasize his point, though when he took a closer look at it, he noticed something…missing. "Wait…" Tlopfest turned around and put it on the ground to get a closer look. Looking at that 'crucible' a bit more, Tlopfest realized that the Thaumatrurgical seal was not actually present on it. "The…the seal isn't there?! Wait, so then…" Tlopfest started pacing around, thinking about what went on.
"Oi, partner, care to fill me in here?"
Tlopfest stopped his pacing, taking notice of Derflinger again. "Oh, right, sorry. Long story short, I dusted some not-salis mundes, which is basically a magic powder, on Colbert's cauldron and it turned into this. Apparently that mixture causes items from here to become minecraftian, but not thaumaturgically sound…" Mumbling some more to himself, Tlopfest eventually came up with an idea. "You know…if those guys could get their hands on some vis crystal clusters, and my 'Nuke' staff ended up here too…what's to say that some of my other items didn't end up somewhere here in this world?" Tlopfest thought back to his lab, where he grew mystical agriculture plants for just about everything. Iron, gold, copper….redstone. "What if…somewhere here, someone has found some of my mystical seeds….?"
Even more Minecraftian possibilities huh? Well, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter (even with it being, once again, on the smaller side I suppose). As always, if you notice any strange errors or the like in here, feel free to leave a review/PM me. See you in the next chapter!