The Captain's new recruits showed up a couple of days later as I was standing in the town square trying to remember if the aura thing had been 10ft or 15ft, because it was saying 15ft now. I had started putting copper coins in the cup, telling Seth to let people know if they needed a coin to borrow it, but return it to Telina when they were able. He grumbled something about 'fools throwing away money, be getting thieves now we be laying money around', but eventually nodded and said "Know some who could use ta help"

Telina had been pleased by the idea and I could feel her presence, and her approval when I walked away from Seth. I tried to send the thought that she didn't seem to mind me giving away money, but she sure had a problem with me getting money. Stupid woman just giggled in my ear. I'm really not sure about the propriety of a goddess giggling in peoples ears.

Anyway, I was standing in the square staring at the cup when Andulin showed up with three people, a woman and two men. The woman was human, dark haired, slim, and wearing mage robes with a staff in her hand. The two men were obvious human archers, both in nice looking leathers with bows across their backs.

"Priest Loser" Andulin said, probably to hear the grinding teeth noise "Our new guards have arrived" he gestured at the woman and said "Mage Mirabeth. An elemental mage of the 10th level" waving at the other two he said "and guards Yolan and Greggs, both archers of the 13th level"

They all looked seriously competent, with Mirabeth showing a health of 65 and the other two being 95 and 110 respectively. I nodded to the archers first and said "One of my eternal friends is a ranger of the 12th level and her archery skills are a true benefit when fighting evil creatures. I'm pleased that Captain Andulin managed to find others with such skills"

The two guys mumbled "Pleased" and "our thanks" but otherwise only nodded a greeting. I shrugged and turned to the mage to say "Mage Mirabeth, I am happy to see you and would enjoy an opportunity to speak with you later as I know little about mages and could use any knowledge you are willing to impart" Yeah, I know, but the whole place had gotten me talking like that, and honestly it seemed to make the locals more receptive to my ideas.

She was quite the serious gal, just giving me a solemn nod and saying "As you please Priest Loser. I have heard many unusual tales regarding you and Mudtown, and would in turn enjoy discovering the truth behind them"

Wow, that was almost...inquisitive. The locals didn't question things, that was kind of their thing. Mirabeth was cracking the mold a little here. "Sure, love to do that" I said in return, then looked back at the cup when Andulin led them away.

A young woman holding a small boy by the hand sort of sidled up to me, both of them looking a little ragged, with the boy peeking at me from around his mother's leg. She looked embarrassed as she hesitantly said "Sir...Priest. I have heard that...that one may gain charity from...from Telina here?"

I smiled down at the boy, grinning at how he would peek out, then duck back as he saw me looking. Nodding to the woman I said "You are correct miss. Holy Telina has asked that those who have comfort be generous to those who are striving to find that comfort. Honesty and hard work are our blessings upon her land, and she knows that hardship and misfortune can undo anyone. Please take from her cup what you need to ensure food and shelter for you and your family. She asks only that when you have found your own comfort, that you be generous in turn"

The guys in my old team would really pay money to hear me now.

She smiled shyly and stepped up to the cup, then hesitantly reached in and pulled out a silver coin. I was surprised to see it since I had only been putting in coppers. Man, now I felt cheap. She clutched it tightly before giving me a quick half-bow and led the boy over to one of the food vendors.

With a sigh I tossed a couple of more silver pieces in, noticing the cup was about half full of copper, and a few silver pieces. I began whistling 'yellow submarine' as I wandered down to the apothecary to get some more vials. I was going to do a few potions and thought I might look at the rune thing if I could get Mirabeth to tell me a little about them.

Andulin and Mirabeth showed up at the Inn (which now had a sign hanging over the door that said "Burning Mage Inn", which I thought extremely appropriate), while I was sitting at my table in the corner, sipping ale. When they stopped at my table Mary gave them a nod and headed off to get them drinks, giving me a wink as she left. I was feeling really good about my chances and kind of wished Andulin had picked a better time. Shrugging I waved for them to take a seat and said "Welcome Captain, Mage Mirabeth"

Mirabeth wasn't big on the small talk, just leaning her staff on the wall as she took a seat, folding her hands in her lap, and saying "You are an eternal Priest Loser, so I am surprised you are not able to access knowledge of mages. The other eternals I have met appear to think they know everything there is to know"

I barked a laugh at the straight-faced insult and said "Very true. As a group they are quite the bunch of buttheads" the two of them exchanged confused looks at the butthead, but I just powered on by saying "but my entry into Tarinath was fairly unusual and I was not given access to much of the knowledge the others were given" The Captain took a drink of the ale Mary dropped off, then said "Loser is different than any other eternal you will meet Mage"

"Apparently" she said coolly, but giving me a small straight lipped smile "so what information would you wish to know?"

"My understanding is that most if not all the eternal mages are elementals like yourself" I said as I leaned forward and rested my arms on the table "I would like to know the strengths and weaknesses inherent in that class, and anything you can tell me about how mages restore their mana"

She blinked in confusion for a moment, then bit her lip as she studied me thoughtfully. Finally nodding to herself, she said "At some point a mage chooses the path they will follow, elemental, defensive, or necromantic. Elemental magery is the control of the basic elements other than earth. Elemental magic is offensive magic, and those of us who have chosen it are strong on attack, but weak in defense. Once the elemental path is chosen, a mage further specializes in ice, fire, or lightning. Those who follow the cold path are able to freeze their enemy in place for a time and do considerable damage over that time as the cold saps their opponents health. A fire mage such as myself uses bolts of flame, or larger balls of fire to do high damage on impact, and small damage as the flames continue to sap health. Lightning mages are few because they do not come into their power until they reach level 20 or more as the mana cost per spell is very high, though terribly devastating when used. There are few things as powerful as a level 25 lightning mage, but there are few that survive to reach that level" she paused to see if I was following, and at my nod continued "all mages begin with a few simple spells, such as the common sleep spell, various types of immaterial armor, and simple flame or cold touch spells. Being a new mage is a trying time as our powers are weak and it takes time to become strong enough to survive the wilds. I have been told that eternal mages spend much of their early life in Tarinath dying in a large variety of ways" she gave a cold smile of approval at that.

She sipped her ale before saying "After choosing the elemental path our skills become so narrowly focused that they make using our element much cheaper in mana, but raises the mana cost of the non-element spells to extremely high levels. I, as a fire mage, can send a dozen fire bolts, or four fireballs with the mana I hold, but am limited to one sleep spell, or two mage armor spells before I must restore. The remote seeing spells, invisibility spells, and other higher level spells are not available to elemental mages"

"Invisibility?" I mumbled in surprise. Her and Andulin both nodded as she said "Quite. Those who follow the defensive path access those types of spells. There are some half dozen mages I know who follow this path, and all are highly prized within the empire, but much of their offensive skills lie in the magic missile spell or something similar. They are initially rather potent after specializing, but actually become less dangerous as they increase in skills. The low level offensive magic peaks at the 15th level, and they gain no others after specializing. They are potent in defense, using illusions, invisibility, and far seeing to hide, confuse, and gather information, but must remain far from the battle"

We all sat quietly for a time as I processed all that, but when I finally looked back up, Mirabeth said "Necromancers are the bane of all living things. Their power comes by taking the life force of others. I believe one eternal has chosen this path, but she is the only one I have heard of. They draw mana from living creatures, so are not welcome in the human, dwarf, or elven cities. The spells for raising the dead, or for drawing upon another's health are very powerful at higher levels, but are weak early on this path" She leaned back and crossed her legs, stroking her robe smooth before saying "Unlike necromancers, we mages draw mana from around us, slowly enough not to disturb or injure as a necromancer does. This is a mages greatest weakness, and one that we spend much gold attempting to resolve. An apothecary can create mana potions that will restore mana to a magic user, but they are costly as the ingredients require plants rich in mana. They are more costly than the healing potions sold by these same apothecaries as it is known we must have them to survive" she raised a hand so I could see a golden ring on her finger and said "alternatively a mage must find enchantments that aid her in more quickly restoring her mana after use. My ring does such by increasing my restore rate by 30%, though the cost if purchased would be hundreds of gold coin"

I looked between the two of them, then asked "So why does anyone choose to be a mage?"

"Do not be confused by mage Mirabeth's listing of weaknesses Loser" Andulin said "In a battle she would destroy most of my men before I could bring swords to bear. At a distance an elemental mage with full mana is a devastating opponent. A fireball will stun my men as they burn, delaying them for the mage to launch even more magic at them. A warrior cannot ignore a mage in battle as the damage is to costly, which allows the enemy warriors opportunity to strike freely as we evade magic attacks. I would gladly face three archers rather than one elemental mage"

"Truly" Mirabeth said softly "you will not face a lone mage unless by luck. Fire can be dangerous to ones own forces, but we are well trained in the strategies necessary to maximize our potential. Should we face attackers, the captain knows I will use my magic in a manner that allows him to use his forces effectively" Her words made me wonder about the eternal mages. Most eternals seemed to be aggressive morons, so I wondered if they ended up doing damage to their own forces in a chaotic battle. In my experience the only battles that weren't chaotic were ambushes that came as a complete surprise, and they were few and far between.

Nodding my head sideways at her staff, I asked "What's with the staves?"

"A mages staff helps focus and enhance our spells" Mirabeth said "At one time it was said a staff could hold spells, but now they are enchanted to add damage to your spells, reduce the mana required, aid in defense, and increase your mana restore rate. The more powerful staves combine these in many ways, with some staves aiding elemental magic, and others defensive"

"So you guys are all about the enchanted stuff" I said slowly as I considered her words. The enchanted items were force leveragers on this world, that was for sure. Warriors wanted something to increase hit damage, archers the hit and accuracy multipliers, mages the restore and enhance items, and everyone wanted the base stat increasers. Seemed like something I needed to start accumulating. Shrugging, I looked up to ask "What about runes?"

"I know little about them" Mirabeth said "as they are the bailiwick of the priestly class. They are found on chests and doors, protecting the contents from those who would open them. Others are placed on walls or the floor to prevent creatures from passing or crossing over them. Some were known to do more than destroy, but even the tales say little about them now. Runes are supposedly the written language of the goddesses, but if true, we know only a few of their words"

"They can be quite versatile and dangerous" Andulin said "I have seen some that respond only if certain words are not spoken, or allow only certain people to pass them. I have crossed one that did nothing until one of our members, a half-orc, passed over it, and it destroyed him in a flash of lightning" he shrugged before adding "but they are rare now, and usually only found in the old dungeons and buried cities. Knowledge of their creation has been lost, or the priests are preventing their use" he gave me a narrow-eyed look and asked "Is it possible that you are a rune writer Priest Loser"

I shook my head and said "I've never written any runes, so I have no idea if I can" I wasn't about to start volunteering anything until I knew it wouldn't bring a horde of player killers down on me. I was already a little worried that my healing potions would start attracting the wrong kind of attention. Shaking my head to clear the thought, I said to Andulin "I'm not sure I mentioned it, but if you have to defend the town, send someone for me and i'll pitch in" which made me remember something else. Pulling out six healing potions I set them on the table and said "give a couple to Mirabeth, Yolan, and Greggs"

"You are overly generous" Mirabeth said doubtfully, her eyes on the potions. I chuckled before saying "Self-interest. This is my home, and I can't have people damaging my home"

"Truly spoken" Analon said, rising and picking up the potions "The towns people have worked long and hard to build lives here, and it is Telina's will that those of us who can fight, must defend those who cannot"

Hey, those were my words. I grinned at hearing them spoken so seriously by the Captain, but didn't harsh his buzz by being negative, just saying "No one messes with Mudtown"

----

So runes. I headed back to my room to see what was what.

Create Rune

Ability to learn and place runes of power

Player determines activation requirements

(Cool down 3 days)

Rune of Flame:

When activated by user will do 100 points +5/level of fire

100 Mana when placed

I could pull up the spell and read what it said, but what it said didn't tell me diddly squat about what it did. A rune of flame that does a 100 points of damage. So did that mean to everyone around it? Could I put a rune on a rock, tell it to explode when touched by my enemies, than throw the rock like a holy hand grenade? The three days thing was also going to be a real bitch. Twice a freaking week? So if I do one wrong I have to wait half a week to try again? Kind of pissed me off really. A mage can throw fireballs all day long, but I could only write one of these things every three days. At level 7 it would be doing 135 points of damage, something that would kill most mid-level monsters, but wouldn't kill me or Dalmar. It would be kind of useful in a one shot sort of way, but I wouldn't be able to tell how useful until I made one. Sighing, I decided if I was going to do this I might as well go all the way.

Pulling out my mace, I set it on my small table, and because everything else started with it, I cast the blessing spell on the mace. I couldn't tell blessing it did anything, but I also couldn't tell it did shit to the water vials, so just did it and did a mana restore. Pulling up the rune spell I studied the rune itself until I had it in my mind, then drew on Telina and began tracing the rune on my mace. I must have done it right, because glowing white lines followed my finger as I formed the rune. When I was done I got:

Rune of Flame - 135 points damage

Activation Requirements?

I wasn't sure what had to be done here, so I both thought hard about it, and spoke the words.

"I want the rune to arm when I am holding my mace and say "It's Clobberin Time!", then activate when it hits my enemy, doing damage only to that enemy"

There was a long pause, then I got

Done!

What did I expect? This magic stuff was really lousy in the good feedback area. If the thing worked like I wanted it to, I would have the one big hit I needed during the dragon fight. Of course this all relied on me actually managing to hit something. The fact that I managed to miss a forty foot lizard while standing two feet away didn't bode well for any future situations. Neither Dalmar or Maria seemed to ever miss, which made it really embarrassing when you end up flailing around like a moron. Well, if I do connect, my Mace of Serious Clobbering would make it count. I hoped Stan Lee wasn't wandering around in here anywhere. With his imagination I had no doubt he would be kicking ass and taking names.