Tee hee!

A heavy weight pressed from every direction the moment Nyx stepped onto the tiles of Sorcerous Sundries. Her were whiskers sluggish, requiring more conscious effort to maintain. She stole a glance at Astarion, and tension lined his shoulders as well. Gale and Tav walked at their normal pace, seemingly quicker to adjust and strode on ahead.

It was strange, finding a place of light and wonder now cast into darkness and shadow. The persistent press of the wards didn't help either, and Nyx tried not to think what would happen should their magic-stealth spells to drop. They cleared the entire emporium within a few steps. Not a soul around meant no sneaking required, which once again didn't feel appropriate given they had broken in and had the audacity not to creep.

Nyx held her breath as Gale worked on the next set of arcane locks, but its audible deactivation yielded no response whatsoever.

Become as complacent as Wyrm Keep's guards? Must be a luxury that comes from city living.

Stepping onto the second floor landing had nothing but books greeted them, and Astarion directed a question to Tav. "Are you sure about his alliance with The Guild? We have no guarantees that they'll keep their end of the bargain."

Tav's silhouette shook her head. "You're thinking of her predecessor. Keene understands that backstabbing everyone leaves you with no friends. She is a businesswoman first-and-foremost; thievery happens to be her choice of trade. Which is the main reason Florrick decided to approach her with an offer in the first place."

Gale said to Tav, "I for one will follow your lead. Keene may not have my trust, but I place all of my faith in yours."

Tav gave him a playful shove with her shoulder, and he pulled her into a walking hug.

Everyone is being so adorable tonight.

Astarion scoffed, "I don't like being caught between The Guild and the Zhentarim. You'll always make enemies when taking sides. Enemies we may not see coming, or have you forgotten about that spectacular shit show in Whitkeep."

Nyx grimaced and decided she'd rather move away from that topic. She chippered, "Don't fret. Stay close to me and I'll tell you where to stab."

The other two snickered, and Astarion drawled, "I feel safer already."

The combination of the increase in magical pressure from the wards and a soft thump on the third floor brought them to a halt. Nyx's heartbeat filled her ears until another thump came from above.

"Just the waves." Astarion said, and they relaxed.

They made their way over to the 'Specialist Magic Services' counter. Astarion and Nyx stood aside for Tav and Gale to deal with the magic seals. Tav hummed a note and drew the simple, cursive sign for detect magic in the air, followed by a melodically rendered 'Revelo arcanum'. A sequence of discs glowed on the floor beyond the counter, different colours overlapping a path down the length of the corridor.

Gale snapped his fingers. "The ol' stacked glyph technique. Very unfortunate for those who aren't magical geniuses."

Nyx rolled her eyes and shared a knowing look with Astarion.

Gale vocalised half the incantation 'Dissolvo' as a command and combined it with a grasping gesture in the air, releasing it with a twisting motion. The spell sped down the hallway as a magical dust-devil, dispelling the glyphs in a series of soft whooshes. Gale was showing off. Nyx joined Tav in giving him a polite round of applause. He made a bend at the waist and beckoned Tav and Nyx through. Astarion tsked at him in passing.

In the office, they stared at the dormant portal; its once mirror-like finish was merely dull stone. Gale set his bag on the desk and said, "Give me a moment, this one requires some preparation. Tav, my dear, would you mind assisting me?"

Having dispelled everything else in the room, Nyx and Astarion loitered about, inspecting the bookshelves. Tomes, to be precise. Books with spines the width and wider than her hand. Leather bound, sporting titles predominantly concerning various magical topics. None of which interested Nyx, not that she would understand any of it in the first place.

"There," Gale said, stooping from his hunched position, charcoal in hand. He dusted his hands off. "We're ready to go."

A sigil had been sketched out on the portal's frame. A cone of power, but its purpose was indecipherable to Nyx. She squinted at the symbols and said, "Looks complicated."

Tav chuckled and sidled next to her. "Not if you know what they mean." She pointed to various parts in turn: "The knock, the latch and the door."

Gale finished by highlighting the longest phrasing, "Override any alarms and cover our tracks - so to speak."

Astarion sighed dramatically. "Yes, yes. All very interesting, can we get on with it."

"Indeed." Gale's magic reached for the portal, and the mirror warbled into place.

The portal's magic wrapped around Nyx when she entered. It pushed back at first, resisting the intrusion, but something snapped and she was moving through space without any motion on her part. A bumpier ride than before, and it set her down heavily into an empty room.

Nothing was discernable, everything was black. She searched for the others, her hand on her chest.

Did something go wrong?

Familiar magic illuminated the space. Tav and Gale flitted into sight under their floating lights, and Astarion stepped into view.

Nyx dropped her hand and looked down. Her body braced for the fall when an impossible chasm yawned before her. "Oohwhaa! I'm standing on air!"

"Minor nuisance, allow me." Gale dispelled the illusion, and the same room from their previous visit to Ramazith Tower materialised.

Scuffing her boot through the lush carpet, the friction and motion beneath her feet eased her racing heart. Astarion sidled next to her, an amused smirk on his lips at noticing the disturbance in the carpet.

Given my history: I like solid ground beneath my feet, thank you very much.

Gale and Tav scouted the room for nasty surprises of the arcane kind. Their floating lights contorting and bending while passing behind display cases of various sizes, outlining the strange shapes of the artefacts within. They circled back to announce they'd found nothing untoward other than the enchantments on the cases.

Gale scratched his beard after probing a nearby cabinet, and its power shimmered red in response. "As tempting as one may find it to touch things. Don't."

Astarion jutted out his hip and crossed his arms. "Why are you looking at me?"

"Would you like me to state the obvious?"

Nyx and Tav left them to their squabbling and searched the room for indications of a way out, let alone one that led to Lorroakan's 'private collection'. Nyx wondered how come the current room didn't fall under that definition - perhaps it was the 'here I show off my important doodads like a museum'. She inspected a series of books arranged in a columnar display, keeping a respectable distance.

Tav remarked from her position at another, "The magic feels distorted as though forcefully altered into a flat note."

Gale drew near, probed Tav's case and said, "Elemental cores, rendered inert. Extraordinary magic with endless application, but dangerous in untrained hands. Would have been better to safely contain their magic than strip it entirely."

"There only thing more tragic than a defanged predator is a caged one." Astarion adjusted his cowl in the reflection of a large glass cabinet sporting the skull of an unknown creature - two holes in its skull where huge canines would have been.

"On that we agree, and I imagine Tara would too. But this," he gestured in a wide arc, "Is all show. For instance," he pointed at the book on the middle shelf of Nyx's bookcase. "Is a heavily redacted version of 'Magical Matrices and Lattices Volume Seven', a copy of which I have in my study."

Nyx squinted at the pages, read one of the passages, and indeed the words made little sense, even for a magical book written in common. "So, to impress those who don't know better? The wizard equivalent of a reception area?"

Tav and Gale echoed each other, "Precisely."

Nyx wrinkled her nose. "Sounds exhausting." And wasteful.

Gale continued to list the items on display and how they had been tampered with to seem like the real article when they weren't. After a pause, Gale called them over, "Ah, and here we have the opposite." With a flick of his wrist, the illusion fell from the door like a curtain. After a cautionary probe of the door and its hallway; they left the reception room behind.

--- --- ---

Astarion passed the same bust of a man with a walrus moustache. The curving corridor was folding in on itself. He asked, "Are you sure you know where you're going?"

Gale confirmed he was, and Astarion said, "I've seen the same questionable depiction of grooming for a third time."

"More illusory magic."

Tav provided unhelpfully, "Try to feel the change in the tower's magic, it responds differently after a few steps."

And how should I do that? Ask it nicely?

At least Nyx was on his side and said, "I'm struggling to pick it up the nuance. Everything feels off to me - like I'm going to trip over something."

Gale and Tav's magic swept the corridor, and Tav replied, "Quite so. In that case, we'll let you know when to start worrying about it."

Astarion's snide remark was cut off by Gale making a left turn and walking right through the wall. Could he at least dispel it?

Astarion instead followed Nyx's example and aligned himself with Tav while stepping through.

At first, he thought they were back in the smuggler's den in Stonyeyes, but no, the tower's ambient magic still fretted at him. His lip pulled into a snarl at the sharp smell of ozone and solvent that left a crackling sensation in his nose. The culprit was the wizardry paraphernalia, similar to that of Lorroakan's den and more.

Where Sorcerous Sundries was organised, streamlined and purposeful; here was a clutter of partial experiments, mixtures and reagents left open to dry out or go stale and haphazardly strewn of sketches and formulas over tables, pinned to the walls and scattered over the floor. Astarion gave them a wide berth - who knows what the idiot left unattended, and the last thing he needed was a polymorphed limb or worse.

Astarion and Nyx kept to themselves in the cleanest part of the laboratory, scanning the surrounding notes while Gale and Tav risked their limbs farther into the room. The notes didn't make sense. Astarion caught reference to the Nightsong in several paragraphs across the floor, but the rest read like the rantings of a madman.

Astarion spotted more mention of the Nightsong on the walls. "Well, isn't he just obsessed?"

Nyx nodded and said, "Seems we've denied him more than we realised."

Staring at a set of glass tubes and beakers, Tav placed her hands on her hips and chewed her lip. "His life's work. It's a miracle he didn't kill us before."

Gale sidled next to Tav and declared, "I wouldn't have let that happen." And he held up a corrective finger. "He's undisciplined, reckless and meddling in things he doesn't understand."

Tav asked, "Creative minds are often unconventional."

Gale shook his head. "Closer to a child when it comes to magic." He gestured to the glass equipment in front of Tav. "A failed attempt at lichdom without a ritual for undeath."

All three of their eyebrows reached their hairlines.

Astarion sighed theatrically, "So, he is a madman."

Taking several steps back and with a hand over her heart, Tav gaped. "That desperate for immortality?"

Gale leaned in closer to the death-trap and scratched his beard. "Indeed. I've heard of stories about wizards attempting soul phylacteries, but this is the first time I witness anyone try to construct one. Neither the weave nor the gods would allow such a thing to exist. A futile attempt at best." He probed the abandoned experiment, and something else replied, making Astarion's skin crawl. He felt Nyx's magic respond, and she too drew her weapons, scanning for the source.

However, Tav and Gale weren't alarmed; instead, Gale exclaimed, "Fascinating!"

Astarion decided he didn't like wizard laboratories, especially not this wizard’s.

It was as though Astarion could feel the magic before it reached his ears. A low pulse that ran through his bones as they drew near. Gale inspected the structure, a hand glued to his chin. "Calibration rings... but why are they here and not affixed to the control system?"

"In common for the rest of us.", Astarion drawled, looking up at the interlocking rings that skirted the ceiling. They remained dark, no expected glow to go along with the pulse.

"Very well," Gale cleared his throat and gestured to the structure, "This is a magical device; standard for a wizard tower to stabilise high level spell casting. And these markings here," he pointed at undecipherable scribbles, "Are from the last era, I would guess this was Ramazith's design. Hmm, Lorroakan bypassed them instead of mastering it for himself. The original design uses an ingenious combination of conduits and-"

Astarion didn't listen to the rest of the jargon filled nonsense. He searched the room for anything remotely useful, but found nothing of value to him. Gale stopped, and Astarion asked, "If we can't use it or take it with us then might I suggest we move along."

Walking around the device saw Tav and Gale searching for an exit again. The devices' pulses were knocking against the back of Astarion's skull, and it was annoying. He spared it a glare between pulses and caught a shimmer out of the corner of his eye.

"Darlings, I believe the door is over there." On cue, the next pulse sparked another shimmer in a rectangular shape against the wall.

"Well spotted." Gale beamed at him.

He inspected his nails and cajoled, "I think an applause is in order." To his satisfaction, Nyx rendered the refined applause he deserved, and they shared a grin.

Tav shook her head and joined Gale at unsealing the door.

After some time, and the borrowing of 'ingredients' from the laboratory itself, the door blinked away and the tower's magic fretted more urgently at Astarion.

Would you stop that?!

It ignored him. How rude.

Gale confirmed Astarion suspicions by way of warning, "We're heading toward the vault. There will be traps, tread carefully."

Astarion wanted to be clear about one thing and said, "Let's take turns. I'll go last."

Nervous chuckles continued ahead of him.

--- --- ---

The press of magic had become a consistent buzz against her whiskers. It was distracting, and Nyx withdrew them, which lifted the tightness in her stomach. She took a steeling breath, trying to remember Gale's teachings about attuning her magic in such places and mentally recited her grounding techniques as well. The churning sensation in her body lessened to a soft swirl, and her body felt lighter. Yet ambient magic became viscous, as though the tower itself was anxious.

Why anxious and not antagonistic? Do all wizard towers feel like this? Why would you make such a place your home?

Her nervousness rose again at them finding several magic traps, then it settled like the tide when both Gale's magical expertise and Tav's trap disarming proved to be superior to any obstacle Lorroakan had thought to put down. The next challenge presented itself as a square chamber, dominated by four platforms, each with magic suspended within.

Huddled in the middle of the room, they surveyed the puzzle.

"Elemental." Nyx observed.

Tav nodded and recited, "Fire, Air, Water, Earth."

Astarion tilted his head. "So, what is the problem?", and Gale provided, "They're not aligned.", receiving frowns.

Nyx squinted at each in turn. The fire burned in a series of rapid, overlapping flames; suspended in mid-air, the water flowed at sharp right angles, upwards and sideways. Tav clapped her hands, directing the sound at the air platform which swallowed it, whereas the earth remained unyielding and lifeless. It was indeed unnatural.

Nyx pointed at the water, "Should that not be smoothed?"

Gale extended his hand, and the water exploded, splattering against the sides of the vessel. The water ran down against the glass before congealing and returning to its contained shape. Gale 'Hmmed' and Tav tested her luck against the air. She sang to it, a clear, sustained note, which was swallowed at first. Tav held fast; the air gave way and moved with the sound instead of capturing it. Once Tav dropped the note, so did the air snap back to its previous form. Gale concluded, "We'll need to tackle them together. Nyx would you be able to takeover the water from me?"

She nodded, Tav tested a few other notes, and Gale volunteered to 'soften' the flames, whereas Astarion was to 'cut-up' the earth and return it to its natural state. They primed their magic and timed their manipulations in sync, releasing each element from its binding. A surprised yelp escaped Tav when the air broke through its confinement to twirl around the diminished flame. The water behaved similarly, escaping its container to seep into the loosened soil.

Gale adjusted his magic and exclaimed, "Ah, ha!", merging the air and fire, turning it into what Nyx could only describe as 'warmth'. Extending his other hand, he claimed the earth and water combination as well, producing a clear white crystal. He held the crystal and the warmth in one hand while merging the remnants of air and water together, creating a red powdery substance. Gale suspended all three in the air above them and recited, "Tria Prima." The separate magical creations collided and congealed into a small metallic figure that landed in Gale's upturned palm.

He smiled at it and showed it to the others with a flourish of hand. "Behold, the perfect form: philosopher's stone. Once thought to have been the key to immortality." His grin widened as they stared at the red gemstone speckled with gold. "Turns out, immortality is far more elusive. Not that the stone isn't an useful alchemical substance."

Astarion narrowed his eyes and asked, "Simply whip it up out of thin air?"

"A great deal more complicated. I just made it look easy."

Astarion scoffed, Nyx snorted and Tav pressed her lips together.

Gale closed his hand around it and turned to the exit. "Let's see where it fits."

The featureless wall was engraved with a single triangle. Gale explained that it represented the alchemical triad: 'Tria Prima'; the three primes. He magically rotated the triangle until one of its corners pointed to the ground and etched the symbols of the primes for each corner. On the bottom: the symbol for salt representing the body; on the right: sulphur representing the spirit; and on the left: mercury representing the soul. He recited, "Corpus, Spiritus, Anima." The symbols and triangles glowed, and three lines from the corners converged in the centre, creating a recess into which Gale placed the philosopher's stone.

Additional lines grew from the centre, splitting the triangle into several other geometric shapes, and more symbols appeared inside the new shapes. None of the symbols were familiar to Nyx, not that it mattered, since a disembodied voice spoke and made them jump out of their skins.

The voice droned, "What is the key to immortality?"

Astarion tapped his foot and gestured to the glowing symbol. "We already fed the stone to it."

Nyx mused, "Surely it can't be as easy as 'philosopher's stone'." To prove her point, nothing happened.

Both Tav and Gale extended their magic and probed at the symbol. Tav informed the others, "Not a trick, but a genuine password request... What do we know of Lorroakan? How would he answer that question?"

Nyx wouldn't know where to begin. "He does seem to make a lot of effort with little gain."

Gale sneered, not averting his gaze from the wall. "Because he hasn't mastered magic yet and he likely never will." The immortality symbol responded to Gale's remark, but not fully. Sweeping his hand over the symbol, Gale enunciated slowly, "Immortality is gained by equalising men and gods."

The glow flickered and faded; something clicked inside the wall. After a few moments of silence, Astarion asked why nothing had happened yet again.

Taken aback, Gale gaped at the symbol and looked to the ceiling. "It's the tower's magic... It's rejecting the answer regardless of it being right."

Nyx shared a concerned glance with the others. "Are wizard towers supposed to do that?"

"No." Gale shook his head, a deep furrow lining his brow. "Most certainly not."

"Why did it?"

"Ramazith's legacy perhaps?"

Tav set her jaw in determination and huffed, "So, the 'borrowed' tower doesn't agree? I don't blame it... I don't either." She mused and strummed her fingers in the air, generating a short burst of musical notes, "The weave and I work together to compose magic like any musical piece; we are companions and compositional equals."

The four of them practically jumped out of their skin collectively when the symbols' magic flared bright and the mechanisms in the walled chimed a loud chorus. The chime travelled through the rest of the tower as well, and a rectangular hole appeared in the wall where the symbol once was. After a stunned moment, they continued onward wordlessly.

Nyx cast a cautionary glance over her shoulder. I do hope we're the only ones who heard that.

---

The vault was a circular room lined with books similar to Sorcerous Sundries. Gale scanned the books and the numerous doors. "For expediency, let's be smart about this." He touched his chest, and the Netherese orb responded, the purple glow of its power running along Gale's neck. His head fixed on a door and he said, pointing, "Through there."

They navigated rooms for what felt like an eternity, several circular rooms with books and doors stacked together, one after the other. Gale remarked that some were real and others were illusions. Nyx made sure to track how many rooms they had traversed and which doors were chosen in each, reaching for her notebook to sketch out a quick map for the return - in case the orb was a one-way compass. Guided by the orb, they reached their intended destination and found themselves in a smaller room with only a handful of display cases.

Finally, the 'private collection'.

According to Gale, it was quite the collection, sporting several of the realm's rarest and most dangerous texts; likely examples of Ramazith's legacy. Astarion asked whether they knew what happened to Ramazith, but Tav could only confirm the rumour of 'him vanishing one day, never to be seen again'.

"Lorroakan had taken over the tower a few years ago."

Nyx nodded to herself; Gale's estimation of inherited power rather than self-procured competence stands. After the mandatory room sweep, they spread throughout the room. An 'Ah-ha' from Gale indicated he found what he wanted and proceeded to magically undo the seals around the display case.

Astarion rummaged through his pack and retrieved his creepy book. A shudder ran down Nyx's spine, and she drifted to his side. Her eyes went wide when he showed her that the crystal grasped in the skull's maw was glowing.

She kept her distance and asked, "Is that normal?"

"Hah! My dear, nothing about this book is 'normal'... I do feel a pull..." He turned, holding the book as though it were a dousing rod. "This way."

Nyx followed with more than a few arm's lengths between herself and that book; its unsettling magic cutting through the tower's ambient press made the goosebumps rise on her arms.

The plaque near the display case read: 'The Tharchiate Codex.' She squinted at the finer text, 'Warning: Use with caution, spells may include curses.'

Nyx set her mouth in a line. Wonderful. And watched with rising queasiness as Astarion removed scrolls from his pack to deal with the seals. Much to her relief, he did give it the necessary respect and meticulously removed the seals with great care, using his dispel magic scrolls liberally. The last of the seal dissipated, and he picked the locks with his usual flourished efficiency.

A cold shudder ran down Nyx's spine when whispers rose from the creepy book the instant Astarion released the other. She asked, "Are they speaking to one another?"

Unperturbed, he tilted his head and listened. "Not a language I recognise, but they do sound more friendly than usual."

"And that makes it even creepier."

He chuckled, stowing the creepy book and, thankfully, the whispers stopped.

Nyx and Astarion headed over to Tav and Gale, whose display box was a light show of colours and magic. A fading clank snuffed all active spells, causing both the multiple locks and the seal to reactivate, but not before kicking Gale in the teeth - magically speaking.

"Blast it!" The furrow in his brow dropped when he saw Astarion with his new book, and he reached out to him, "Wait don't open that!"

Astarion snatched it away from him, shielding it behind his body. "It's mine! Hands off!"

Gale's hand dropped to his side and he gave Astarion an askance look. He spoke calmly, "I'm not trying to rob you. I'm trying to help." He beckoned with open hands and pointed to the book, "The Tharchiate Codex is cursed."

Astarion glanced between the book and Gale. "I, oh.", and presented it, "Alright then, make it go away quickly."

"Ungrateful, thy name is Astarion. My assistance suddenly valuable?"

"Ugh, if you don't help with mine then I won't help with whatever lock your folly is behind either."

"I am indeed in need of your lock picking expertise. Let's me see what I can do." Gale took the book carefully, probing with his magic and reported, "I won't be able to lift all of it."

"Then I won't pick all the locks."

Gale sighed. "Time has done a lot of the lifting. Thus, I can remove enough of what remains in such a manner that it won't cause any lasting damage."

"Meaning?"

"Opening it will trigger what's left, and it'll be unpleasant." He scratched his beard. "By my estimations whatever it inflicts on you would be gone in three days. Give or take."

Tav put in, "Shadowheart could help with the fallout too."

Astarion inclined his head. "I'm game. Do what you must and I'll take care of that." Astarion waved dismissively at the multiple hinge locks.

With the price of services rendered settled, Gale made quick work of the Tharchiate curse, and Astarion made even quicker work of the display case locks after the seals were suspended. Gale received a curt 'thank you' from Astarion after Gale returned the codex, which was stashed immediately.

Nyx held her breath while Gale stared at the second book before picking it up. A gleam of reverence lit up his eyes. "The Annals of Karsus... The preamble to a civilization's downfall, committed to parchment by the very hand that wrought its destruction."

He scanned the front matter and paged to a specific section. The others waited with bated breath. Eventually, he nodded and showed them a diagram of the crown, "There's no doubt - the magical signature, the design, all of it points to the Crown of Karsus atop the Elder brain and the Chosen's ability to control it with the netherstones."

He gazed into the book again, turning a few more pages. "And this - this is no mere journal - it contains Karsus' original plans for the Crown's construction. His designs for godhood."

Tav squared herself with him and said, "The same Crown and hubris that killed him." She frowned at his corrective finger.

"Not exactly. Is was what he did with it that sealed his fate, and for a time, that of magic itself. The Crown was merely the means."

Tav's frown deepened, but he turned from her. He didn't notice, too caught up in the implications of his discovery. A rapid set of theories flowed from him as he paced. "The book states that the Crown and Netherstones were originally one construct... Then seemingly sundered at the moment of Karsus' downfall. If we can collect the crown's setting, and the three Netherstones, and with the correct invocation of certain spells and gestures detailed in these notes... I think I could reforge it."

Tav threw her hands in the air. "To what end? All of ours?"

He snapped the book shut, holding the page with a placeholder finger, and implored, "It won't be an end! It will be the most miraculous of beginnings! The power of the gods in mortal hands at last. We'd be free of doctrine and dogma, confined only by the limits of our imaginations. The gods will never grant us such a blessing, no matter how much we worship and adore them."

Tav's shoulders slumped, and she closed her eyes. "That is not what I want. That is not why I worship - Gale please, you'd risk going against the gods. And if they don't stop you, I'm sure Mystra will - she's not going to risk another mortal playing with her death."

That gave him pause, and his jaw worked, not looking at her. He raised a counter-point, "Ao does not look kindly on gods meddling in mortal affairs - she may have no choice but to stand by and let events unfold."

Tav shook her head furiously. "An omission and you know it. Ao and the other gods had to fix everything the last time magic got stripped from the realms. I doubt they'll risk total collapse of the realms again. Not for the whims of their fellow gods, let alone mortals."

He huffed, and his gesturing became more animated. "Even with the fate of the realms at stake, Mystra has little more to offer me than the means of blowing myself up at a more convenient time. So, they'll happily stand aside for an Elder Brain to turn their followers into mindless servants, and yet do nothing to help us? She has done nothing to help us."

Tav closed the distance between them and asked softly. "Do you truly believe that your path to greatness lies in Karsus’ shadow? By settling a score with Mystra?" She took his free hand between hers. "You are Gale of Waterdeep, and I'll bet every last coin on your inventions bringing real change to people's lives. Have you not seen it already? You’re already building a legacy by helping people in the here and now. Not by rehearsing the past or its mistakes." Her gaze fell to the book in his hands. Shifting her focus, she looked up at the tower. "You but only need to look around you to find inspiration for that."

Gale's gaze followed hers, and silent consideration fell. He set the book aside and took her hands in his. "You're right. I'd rather be mentioned in the same breath as Ramazith than Karsus, or his folly." He paused. "One thing we mustn't allow is for the Crown to be reforged in Raphael's image. A devil wielding the might of Karsus will be an end that the gods couldn't even undo."

Nyx puffed out her cheeks, relieved at the conclusion. Astarion's features held more interest than usual.

Tav hummed to herself. "Raphael won’t get an inch of its power."

Both Nyx and Astarion made noises of agreement.

"Right," Gale remembered himself and his audience. He cleared his throat and placed the book in his pack. "I'll extract as much from the annals as I can for us to use against the Chosen and their forsaken Brain."

Tav beamed at him, and he gave her a sheepish grin, rubbing the back of his head. A cautionary survey of the rest of the room saw one or two more additions to their loot pile. Subsequently, Gale navigated them back out of the illusory maze.

--- --- ---

Tav took a steeling breath, trying to convince the stones in her stomach to turn back into butterflies. She didn't want to argue with Gale, least of all here, but she wasn't going to look on while he strode through a door that he couldn't come back from. She rubbed her mid-section and scanned their surroundings. Grateful as she was for Gale coming to his senses; her crew wasn't out of the woods yet. At least the tower's magic stopped nagging at her like an attention-seeking child.

Her stomach upended after a voice berated them from the shadows upon entering the Elemental chamber. "What are you doing here? Are you crazy!? Do you have a death wish?"

Tav recognised the voice through the pounding in her ears and the sounds of drawing weapons. "Rolan?"

He huffed, crossing his arms, his face remaining in shadow. "Did you not think to reach out? I could have helped, made sure you'll go unnoticed. You need to get out of here before he finds us."

Her reply caught in her throat when Rolan stepped out of the shadows; his face marred with bruises, old and new. Steeling herself, she asked, "Did Lorroakan do that?"

Rolan grimaced and touched his face. "Doesn't matter, come." He started walking and they hurried after while he continued, "It will be nothing compared to what he will do when he finds you here."

Tav didn't care about that. She would return tenfold. "Where is Lia and Cal? Are they safe?"

He flashed her an incredulous look. "Yes. I don't need you to do that.", he made a sharp left and said, "There is a quicker way out, once we're past the laboratory."

Astarion drawled from behind. "You seem awfully keen on helping us instead of reporting us. No loyalties to your new master?"

Rolan spat, "He is not my master, he's a thug and I have very little choice in the matter right now. But I can get you out befo-"

Magic reverberated from one of the many doors outside the laboratory, and Lorroakan stepped through. His face drawn into a scowl, he set his staff on the floor with a resounding thud and sneered, "Why am I not surprised that my useless assistant would not only be stealing from me, but help other thieves do so. And you," he glared at Tav and the others in turn, "Did you honestly think you could traipse about my domain and help yourselves without my knowing?" He addressed Gale specifically, "Your folly precedes you even now, but it won't for much longer."

Lorroakan's staff scraped against the floor and the pull of a summoning spell answered. "Myrmidons! Get rid of these fools!"

And... Roll for initiative   >ᴗ<

A chapter with some role reversals for the group - this was a lot of fun! I wanted to capture a very specific feel for a magical heist using the new techniques I'm trying out and I think I got it down.

The philosopher stone creation was partly by accident after I realized my puzzle is too boring with just the elemental unbindings... And so some accidental and interesting research into western alchemy occurred, which made its way into the chapter too.

So the site I referenced for the creation of the philosopher stone (Alchemy, the Four Elements, and the Tria Prima) on https://www.cabinet.ox.ac.uk has closed down, which was a shame because it had some great content. The closest to this would be https://en.anthro.wiki/Tria_principia and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracelsus#Tria_prima should you be interested.