And then and then and then [Paragon]

[Urs Wardell]

3rd of Glade

The world had ended.

The city’s Shokaze died. His son abducted. A white wedding turned red.

Urs hadn’t gone. He hadn’t any interest in the social lives of the Kalzasi’s elite. Or, he hadn’t.

Then the arrests began. Rumors of Zaichaer involvement. Any and everyone suspected of being involved was rounded up for questioning. He’d been forced to stop his own investigations into the Covens. Urs had dismissed Toothless. He wouldn’t be reaching out to Imogen or Carina, not now. The risk was too great.

For them. For him.

The portal network had been compromised. The Tower of Spells had reported it.

The portal network he’d planned to use, to reach Zaichaer. Now, that avenue was close to him. And, with the active searches being conducted he wasn’t sure he’d be able to continue looking for clues about whatever family he supposedly had. The Grymalka wouldn’t be so easily found. And now, with the growing threat of war between the two cities, Urs was worried he’d never find them.

--
The Spinning Coin, The Low City

It would be easier to speak here, truthfully. The outskirts of Kalzasi were patrolled, but by lesser guards, and the people who visited the Spinning Coin were far more interested in the shine of future gold than anything he would say. He’d written to Agatha at the end of Frost - he hadn’t been able to use the portals to reach her but there were still couriers.

There hadn’t been much in the way of explanation. Not that she’d need it - she’d know what he wanted to speak about, what his worries were.

Urs waited in a corner, with two mugs of frothy ale. It wasn’t especially to his liking but it allowed a wider view of the tavern. The people gambling and laughing and drinking. The two of them would catch anyone trying to listen in to their conversations well before they were able to hear much of anything too damning.

All Urs had to do was wait - and hope that Agatha came.

[Paragon]

P A R A G O N

“An interesting place to arrange a meeting, Urs.” She was dressed in simple clothing, giving no indication of her affiliation with the Circle of Spells. Agatha seated herself across from the young man, reaching out to draw the mug of ale to herself. She picked it up and took a sip. What she thought of its taste she kept to herself as she leveled Urs with a stare. Several things went unspoken in that gaze. The riskiness of their conversation. The likely topic that Urs was seeking. The events that had transpired in the city and now the arrests that were happening.

“We best be quick.” Setting the mug down, she thumbed the side. “Ask your questions. I will answer them if I am able.”

The doors to the tavern opened, prompting Agatha to glance over to the entrance. Two armored Sky Guard walked in and made their way over to the bar. Their arrival prompted little reaction from the people in the room at large and Agathar kept her face studiously blank before returning her attention to Urs. The already risky conversation was about to grow that much more risky with the presence of two soldiers just across the room. Nevertheless, she kept a cool composure.

[Urs Wardell]

Sky guards.

He was tempted to cast his magic out, to spend up his power to spy any attention thrown their way before they were figured out. Agatha would be careful enough to hide her Aura. Urs couldn’t, not yet, but it wasn’t unusual for a mage or two to be hidden beyond the gambling tables. There were cheats everywhere, no matter the talents.

“Is it over?”

His investigation, she’d know. Urs had told her everything before the black wedding. Imogen. Carina. A possible link to the Covens. A way, maybe, to find the family that he’d never known. He’d read Mother’s book back to front and it was impossible to make sense of the stories. Or, make any more sense of them than he’d already had. Agatha had provided the help she could. And now, with war imminent, or close enough, what else could he do but wait it out.

Mother, the Witch of the Midden, would’ve gone - armed, ready to claim whatever she felt was hers.

But she’d been stronger than Urs was. A better witch, more than just a Seer.

“...I don’t know what to do.” He said, his voice tired. Everything felt hopeless. He’d been so close.

[Paragon]

P A R A G O N

She brought her mug closer to her and examined the rim as though she found something interesting within the confines of its interior. When Urs posed his question, she quirked a brow.

“With that attitude, yes. It is.” She quirked an eyebrow at the young man as she wrapped her hands around the mug. One thumb grazed along the outside of the mug in thought. It was several moments before Agatha spoke again.

“You are a mage, Urs. With the power of Sight on your side. I suggest you begin using it.” The woman reached into her robe and produced a tarot card. On it was the Magician. To the mundane eye it appeared as nothing more than an ordinary card, an esoteric and mystical thing that was exchanged between mages.

“There are doors open to you that cannot be seen with the eyes of an ordinary man.”

[Urs Wardell]

The Magician.

Mother had read cards. She’d glimpse the blinding future, she’d sworn, and yet she missed her own death. She hadn’t understood the signs. Or, maybe she had, and hadn’t cared, or because her death played a role in something greater.

Urs didn’t know - couldn’t know.

He remembered her teaching him, once, about the future. Divination, she’d called it, as she laid the cards out before him, the air heavy with incense. She’d shown him the Magician, and said that it pointed to talents, signaling what would be useful, soon. Witches, she explained, had all sorts of ways to plan and scheme. A few relied on the cards to better unravel the present or catch some misfortune before it had time enough to spin out of control.

Urs stirred his magic, and the world changed.

Clearer, sharper, and with a thought, he focused all of his power on the card. The Magician. Hidden talents.

He fed the spell, unraveling whatever secrets it might have, because that would be the key to figuring out all the rest.

[Paragon]

P A R A G O N

The world was still for a moment before the card revealed its secrets. At first the card was normal, with nothing out of the ordinary but as Urs focused his sight he would begin to be able to see a thin layer situated over the card. It was a false layer of aether signaling that some manner of enchantment had been placed upon it. With just a little more focus, that layer fell away in Urs sight revealing a layer upon which was written various symbols. Sigils. The presence of Scrivening. With enough time and study, the truth of the symbols meanings would certainly reveal themselves. Before Urs had a chance to continue to study the card further however, Agatha reached up and touched the edge of the card, prompting Urs to lower it to the table.

She brought out a tarot deck and set it before her as though she were about to perform a reading.

“Many are the roads open to us in the future.” Agatha only very slightly glanced in the direction of the Sky Guards who did not yet seem to notice them. It was clear that she was speaking in code. Many were the roads available to Urs in order to pursue his goals.

“You but need to choose the proper path.” She spread a few cards out in front of her. A glance at them would reveal that same unfocused layer on each of the cards. Each one had some manner of enchantment on them. Before Urs could focus further on any of them, Agatha scooped them up and collected the deck. She slid it in Urs direction.

“I think you need to pay a visit to Fletcher.” That was a name that any mage in Kalzasi would know. The proprietor of Dust to Dawn was a figure of both good and ill repute among the magical circles of the city. Though he never openly practiced necromancy, the man facilitated the requests of those who practiced it, no matter how unusual they were.

[Urs Wardell]

Fletcher.

He had vague memories of the man - and his shop. Mother had made no secret of her dealings with the rumored Necromancer. He was never especially cruel, but the old man had something sharp about him. The way his eyes had searched for anything that glimmered. Mother had told him once that Fletcher could find anything in the world, if only you could pay the price.

Money, she explained, was its own kind of magic.

“It’s been a while since I last saw him,” he said, catching the deck of cards. Agatha was a mystery, but for once - luckily - she wasn’t holding her cards so close to her chest. “Everything he sells is so expensive.”

Urs was hardly a Necromancer. He’d planned to study it, at both the Tower and the Tranquil Gardens, but so far he hadn’t found the opportunity. He’d grown, in otherways, as a surgeon and a seer, but he’d remained unimpressive with magics Mother had wielded as easily as some people breathed.

He flipped a card - and his magic speared it, understanding coloring the world brighter.

Sigils, just beyond the card’s decoration. He’d wasted time. Scrievening wasn’t so hard to study, especially not for a student of the Tower - and yet, he let whatever skill he had stagnant. It’d take time to investigate the meanings here. Time, and a place not overrun with Sky Guards.

He frowned.

“I can only hope to find the proper path, then,” he said, placing the cards carefully in his pocket. He could only imagine what each card did, or if they all served a similar purpose. Hope, impossible to hold, kept the cards warm. A new direction.

“I appreciate the reading. The future has always been…so hard for me to discern.”

He got up from the table - it wouldn’t be so dangerous for them to be seen together, but everyone was being questioned. While he was sure both he and Agatha had the skills to hide Truths, when needed, it’d be easier if they finished this meeting, and quickly.

“Thank you.”