Never has the phrase “Oh Dear” been written so remarkably evident on a face as was now formed the visage of Nequmus Iniqus. He looked at the letter again and again, alternating looks of concern and wonder shifting like tides across his brow and chin.
Teauria admitted to herself she’d tried to open it, just once. As soon as the wax seal began to strain, a sharp green light had laced out and a vicious shock had tossed her off her chair. But when the wizard touched it, it opened like softened butter.
“Well? What does it say?”
The wizard looked startled, as though he’d forgotten she was there. “I have no idea whatsoever.”
“No idea? What? Why are you looking at it that way then? You can’t read it at all? Let me see maybe its a language you don-“
He rose to his feet and thrust the open letter towards her face. She took a step back. There were no words on the paper. Instead there were swirls, writhing picture of serpents and dragons and bones and talons, moving and curling in living motion along the surface of the parchment.
“That-” the wizard gestured dramatically- “is what I’m concerned about. It’s beyond peculiar.”
“I’ll say. I mean is that what magic scrolls normally look like? I’ve never actually seen a regular book so I don’t really know. I can’t read.”
Nequmus gazed at her pityingly. “Well it wouldn’t matter. That’s the whole problem. It’s written in a language that, to my knowledge, was created by me and only I can read. I normally use it for my notes, to keep my secrets…secret. But no one can read it without a device I created, which I keep hidden, and far away; I have always thought that likewise, it could only be written under that same device. This can only mean someone has broken into my deepest vault and is plundering my magic as we speak. I must make haste. I have delayed too long already. Tell me again, how long have you had this letter?”
She once more relayed the tale of how she got the letter, and Nequmus Iniqus looked increasingly horrified, and also perplexed. He knew of no magic user that would dare invade his vaults. Who could possibly be this powerful that he didn’t know of? It was shaking him to his core. He hadn’t been scared in many years; the feeling didn’t sit well, a cold knot inside.
The two ended up talking more and more, till it was decided (due to Teauria’s stubborn insistence) that the wizard would need a group for the journey, as well as a significant amount of provisions and equipment. The hunter, the farm girl and the wizard (and the hound) set forth into the city to find worthy companions and all the rest they needed.
