After his last adventure, Twoflower decided to settle for a few years in the hamlet of Ringwashes, enjoying the Island air and exploring the local peoples and cuisines.
"Island life is idyllic", he thought to himself, "I just have to pick berries if I'm hungry and drink fresh stream water if I'm thirsty. The natives let me stay with them if I'm tired and the sun warms my skin without ever burning it!"
So time passed swiftly for Twoflower in pastoral delight, until on a sunny day in 1723, Greg Silkbottoms was once again summoned to Twoflower's side.
"I've been bitten!" he exclaimed to his dimunitive guide after giving him a hearty hug of welcome.
With concern, Greg looked his client over critically before replying, "Y-e-ess? Do you need me to go get a doctor?"
"No, no! I've been bitten by the travel bug, I mean."
"Ah... And where is it you'd like to travel?"
With a grin, Twoflower enthused, "I've heard of a tower full of wizards just to the north of here. Wizards! There's supposed to be one there who can teach people how to do magic! I want to go there and see that for myself. Wizards!"
So Twoflower and his trusty guide, Greg Silkbottoms set out once again in search of magic and adventure.
Following the river northward, they stayed for a night in the hamlet of Touchraced before setting out once more to their destination: The Wizard's Tower of Lightningscar.
A few hours hiking north of Touchraced, a small, ugly green troll-thing jumped out at Twoflower. While he started in alarm, Greg merely swatted the pest away and kept going. "Mind where you put your hands, Mr. Twoflower", he cautioned his charge, "there might be more of those little buggers around."
Not long after, They came across a patch of soft blue grass that seemed strangely familiar even though he'd never seen blue grass before. Then it hit him.
However, a goat browsing the soft grass took issue with their traversing its field and chased them for awhile, bleating angrily and nipping at their heels.
Barely escaping the attentions of that rabid goat, the two found came upon a shrine nestled in a hidden valley. Hovering serenely amongst the ancient carven pillars was a sight to behold:
**Welcome, travellers** buzzed a calm voice in Twoflower's head.
**I've been waiting for you.**Both Twoflower and his guide started in surprise, but the silent giant insect merely floated serenely, bobbing gently in the breeze but remaining in its place among the pillars.
**Come.** it commanded once again, and their legs moved them forward at once without their volition.
While he was trying hard not to show it, Greg was a little worried about this turn of events. Twoflower, on the other hand, was excited to be a "Chosen One". Wait till his freinds in Ringwashes heard about this!
Gazing up at the serenely floating bug, he spoke solemnly, "Why, oh serene one, were you waiting for us?"
**As it was written in "The Indigo Sweat": "One-eye and far-eye will come to the Shrine, there to bear holy bones to the people of Uncertainty. The chosen ones will find wisdom in the path of the Goat and the Kestrel."
The remains of the human, Abbabnu Conaboinabu lie here in my shrine and also the tablet Muthroethro, upon which are inscribed runes of power. Bear these both to Akmolanthath and the prophecy will be fulfilled. As it is written, so must it be.**The deafening silence was broken by the cry of a kestrel winging swiftly across the sky to the west and without a further word, the giant mayfly rose majestically into the sky, dissappearing into the light of the noon-day sun.
"Well!" Twoflower said after a moment of awe, "You don't see that every day!"
Shaking his head in bewilderment, Greg replied, "No, you certainly don't."
Climbing down between the pillars, the skeletal remains of a human lay amongst several coins and dull suits of steel armor. One, chased with silver, caught Twoflower's eye and he tried it on for size. "How do I look?", he asked Greg. "Er... Well protected sir.", his guide replied tactfully. Well pleased, Twoflower decided to keep on wearing it - there was something to be said for protection from chafing and stubbed knees. Scattered around the bones were a mining pick and several coins. After picking up each coin and examining it, Twoflower decided that he didn't know where the Uncertain Confederation was, but that maybe the Wizards of Lightningscar would be able to help him on his sacred quest. Explaining this to Greg was met with a long silence followed by a shrug. "It's your vacation, sir."
A little more searching found a gneiss slab with writing carved along one side. "Can you read this?", he asked Greg. "No sir." was the reply. "Hmmmm... said Twoflower looking at the flowing runes. I wonder what this thing says. Grab those bones, Greg and we'll head off to the wizards." So saying, he proceeded westward, following the path the kestrel had taken. Sighing, Greg gathered up the human's dry bones and followed.
In the late afternoon of their second day, the two companions finally came upon the wizards' tower. Lightningscar was actually a castle with many towers along its wall and a lively population of dwarves living below it.
"We are all that's left, now.", explained the Captain of the Gaurd, "We were originally tasked with maintaining while the wizards performed their studies, but one day, we came up to find the grounds empty of our former employers." The Captain ruminated a bit before continuing, "It's a nice enough place, plenty of comfy areas for the old staff to raise their families, so we've just decided to stay here and keep the place ready, should the wizards ever choose to come back. I just hope those necromancers leave us alone...", he muttered tha last quietly into his breard so that Twoflower wasn't sure he'd heard it at all. Dwarves were odd little fellows, to be sure.
"Do you know the way to Akmolanthath, or The Uncertain Confederation?", Twoflower asked, politely ignoring the Captain's mutters.
"Can't say as I've ever heard of either of those, but we don't tend to get away from the 'Towers much, if you catch my meaning.", replied the Captain kindly. "You're welcome to look through the books here, though. I'm not a reading type, myself, so I can't tell you if any of them will be very helpful."
So Twoflower searched through the collected wisdom of Lightningscar Towers, searching for some clue that would lead to the completion of his quest.
He found:
A fungiwood tablet named "Kordilol, The Ordered Banner", which taught the secrets of mental discipline, which in turn helped him decipher the Gneiss slab from the shirine.
A gneiss tablet named "Muthroethro, Deadbows", which taught the secrets of Geomancy.
A fifteen page essay bound in thin, dark leather called "The Murk: A New Approach". It claimed to be about another book called "The Murk of Satins", but quickly became an obvious reservoir of clever quips, possibly to be read while on the toilet.
A book that simply disappeared in a puff of smoke when he tried to pick it up.
Maybe it was "The Murk of Satins, but Twoflower suspected it was merely a Wizard's version of the cup of water placed above a door left slightly ajar. He chuckled a little at the image and thought nothing more about it.
None of these, however, even so much as mentioned anything pertaining to his quest. He'd picked up some useful knowledge about magic, so the visit wasn't a total loss.
The next morning, Twoflower sadly related to the Captain that he still had no idea which way to go to complete his quest. The Captain mused a bit more, then suggested they continue west to the village of Shingledcommunions. Perhaps someone there would be able to help them further. In consolation, Twoflower was gifted with a beautiful steel chessboard, which he tucked under one arm and waved the other in a cheery goodbye to the castle in general before the duo set off to the west once more.
Entering the town, Twoflower saw it was filled with beings even smaller than the dwarves, dressed in leather clothes and many wearing goggles or eyeglasses. Enchanted, he called out to one of them. "Take me to your leader!"
The leader turned out to be none other than an actual wizard!
"Stay here with me, young man, and I'll teach you the secrets of Wizardry!" Cabolz offered. "I see a seed of sorcery within you and would love to help it grow."
So Twoflower decided to become a student of this wizard for awhile and practice the skills he'd learned along the way. The wizard, in return, got an enthusiastic pupil for a time.
The tour of 1723 had certainly been one filled with adventures, and Twoflower was very pleased with the new direction his life had taken. Soon, he'd be a powerful wizard, able to craft his own books that went >poof!<
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Topic: The luckiest tourist EVER (Update underway...) (Read 88291 times)