I'm making these in Campaign Cartographer 3+, which I picked up in a Humble Bundle deal last month. I've been having fun making maps of the areas I wrote about, and thought I'd share them. Just like the rest of this novel these are very much rough drafts, but fun nonetheless.

Strand and everything around it:

Close up of Strand:

Brant's Cave

Admittedly this has been embellished a bit to make it work for the D&D campaign.

Super Deluxe Extra Environment: The Basement of Ellis' Chapel

Another environment that has been added when this turned into a D&D campaign. Also this was me playing with the lighting system in Campaign Cartographer, so the lights are weird and gratuitous.

So yeah, now you know what Strand and the area would look like if they were designed by someone using CAD/mapping software for the first time!

#Chapter

It's after #NaNoWriMo and I'm just “doodling” now, exploring as I plan out a second draft. This is me talking to Daisy. Her comments have bullets before them. Mine don't. It was easier to write this way than full script mode. Hello there Daisy!

• Hi Nate!

So, what I want to do here is get to know you in your own words, what you think and feel about your life and the world in which you live.

• So you're talking to yourself. 😃

Sure. But enough meta-chatter. Tell me about your childhood.

• Well, let's see... I grew up in a pastoral village, just a little place, mostly shepherds or goat farmers or people who raised hay for the sheep and goats. I'm the fourth of six children, three older sisters, two younger brothers. Daddy said he kept having kids until he got a boy, then didn't know how to stop.

Huh.

• Yeah, always classy! Anyway I grew up running around a lot, outside all the time. All my sisters are some shade of blond. The older two are more “dishwater blond” and hate that description.

can't blame them.

• Right? My brothers are both “toe headed” which also means blond? I guess?

That's what I hear.

• So we stand out. My mom named all of us girls after flowers.

Oh, really?

• yeah, honestly, I think I won that lottery, or maybe she finally got good at it when she got me. My sisters are Rose, Lily, and Daffodil.

Oh my.

• Yeah, “Daffy” kind of hates her name and goes by “Dana”. Anyway, Mom is a typical farm wife, she cooks, cleans, raises kids, makes cloth, and knows enough basic nature magic to keep the house running.

How much is that?

• Oh, simple things; quick little fire spells, enchantments to make the spoon stir the soup while she does something else, nothing fancy.

Are those normal spells that everyone knows?

• I mean, all my friends' moms use them as well, so they're not surprising.

Interesting. You learn something new every day.

• Weird. Anyway, our little village has a healer, she was really young when she came to the village, but she grew to love it in our place, so she stayed there when her Sojourn was over, just became the resident.

Is that normal?

• Not exactly, but it happens from time to time. We all kind of fell in love with Healer Anna as well. She's kind, and funny, and mischievous, and happy and silly, she was a good fit for our little village. And she's a really good healer of course.

You said once that she had to spend half her time finding you and the other half healing you.

• Ha! I did say that, didn't I? It's not too far off. I liked to go out into the woods or fields; youngest of four daughters, I had plenty of opportunities to do so. Also I think I never really had any fear growing up. I never felt like things were gong to be that bad, and I wasn't afraid of doing things that might hurt if I knew I could manage the pain and get through it.

Like what? What's an example?

• Oh, like, say, climbing on a branch that has a sharp twig on it or something. I could handle the twig digging into my arm if I knew that once I got past it I could get the bird's nest I was after, or whatever. Even if it cut me, if I knew I could clean it up that was okay.

Do you not feel pain?

• I feel it, I just...don't care about it sometimes? I guess? Like, someone told me that pain is a signal that you're are in danger. If you're not in danger, why listen to the pain? It's a false alarm.

Interesting. So you were fearless as well?

• Well, when I was little. When I turned, oh, probably thirteen or fourteen, in there somewhere; I started to understand that whole “fear” thing, and anxiety, and all of those things. I was never afraid of people when I was a kid, but when I was a teenager I started to be sacred more easily.

Why is that, do you think?

• Oh it could be any number of things. I wasn't traumatized by anything, if that's what you're asking. But I started to be aware of how the world works, and my family started to change. My two oldest sisters got married and moved out, and Lily moved back when her husband died, and Lily was pregnant with her second baby, which I helped Anna deliver.

How old were you then?

• Fourteen. The delivery wasn't scary, although it was eye-opening. But Lily had some hard times as a mom with no husband, and I started to see that bad things were out there. I think I was very sheltered as a kid, in a good way.

How do you mean?

• Well, like, my mom gave me space to just be a kid, she didn't force me to grow up faster than I was ready. Lily moving home was very real though, especially because it happened when Ian died.

her husband.

• Yep. So Lily having a hard time, and we were all sad about Ian being dead! I liked Ian, he was funny! Anyway it was clear that bad stuff happened. And I started to think about bad things happening to me.

I can understand that. How did you get over it?

• Have I? But I'm just kidding. I think I got through it. Bad things did happen to me, but I kept living through them.

Like being kidnapped by Brant?

• Oh that was very different. I knew, somehow, that nothing bad was going to be done to me.

Some might say that being locked up in a cell by yourself with a raving madman who says he's going to kill you is a bad thing.

• You know what I mean! I was never physically harmed. And I had a sense that I was learning something, something I couldn't have learned any other way. Also I knew Kaelyn was coming. It never felt real to me.

Back to Kaelyn in a few minutes, tell me about Lily. Does she still live with your parents?

• Oh, no, she got married again when I was an apprentice. Kaelyn came home with me to the wedding. Her new husband's a tinkerer, but only works a small circuit, so he's home every night, then goes to a different village the next day.

that's good for Lily. Do you like him as much as you liked Ian?

• Oh, that's not fair! They are very different. Davis—her new husband—is a sweet and loving man, not as funny. But! He has an amazing singing voice, and loves to sing with Lily. They just randomly practice and break into singing, so they can improvise together and do really incredible harmonies just...out of the blue.

That sounds lovely!

• Yeah!

Okay, so tell me about Kaelyn.

• Well, she's my best friend, but that wasn't always true. She hurt my feelings a lot when we were younger.

Oh dear!

• I don't think she meant to; but she was very unguarded about her feelings about me. She seemed to have a certain image of me, and she didn't like that image.

What was her image of you, do you think?

• Well, that's not entirely fair to her, but I think she thought I was a... I don't know the word. I think she thought I was a “girly girl”, a flighty, shallow girl. And it hurt, because I like being girly, but that doesn't mean I'm dumb or flighty! I like talking to people, even boys, but I'm not, you know, a floozy. I would sometimes see Kaelyn staring at me at the Fountain when I was talking to people, and I would feel so judged. It really hurt.

Do you think she knew how you felt?

• Not for a while, not until we got closer and she got to know me better. I think, once she felt safe around me, she could actually start to see me.

When did that happen?

• Again, I'm talking for her, but I think she was afraid that I would just...take advantage of her, or not like her as much as she like me? That she would invest and I wouldn't? I think it was when I gave her a notebook, just because it was pretty and I thought she would like it. She seemed really startled and touched.

You seem to have a lot of insight into Kaelyn.

• Well, we talk a lot, of course. I think the whole thing with Brant brought us closer together, in a lot of ways. And a lot of other things as well. It's not just one thing, and we went through a lot of ups and downs.

Everyone does.

• Yeah, I think so.

Okay, well, I need to get back to spending time with my family.

• And I need to get back to being fictional!

Hey, what did I say about the meta-commentary?

• [Giggles] Bye!

Colm's greatest skill lay in care for the wounded, though. He was good at soothing, comforting, and the all important and indefinable skill of “bedside manner.”

For all of that, Colm had an emotional side. He felt things passionately his entire life, regardless of what he showed on the outside. Very few people got to see Colm react, ignite, explode.

Colm and Marion

Colm wasn't quite sure if Marion could read his mind, or if they had just known each other too long. Whatever the case, he had a hard time hiding things from her. He wasn't sure if he had kept this secret from her, but he felt that the time might finally be right.

“It's not,” Sonja said when he explained his plan to her.

“Now explain your white cloak,” she continued, ignoring his protestations.

“Oh, right. Um, I'm now officially a Sojourner healer.” Colm told her. “My master is writing to others, and we expect that in a few days he'll tell me where I'll be taking my sojourn. After last summer, with...” He trailed off. There was no reason to continue. Sonja knew exactly what had happened last summer, they would never forget it. “Anyway, after that event my master felt that my advancement was a sure thing, and asked me to stand his tests at midwinter solstice. I passed his tests and today the robe he made me arrived.”

“So now you are a white dove. Doves are gray. But it's a nice cloak, beautiful wings for you.”

Colm bit back all the pointless protestations, correcting Sonja yet again wasn't going to do anything.

She smiled and said “just wait, Dove. Now isn't the time.” And stood and left. By now Colm was used to the fact that Sonja's ideas about time and conversation flow were a bit off to one side of normal.

But Sonja was quickly put out of his mind, when Marion walked into the Fountain. She looked around and found him. Her smile was brighter than any of the lamps in the place as she made her way to his table.

“Look at you Sojourner Healer Colm!” she said and told him to stand up and turn around in a circle so she could look at him from every angle.

“The white cloak looks good on you, Colm.” She said and hugged him.

“Do you know where you're being sent for your Sojourn yet?” She asked after he had held her chair and then taken his seat again.

“Not yet. There are a few possibilities, but Master won't really tell me which ones. I said anywhere but the See, and he felt that was something he could do.”

“Colm, you can't hold the entire Church responsible for Aaron's actions.”

“I don't see why not.” Colm said, and took another drink of his mead. He was working on a “cure” for hangovers, which secretly just turned a lot of the alcohol in drinks back into sugar. So far he doubted it would catch on; his mead was far too sweet, even for a drink made out of honey.

“Colm, Aaron did what he thought was right, he is trying to follow the will of the Divine—”

“Marion, I love how patient and kind you are, to everyone, even to Aaron, but can we talk about something else instead?”

“Of course! What's on your mind, Sojourner?” She said, her eyes twinkling at him. Colm loved Marion's eyes, they were deep, deep brown, but seemed to have a lightness about them; he could study them for hours on end, hopefully forever.

Suddenly Colm realized he had just asked for a seague into a new topic and he only had one topic on his mind. “Ah, when you're done eating, can we go for a little stroll?” He asked. He had finished his meal earlier, when still talking to Sonja.

“Sure!” Marion said. She didn't, as a rule, eat all that much, partially because on her meager wage she couldn't afford all that much at the Fountain, but also because, even when food was free and plentiful, Marion ate like a bird. They talked of little things for a few minutes while she ate, then she stood, took his hand, and scattered a few coins on the table.

Colm followed Marion outside, holding her hand comfortably and calmly. They walked in silence for a little while, until they were outside of town, on the beach. They skirted the construction site where the new harbor was being dredged and piers being built, and went out to the wild beach to the south, all rocks and small sandy inlets.

The moon came out and shone on the gentle waves, stars all around it.

“Colm, before you say anything, I should answer first. The answer is 'not yet', and I know that's not what you want, but it's the right answer.” Marion said.

“Oh...but, I didn't even—”

“I know you didn't, but it's been on your mind all night, and even though I'm saying 'not yet' you have to know I'm not saying no. I don't think I will ever say no to you, Colm, even if you are a Sojourner in the most boring career in the world.”

Marion smiled and turned to Colm, standing in front of him, holding both his hands. “There are reasons, and they're important. Can you try to listen and focus while I explain?”

Colm nodded. Sometimes Marion spoke to him like he was a child, but this wasn't quite that. This was her hoping he'd be patient and not sink into his own self-doubt.

“Colm, before you ask your question, before I agree to it, there are things we both need to do. I've had a letter from Father; he says that Mother is not well, and won't see another winter. I need to go home.”

“Is it something...I mean, what's wrong with her? Is it something I can help with? Perhaps my sojourn could be—” But Marion touched a finger to his lips and he stopped.

“Colm, nothing is wrong with her! Death is a part of this life, of course, and she's nearing that gate. She's had a long, good life, but also a hard one, and she's ready to face what's next.”

“But maybe I could help her live a bit longer, she's not really that old—”

“Colm, I don't think you can understand this right now. You are a Healer, and your job is to improve people's lives. But sometimes that means letting them end. Mama wants me to come celebrate her life with her, and then she'll be off. And I can't do that if we're...if I'm too focused on our future.”

Colm bit back the twenty responses he had. Of course he could argue, he could be brilliant, but he'd learned that brilliant, airtight arguments weren't actually what convinced people. And by “people” he of course meant “Marion”. She would just accuse him of being “cold” and he would have to agree that he was being pushy. So he just listened.

“Also, dear Sojourner Dove, you need to focus. It took you six years to make sojourner, it should have taken you four. (Author's Note:Don't worry about contradictory dates right now, yeah?) You and your master are very kind, but I know full well that some of that is because you and I have been dating. I've been bad for your focus.” She smiled at him and kissed his cheek, then pulled his head down so she could wrap her arms around his neck. She felt him shudder and stroked his hair, letting him get the tears out. Finally, when his breathing was back to normal she let him stand up straight, and fixed his hair. Colm could see tears on her cheeks as well.

“Go do your Sojourn. I'll be here when you get back. I'll be here and waiting for you to come home, take your Cowl, and then I'll happily be the Healer's Wife wherever you get assigned.”

Some character studies, since these characters are so roughly sketched right now. This is the first of a few studies I'll need to do to get them more solid in my poor lil' brain.

Sonja

When Sonja came to Strand she was already an apprentice wizard. She had studied for years with an academy in her home country (she may or may not have actually been born to poor fisher folk...it doesn't entirely make sense). Her apprenticeship at the academy was more rigorously academic, but the academics recognized the need for hands-on training instead of pure theory. Her assignment in Strand was to Magister Sylvia, who was an alumna of the same academy and had spent decades teaching.

Sylvia treated Sonja no better or worse than other apprentices, but when Sonja came to her with news of anomalous energy coming from somewhere east of the town it was impressive. Sylvia had no preconceptions about the “impossibility” of demon magic; laws in her life had come and gone, but people were always people. And would always seek power when they felt they had none.

Demonology was never a course of study in her program, of course, but they knew how to identify it. Indeed, most arts did, except for certain branches of the priesthood. It has never been popular, but it does crop up from time to time, regardless of prohibitions.

Sonja was told to follow her leads, to figure out the source of the anomalous energy. She was freed from more normal apprentice work for a while to do so.

During her time in Strand Sonja had befriended a young healer named Colm, himself an apprentice at the time. Colm often sought Magister Sylvia's advice or even direct help in work he was doing, and after a time Sylvia redirected Colm to work with Sonja, because Sonja could use the experience. They had worked together on many projects, but mostly Sonja found a kindred spirit in Colm. Through Colm she met Marion, who was Colm's lifelong friend and kinda-sorta girlfriend, although Marion was as social as Colm was quiet, and got on well with everyone in town. She was fond of Colm but had told Sonja in private that she wasn't sure she wanted to live a healer's lifestyle.

Sonja spent a lot of time with her new friends, indeed more than she spent with the other wizard apprentices. The three other apprentices were not exactly thrilled, but Sonja was foreign and a little intimidating (she had never really gotten the hang of passive voice or “I” statements) and they also liked Colm and Marion, so things seemed to work out all right.

Until one of the other wizard's apprentices left suddenly. It was remarkable, in that remarks were made about it, but it was also not that remarkable. Apprentices leave sometimes.

And then, there days later, Marion disappeared as well. Things got serious-er. Because Marion had never been that kind of person, the kind to just up and leave.

Colm and Sonja at the Fountain

Colm was sitting at the Fountain after a long day, idly tying some knots in a string, practicing, practicing. Knots were an important part of healing magic, if you wanted them to be. A knot could make a string into a tool, really into anything you needed it to be.

He saw the new wizard's apprentice and waved politely to her. She came and sat down at his table.

“Hello. You are the apprentice healer?” Sonja said. Colm nodded.

“It is nice of you to call to me. I think people here do not entirely understand me.”

Colm thought about the fact act she had more or less missed the point of his wave, but let it slide. It wasn't important.

“Colm is an interesting name. Does it have a meaning?”

“Oh, well, yes, actually. In the language my mother speaks it means 'Dove.'”

“Dove, the bird?” Colm nodded. “Why are you named after a bird?”

“Well, doves are considered to be a signal of peace. They are quite harmless, and pretty enough, I guess.”

“Colm...dove... I like it. I am named Sonja, but you knew that.”

“Yes.”

“Sonja means 'wisdom' in my language. My mother wanted me to be wise, and I try.”

“Wisdom is an important quality for wizards, and healers,” Colm said. Sonja considered.

“Yes, I think we must both be wise if we are to do our jobs. Are doves wise?”

Colm laughed. “No, sadly they're one of the dumbest birds you could ever find. They're a prey species, mostly destined to be eaten.”

Again Sonja seemed to consider his words for a while. She put her head to one side and looked at the ceiling when she did this.

“A wise dove would come as a surprise to a predator, would it not?”

“Ha, yes, I suppose it would.”

Sonja nodded curtly. “Then you should become a wise dove. There are bad things and bad people in the world, and it would be good for them to underestimate you, Dove.”

“Ah, I don't really like being called 'Dove',” Colm said quietly.

Sonja smiled just a little. “But it's so fun to watch you not like to be called Dove!”

Marion

Marion had grown up near Colm physically, but their childhoods were as different as possible. Colm's parents were both from shepherding families, albeit from different parts of the world. Marion's parents were a shepherd—she and Colm were probably cousins, many times removed—and a Druid.

Marion's druidic mother had some definite opinions about the world, and they were built into her psyche so deeply that even years of living among the people in her new home couldn't entirely change them, or she didn't want to.

In some ways this made Marion the luckiest girl in the valley, because her mother wasn't big on chores for children. The house needed tending, but she had left the Enclave to be a housewife, and she took delight in the mundanity. She would sweep and wash and cook with a look on her face that said she was experiencing a kind of magic that came from routine. A look that fully left her when they went to visit Marion's grandparents.

There was a lunar holiday that moved on the solar calendar used by the shepherds and indeed the rest of the world. And though Marion's mother was largely against celebrating any of the druidic holidays, she went home for this one every year. Because it wasn't tied to a specific day, Marion wasn't sure when it was going to happen, but she started to recognize the signs that it was coming. When the spring had started, when the snow was melting, her mother would watch the moon. As it rounded the full moon she would start to grow pensive. When it got to a waning half-moon her mother would get very quiet indeed. When it got down to a quarter moon she would announce that it was time to go.

Marion's father seemed to enjoy trips to the Enclave, and Marion loved her grandparents, their strange, round tent-house, and the eternal excitement of the Enclave. Her mother went quietly, spoke kindly with people she knew from the past, dressed in her white robe for the evening vigil at the Stone that marked the high point of the holiday, the vigil held with slim white candles under a new moon. And then she would pack up and Marion's small family would leave early the next morning, to head home.

But as much as her mother tried to avoid her druidic heritage, she passed much of it down to her daughter. Marion was exposed from an early age to Druidic magic and thought. She played with druid children who knew charms and spells to make simple things happen, things like making a ball move unexpectedly, or make a fire dance, not the way a fire normally dances, but to dance like a small person, sometimes a person with antlers, sometimes a woman with a face like a fox. The druid children taught Marion these spells in the odd half-belligerent, half-gracious way that children taught anything. But Marion was a quick study, if study was the right word. It seemed to be intuitive to the druid children, and Marion watched closely, and felt what they were doing in her heart, seemed to understand it implicitly. So when Marion was exposed to the magic of the healers and wizards and priests, it seemed odd to her that they were so tightly affixed to rules and study.

Marion and Sonja

Marion sat next to Sonja in the warm and bustling wizard's workshop. Colm was working with his Master this morning and Sonja had followed them into town, but wasn't allowed to follow them into people's houses. So she had gone to the wizard's glade and was reading one of Sonja's books.

Sonja watched Marion. The way Marion read was slow, deliberate, quiet, and often she would stop and trace the shapes of the letters with a fingertip. She didn't seem to much care what she was reading, either.

“Marion, please pass the—” Sonja began and Marion handed her a small vial of iron shavings, without looking up from the book.

Right, this took a little getting used to each time. Marion just handed you things, and they were the right ones. This time Sonja thought she'd try an experiment.

“I actually meant the—”

“No you didn't,” Marion said. “You needed that one.”

“And how did you know that?”

Marion shrugged, eyes still absorbed in the illuminated first capital letter on the page she had been studying for twenty minutes. “It's how your spell feels. It needed that, it's like, there was a draw between them.”

“But what about—”

“That would ruin it.” Marion said, then smiled slyly. “Okay, that time I didn't know what you were going to ask you about. I just wanted to sound mysterious.”

Marion looked up from the book. “Do you know, I think the writer of this book put an entire spell into this letter 'A'? I think if you drew the important parts out on a piece of iron, it would seek other iron, like a lodestone.”

Sonja looked at the letter. It was an overly-fancy capital letter, the kind you found in books where the scribes had a lot of free time when they were writing them down. There were whorls of color in the left-hand vertical of the letter, and a fancy dragon wrapped around the thinner right hand vertical. You got pictures like this in books sometimes, just like you got an inexplicably large number of pictures showing knights fighting snails (Author's Note: this is actually a feature of books from our world back then. Nobody is quite sure why, but it seemed to catch on for a while back in the day.)

“Which lines are the important ones?” Sonja asked. Marion looked around for a paper and pen. Sonja supplied both quickly, she knew from experience that if you didn't Marion would start writing with whatever was handy on anything that was flat.

Moving the book to the side, Marion stared at the drawing and copied out a complicated line, one that was looped several times, and ended up looking like two sets of complicated circles, each enfolding and encompassing a smaller set of circles.

After a few minutes of refining, and starting over from scratch once, Marion said, “There. That's it.”

Sonja took the page and examined it closely. “Shall we try it.”

“Why? Do you need a lodestone?” Marion asked. She had turned the page and was now looking at the next very-fancy capital letter.

Sonja found two pieces of iron, in fact a cast-iron pan and it's lid. Turning the lid upside down, she carefully traced Marion's lines out onto the iron, starting over when Marion told her it had to be white if the metal was so dark. Using a thin line of water and lime, she traced out the pattern again.

Then set the lid on the pan.

It took three apprentices —with levers— to get it back off.

This is here for historical interest only (and maybe to pad my word count a bit). This is the beat sheet I started from at the beginning of #NaNoWriMo, it's interesting to see where the plot diverged. There are parts of this original plot I might think about bringing back.

Act I

• Kaelyn and Daisy are working for Colm, working on developing healing cures for the small village in which they live. Kaelyn is a cheerful, happy person, who is quite lonely in this tight knit community, and needs help fitting in more.
• Daisy is patient, and less worried about rules and orders than Kaelyn. She is an excellent healer and an excellent friend. Daisy seems to fit into town naturally, effortlessly, even though she also just arrived here a year ago.
• Brant needs healing from an accident in his shop; Kaelyn arrives to find Daisy already there. Brant's eyes on Daisy make Kaelyn nervous.
• Ellis discusses joining the Priesthood with Kaelyn, suggesting that Nature Magic has its place, but it's a pale shadow of the actual power of Divine Magic. Ellis explains that true power comes only from the Divine.
• Daisy is kidnapped, and the town is at a loss to discover where she is or whodunnit.
• Kaelyn suspects Brant, but the town leaders are unconvinced.
• Kaelyn tries to convince herself that doing her job as a healer is the best work she can do for the town; they don't need her to try and be a hero, she can just follow instructions and others will do the big work.
• Mason talks to Kaelyn about Daisy, and it's clear that Mason is in love with Daisy.
• Kaelyn, who met Mason first, is a bit ruffled that he doesn't feel that way about her, and starts to see herself and Daisy through Mason's eyes. She realizes some of the things about Daisy that make her a better healer, and some of the things that Kaelyn is missing.
• Kaelyn has no tools, no weapons, just an ability to heal others and make protective charms. She thinks she knows where Daisy is, and the town seems to have given up on Daisy; suggesting that Kaelyn was HALF-Right; they all think that Daisy and Brant have eloped, and think it's a somewhat annoying but romantic story instead of a kidnapping.
• Kaelyn goes to Brant's boarding room and snoops around a bit. She finds an old book that suggests the power of demons can be truly unlocked by sacrificing a maiden. It's clear what Brant intends, and she suspects she knows where he intends to do it. Kaelyn is a healer, it is her job to protect and improve life. She can't sit around any longer. It's clear to her that nobody in town is going to take Daisy's kidnapping seriously.
• Kaelyn sees Daisy in a dream (an induced vision) in a cell, deep in a cave. She hears Brant talking in this dream, and sees that the day is coming, the time of the “awakening.” Daisy seems calm and unruffled, smiling slightly even in chains.
• Daisy looks up in the dream state and tells Kaelyn “my life is in your hands, and I know you'll do the right thing.” or similar. Kaelyn wakes up and decides she is going to do what is needed. Even if she doesn't understand the dream or how it came. Dream Magic isn't known.

Central Question

Will Kaelyn break out of her standard role and do what is needed, what is right, even if it isn't the “orderly” thing to do? Can she do what she needs regardless?

Act II

• Kaelyn goes to Colm and asks for help; and expresses her worries. Colm is a quiet and wise man and asks her to study what she thinks her vision means. Does Kaelyn just feel guilty for not being Daisy, or does she actually think Daisy is in trouble?
• Kaelyn finds more power in Divine and orderly magic, finds growing strength in herself. She has yet to accept that there is an inherent freedom in human behavior, and wants to follow the patterns and orders.
• Kaelyn finds a way into the cave where she suspects Daisy is being held
• The entrance is sealed by magic.
• Kaelyn finds a way to encourage nature to let her through; her spells are growing in power and she is growing in wisdom and capability
• Mason is inside the cave. He came here to save Daisy and isn't sure why Kaelyn isn't just staying in town like a good girl. He's been doing his own investigation.
• Kaelyn and Mason agree to work together to find Daisy
• Mason is attacked by a demonically possessed animal.
• Kaelyn is able to heal Mason and also banish the demon from the animal.
• Mason is injured and will have to go back, Kaelyn is on her own, no wizard with her, and Brant knows she's coming.
• Kaelyn goes back to town and asks Ellis for help, something she doesn't want to do, but is willing to do to save Daisy
• Ellis is quite disdainful of her “vision” and her “delusions of grandeur” in thinking she needs to be the one to save Daisy.
• Kaelyn goes home and is surprised when Ellis is outside her door when she's setting out again. His prayers were answered, he was asked to help her.
• Ellis is slow, meticulous, and not entirely willing to believe what is happening, even with his direct revelation. His faith is strong but he's untested in the real world and unable to conceive of changing.
• Kaelyn explains her understanding, and confesses her ignorance of how things work
• Ellis explains his view, the power of Divine Magic, the changes it has made in him.
• Brant threatens Daisy, insinuating the harm he can do to her without ruining her for the sacrifice. Kaelyn feels this event, without fully understanding it.
• Kaelyn understands something deeper; Daisy can't be permanently harmed by Brant, but Brant can be. She expresses this to Ellis who agrees, with reservations.
• Daisy is being brave but breaking. Kaelyn starts to wonder how she will actually accomplish her goal of saving her friend.
• Ellis admits that all good things must be good, there must be a reason for all powers beyond the Divine, and that they must be part of the overall plan. Kaelyn wonders if a plan is requisite for goodness.
• The Demon tightens its grip on Brant. Brant is slowly losing his mind, unable to handle ultimate chaos inside his soul. Kaelyn starts to feel the demon's influence around her.
• Kaelyn invents a spell to directly communicate with and possibly banish the demon. She succeeds in making contact
• The Demon floods the channel back to her mind, nearly incapacitating her, mocking her attempt, letting her know that he's here because he's been invited. Kaelyn is nearly destroyed, is weakened and is about to succumb.
• Ellis protects Kaelyn, removing the demon's influence from her.
• Ellis recommends they give up and go back; Daisy will be safe in heaven, But Brant is a lost cause in Ellis' book.
• Kaelyn stays in the cave, refusing to return when she knows they're close.
• The Demon starts broadcasting the feelings he's giving Brant, letting them know that Brant is all but broken, and that Daisy is not only in mortal danger but in moral danger, that Brant is exerting his influence on her as well, that she could easily be on their side, caprice bends both ways.
• Kaelyn finds that human will isn't all-wandering, but is free from Chaos and Order both, and must be so that humans can find their strength.
• Brant ties Kaelyn to the altar to sacrifice her.

Act III

• Kaelyn realizes she can do whatever needs done. Using Capricious magic she moves herself, Daisy, and Ellis outside of bonds, to the edge of the cave, where Ellis and Daisy can also be enabled to act.
• Brant grabs Kaelyn as she is helping Daisy and Ellis, the demon tells Brant to sacrifice Kaelyn, as any sacrifice will do.
• Kaelyn willingly offers to be a sacrifice, explaining that she chooses to be a sacrifice to SAVE Brant's soul, not lose it. She says that her death will be consecrated, not desecrated, and that if she has to lose her life to save Brant's she will. The demon seems confused, as does Ellis. Nobody is sure the rules work that way.
• Daisy smiles and laughs. “I wish I had thought of that...”
• Brant drops the knife, tears in his eyes. Kaelyn holds him and leads him to Ellis, and Ellis explains that Brant can turn from the dark and be fully healed. Daisy and Kaelyn use healing magic to reduce Brant's pain at the loss. The Demon attempts a final conflict, but is repelled by a light that surrounds the humans, pure and divine, and also somewhat human.

“There's the fireworks,” Marion said and smiled. “Do you want to handle it or shall I?” she asked.

“I'm the Master Healer, I guess it's my job,” Colm said and stood with a great show of reluctance. in fact he'd been waiting for the two of them to break the ice a little more. Sometimes you have to hit the ice pretty hard to break it. He put on his best “Master” face and entered slowly, unruffled. “Oh dear, ladies, is there something amiss?”

Daisy started first. “Master Colm, it's my preservation spell, and it doesn't matter what I preserve in it, right? You told us to choose a plant, and I did! I've been watching it, and it's ready for the ritual tonight. But Kaelyn says I'm wasting an opportunity.”

Kaelyn cut in “Master, we have been preparing these spells fro weeks, and that preparation and time should go to healing the people of Strand, not some vainglorious trinket.” Colm noticed that Kaelyn liked multi syllabic words when she was expressing anger. (how did he notice that? Citation needed)

“And what is it that you want to preserve?” Colm asked Daisy. She looked down and blushed a little. “Ah, well, a, a daisy. There's a perfect one just out in the clearing.”

“And what will you do with this perfect daisy?”

“Well, master, I thought I could frame it and put it in my room.”

Colm sat quietly, just listening. Daisy continued. “Because, well, beautiful things are...nice, and good for our souls. No matter what Kaelyn says.” She finished with a dark look at Kaelyn. “Beauty is fine, but we have a duty, and we have prepared so carefully for this...”

“Why does it always have to be about duty?” Daisy asked.

“how long does a preserved specimen last?” Colm asked, in his quiet, gentle voice. Kaelyn stopped and considered.

“It depends on the skill and care of the person doing the work, I suppose, but at least a year, and...I don't now if there is an upper limit. I've never heard of a preserved specimen lasting indefinitely...”

“That's because I have never preserved something,” Daisy said witha toss of her head.

Colm stifled a laugh, a skill he had perfected over long years of working with apprentices.

“You're not perfect, you know. You can't even prepare a numbing salve correctly, what makes you think your preservation is any better?” Kaelyn asked.

“I know I'm not perfect; unlike some people I never try to convince people that I am.”

“No, you just smile at them and leave them to jump to that conclusion on their own.” Kaelyn muttered.

“Perhaps this can be something in the nature of an experiment. If Daisy preserves her daisy, we can observe how long a specimen will last. Kaelyn, can you think of a way to enhance the spell, perhaps with the frame?”

Kaelyn looked at her master and considered. She was ware that she was being manipulated away from the argument, but it was an interesting question. “You'd need to strengthen the gauze, regular cotton or flax won't do, you needs something that will last, and perhaps a desiccant in there, as a powder..”

“Hold it in place with twisted copper, connected to the frame and the nail,” Daisy said. Kaelyn looked confused.

“Why?” Daisy just shrugged, but Colm nodded. “A copper loop can indeed improve consistency of effect inside its circumference. A friend of mine taught me that years ago. Why did you think of it just now, Daisy?”

Again, Daisy just shrugged. “It felt like it would help,” she said.

Kaelyn felt a little sidelined, and she was the one doing the good, responsible thing. “But, what about my herbs, master?”

“I have no doubt that we will be very glad of them in the deep winter, Kaelyn. I am grateful for your foresight, but don't discount Daisy's insight. You are both excellent at what you do, my apprentices. But you need to trust each other.”

“Yes, Master Colm,” They replied in unison.

Wayne: Hello, and welcome to “Meet the Characters”. Tonight we are going to be talking to Kaelyn and Daisy, of the still in-progress novel that is awkwardly called Exchange Magic at the moment. I'm Wayne Early, an obvious author stand-in from a previous #NaNoWriMo book, and your interviewer for the evening. Ladies, good evening.

[Spotlights come up, picking out the two women as they are named. The entire stage is then more naturally lit.] Kaelyn: Good evening!

Daisy: Hello Wayne!

Wayne: So, first off, do either of you even have last names?

Daisy: Huh! Um, yeah, no, don't think so. We don't really use them in our society, I guess.

Kaelyn: Sometimes in my village people refer to one another as, say, Bob, John's Son, but usually that's just extraneous.

Wayne: So no last names, huh? Could this be because the author is kinda lazy and couldn't think up two names per character?

Daisy: [Laughing] I make a point of not mocking people who created me.

Kaelyn: While I can't pretend to know the mind of the author, I feel that there's a certain internal consistency to names in our world. It's generally a title followed by a personal name, and the title is omitted between good friends.

Wayne: Just saying he gave me four names is all. And I probably have yet another name.

Ann Nation: Dad, stop making this about you.

Wayne: Right, quite so. Apologies. So, back to you two. Daisy, how would you describe healing magic?

Daisy: We call it an art, and I think it's appropriate. We spend a lot of time learning the nature of things around us so that we can then use them to cure people who need our cures. But every person is different, and so is every plant if it comes to that. If healing were simple, you could just write it all down and anyone could create salves and tinctures. It'd be like cooking! But it requires more than that; you have to gauge what is needed in every situation individually.

Kaelyn: Yeah, that's why we tend to carry a lot of things in our satchels, and we each pack our own. A healer knows what she will want to use out there, what cures work best for her when she's out visiting. You can't prepare for every situation, but you can prepare in general.

Wayne: Kaelyn, how would you describe the differences between healing magic and wizard magic? The two seem to be able to work together.

Kaelyn: I think really any of the arts can work together, with one obvious exception. Ellis talked about healers who have become priests, healers and druids have a lot of overlap as well. It's all down to the principle of exchange, really. What you put into it is what you get out of it.

Wayne: Daisy, you seem to have found a way around the principle of exchange, more or less invalidating the premise of the novel. What can you tell us about that?

Daisy: Oh, I wouldn't say that, Wayne! I think I found the root of the principle of exchange. Like Kay said, the arts are compatible, if you have the understanding to practice more than one of them, or see how they fit together. I think there are a few, I don't know, potential sources of power in the universe? Like, order is a source, but it doesn't do anything until acted upon by a person.

Wayne: So what about science?

Kaelyn: ...

Daisy: ...

Kaelyn: You mean, like, Alchemy? I know the wizards sometimes study that.

Wayne: No, I mean, the study of natural principles, and the rules that order the universe.

Daisy: That's what we were just talking about.

Wayne: Okay, yes, kind of. But I'm talking about, like, physics. Observing how things move when they're not being acted upon by a person.

Daisy: Except...observing is acting on a thing.

Wayne: Okay, that's actually a good point. Let me give you an example. In our world we don't have magic. Instead of healers, we have doctors. They don't do spells, don't make curse nets, but they use medicine, which is a branch of science. Medicine is a general term for any of a number of chemicals which can be administered to help someone heal.

Kaelyn: O....kay, that sounds a lot like what we do.

Wayne: Yeah, bad example. Okay, here, Airplanes. We have things called airplanes. They are like...coaches, except they fly thousands of feet in the air, and can travel hundreds of miles an hour, and there's no magic involved. They're machines, made entirely according to natural principles. The wings of the airplane provide lift through the action of the air around the curve of the wing, regardless of the will of anyone in the airplane.

Daisy: Wow! So they fly themselves?

Wayne: [Sigh] yeah, some do, but most are flown by a pilot.

Kaelyn: No, Daisy, I see his point now; it's like ships, or pulleys. I don't really understand how a pulley makes things lighter, but someone does, and it clearly works, and a pulley works if you have a human pulling on it, or a donkey, or even...I guess a rock would work.

Wayne: Yes! Like ships or pulleys. A ship can be sailed regardless of the intent of the person sailing it.

Daisy: But they still have to know how sails work, how the wind blows, when to furl their sails or put on more sail... so it's really the same process. But I guess I see the point; you can sail a ship as a pirate or as an officer in the navy. But...doesn't that make it worse? Isn't it better if the exercise of power is tied to an adherence to the principles that govern that power?

Wayne: I'm not entirely comfortable with that question.

Kaelyn: [Laughs]

Daisy: Okay. Next topic!

Wayne: Very well. Kaelyn, how would you describe your relationship with Daisy?

Kaelyn: I love Daisy! But, we're very much like sisters.

Wayne: How is that a “but” conjunction?

Daisy: Do you have any sisters, Wayne?

Wayne: Ah, no.

Kaelyn: Well then you wouldn't really understand. I've had to grow a lot to really understand Daisy, And I know that she put a lot of work into meeting me in the middle, and understanding me as well. And we've fought from time to time, like sisters do. But at the end of the day we're still here for each other, always.

Wayne: Fine, good. Okay, Daisy, how would you describe your relationship with Mason?

Daisy: [Laughs] is there a simple word for “I look forward to being his more-or-less-sister-in-law”? But seriously, Mason is a nice boy, very serious and very kind, and I wholly approve of him and Kaelyn being...whatever they end up being. But he's possibly too serious for me as anything other than a more-or-less-in-law.

Wayne: Well, that about wraps up our time for this episode of Meet the Characters. tune in next time, assuming there ever is a next time. Maybe we'll talk to someone from a book I'm in.

This needs to be in here somewhere. We need to see our healers actually be healers, and I'd like to start off young, so they aren't perfect at it.

The fireworks were long in coming, partially because it wasn't in Daisy's nature to be angry, and it wasn't in Kaelyn's to be vocally angry. And also because Colm's house seemed to generate peace. Mama and Master had lived together for decades, and their relationship seemed to be almost entirely out of rough edges to sand off any more. Kaelyn had seen both good and bad marriages in Coombe and thought she knew the earmarks of each; thinking about such a thing at fourteen was part of why Davis had picked her as a healer, after all.

All the earmarks of a good marriage were in this one. They both said “I love you,” as easily as they breathed, something that Kaelyn's own father struggled with. To her memory she had heard him tell his mother he loved her maybe ten times, and he had said it to Kaelyn less than half that. Not that he wasn't loving; he was. He took care of things; he showed his love in his long, patient, hard work. He never raised his voice, he was gentle in remonstrations, but equally subdued in his praise. Words were hard for him, and it was obviously confusing for him to have a daughter that prized them so highly.

Mama and Colm spoke all the time. Every little thing was part of the conversation, every decision was discussed or at least mentioned.

And there were lots of little physical cues. Gentle pats on the back, a quick hug as they passed in the kitchen on the way to different activities. Disagreements may have happened, but it seemed they were reserved for times when the girls weren't in the room.

Daisy was adjusting to living with the quieter Kaelyn, and it hurt Kaelyn to see how hard it was for her. Daisy was an open book, always, and with everyone. Kaelyn wanted to be like that, but also didn't want to bore others with her life story. It took some adjusting to realize that when Daisy asked what you were thinking about she actually expected an answer. It took Daisy some adjusting to realize that Kaelyn didn't always want to be with someone else.

Okay, now to what this chapter is actually titled.

Visiting the Sick, for Real This Time.

Daisy and Kaelyn had been training with Colm for two weeks now, and were used to a certain pattern. The four members of the household took turns cooking, now that Mama was moderately certain that the girls could cook. “It's nothing against you, ladies, but we've had some apprentices in here who were best not left alone in the kitchen,” She explained as she watched Kaelyn make bread.

But today was different. Colm had told them the day before that today they were going to actually do Healer work. This was a welcome announcement, until he explained that what he meant was not “we're going to do fancy magic,” what he meant was “we're going out to visit people.”

Kaelyn and Daisy were kind, strong, intelligent girls who understood that a large part of the healer's art was spending time around the sick. But this was still new. What if they did something wrong? What if someone was really sick?

Colm asked them each what they had in their satchels before they left. He hadn't given them specific instructions. Kaelyn said, “well, I brought bandages, willowfine, gauze that has been boiled and soaked in a numbing tincture, a few rags, dried anise and mint.” Colm nodded gravely and turned to Daisy.

“Let's see, I have bandages too, and some twisted gut thread and a needle, a cooling salve, and a curse net I made last night because I couldn't sleep.”

This too was met with a grave nod, no hint of the direction his thoughts were going behind his kindly face. “Very well, apprentices. Let us see what we need out there today. We have three people that I know need visited, and as we travel through Strand we will always find others in need. If we have time, we will stop in at the Fountain for lunch, but whatever else we do, whatever else we may be, remember that we are healers, first and foremost.” The girls nodded gravely and tried not to show excitement. The Fountain was where other young people might be! And a free lunch in town was always a treat.

But if they were going to get that lunch they were going to work for it. A shepherd from a nearby valley had been bitten by a snake—non-venomous, thankfully—but the wound was still troubling him and seemed to be infected. Kaelyn and Daisy knelt by their master and helped as he directed. Kaelyn would never have admitted it aloud, but this was the sort of thing that made her wonder about her choice of career. She could handle blood, or bones, or people with fevers or coughs, but flesh that was corrupted...

She looked over at Daisy and noted that she was also a little pale as they carefully cleaned away the diseased tissue and washed the suffering man's leg from the knee to the foot. Daisy looked up and caught Kaelyn's eye. Daisy made a slight face, one that spoke volumes. Her mouth stayed still, her eyes barely moved, but what her expression said was “I'm in over my head...” Kaelyn responded silently, her eyes widening a little and a tiny little nod. And somehow knowing they were together on this helped. Kaelyn's heart warmed toward her fellow apprentice, and she wondered if resenting Daisy was a good idea in the first place.

“Ladies, you did very well in there. I think his wound will clean up, if he can be convinced to change the dressing. Will you too check in with him tomorrow?” Colm said.

That look again. They held each other's eyes, and finally Kaelyn said, “Of course, Master Colm.”

Colm, walking a few steps ahead of them, smiled to himself. He didn't need to see their look. He'd seen it before.

Hey, why not fill in some background while we're filling in words?

The wagon ride from Coombe to Strand had been an education. Kaelyn had been outside of Coombe before, she wasn't totally sheltered, but she'd never ridden in an enclosed coach before. She had tried to look totally in control and mature—and had done moderately well. Of course, Kaelyn had spent her entire life being told that she was a “mature” and “serious” girl, and it had sunk in. But even a very serious child like Kaelyn would be excited by the ever-changing landscape as they came down out of the forest valley into the comparatively broad fields below. At each stop Kaelyn had jumped out of the coach to inspect the trees, the grasses and herbs, to take in the view. Nobody else riding in the coach could share her interest in plants and wildlife, but there was a blacksmith who, when he heard that she was traveling to start her apprenticeship was happy to talk to her about professional life. He reminisced about his own days as an apprentice, and some of his best (and worst) apprentices he had trained in his forge.

At last, nervous, excited, and trying to remember the good advice the smith had given her, Kaelyn stepped out of the coach in Strand town square.

She looked around, realizing that “Strand” wasn't really an address, and she didn't know where this “Master Colm” lived, or even what they looked like. Fortunately she didn't have to wait long.

“Hello dear, are you Colm's new apprentice? Oh good. Come wait out of the sun, child. The other apprentice arrived a little while ago, and Mama took her back to the cottage, and asked me to watch out for you,” said a cheerful, round-faced lady who came bustling out of the bakery when the coach left.

“Oh, thank you, missus. I'm Kaelyn, and yes, I'm here to study with Master Colm. I didn't know he had another apprentice, though.”

“Oh, he often does. Colm seems to think that young people feel more at home in pairs or trios, instead of being the only young blood with just him and Mama.”

“His wife is named...Mama?”

“Ha! No, of course not, dearie, but all of Colm's apprentices call her that, and the name has spread a little bit. She's a kind lady, and you're lucky to be in her house while you're a 'prentice. I'm sure she'll be here soon. In the meantime, dear, would you like a little something to eat? I'm sure it was a long trip, you must be hungry.”

“Oh, that's a good idea...I don't have much money...” Kaelyn began, digging into her satchel.

“Well, that's no problem dear! On the house of course; Wouldn't want Marion to find out I charged one of her apprentices for food straight off the coach...”

Kaelyn was grateful to be in the warm and safe bakery but the words and ideas were coming fast. Still, a free bread roll and cheese was always welcome, and they were both quite good. As she was finishing up the door opened and the baker said, “ah, Marion, there you are! Your little sheep arrived, and we've been having a nice little talk,”

Kaelyn looked at “Mama” for the first time. She was roughly sixty, with gray-green eyes that sparkled, and crinkled around the edges as she smiled, suggesting that she smiled often.

“Kaelyn? Oh I'm so glad you are here and safe! I wanted to greet you in person as soon as your coach arrived, but the other apprentice got here a couple hours ago and I wanted to give her time to get settled in. I'm Marion, Colm's wife, but you can call me Mama.”

Kaelyn stood and reached out for “Mama's” hand, but instead was gathered into a warm hug. “No need to be so formal, at least not with me. Let's get you up to the cottage so you can wash up and then we'll have a nice dinner tonight, let you girls get settled in, then Colm can start your training tomorrow.”

“That sounds great...Mama.” Kaelyn said.

Mama was roughly six inches shorter than Kaelyn, but lithe and strong, and astonishingly energetic. Yet she also seemed to understand and respect the need for quiet that had so distanced Kaelyn from others in the past. When Kaelyn spoke, Mama listened attentively; when Kaelyn stopped speaking, Mama didn't immediately jump in to fill the silence. Kaelyn found herself relaxing during the short walk to the cottage.

“So the other apprentice is...another girl?”

“Oh, yes, Daisy! She seems to be a sweet girl, much like you, really like most young healers. I'm glad we train healers here, my own kids were much less well behaved! But they're all moved out now. Anyway I hope you two will get along well.”

Kaelyn noticed a few things; Mama said 'hope' not 'know'; she's been through this before, but she didn't seem to have any actual reservations about this “Daisy” that was suddenly going to be a constant part of Kaelyn's life.

Kaelyn had grown up with only brothers. While she had girl friends, of course, she was also accustomed to having her own space, and wondered if she would be sharing a bedroom with this other apprentice.

They reached the cottage as the sun was just heading for the horizon, the sky turning golden but still bright; in the summer it would be up for a while yet. The cottage stood back from the main road a good way, deep in the forest that marched up into the foothills beyond. There were trees that Kaelyn recognized and others she didn't, but she could smell the resins and the pollen and it felt like home.

The cottage was larger than the name implies, and had clearly been built over the generations. The original cottage was a low, round structure, onto which a large, two-story rectangular house had been added on one side, and a one story workshop on the other. The house part had two large windows, looking out over the front walk towards Strand. Mama pointed at one of the windows on the second floor and said “that'll be your bedroom while you're here with us. The ground floor is ours. Daisy's room is on the other side.”

And she led Kaelyn around back, through the kitchen door.

The original building was now all kitchen, the small, round cottage had a large oven, a cold pantry and a wizard-powered stove. A small table with four chair stood along one wall, but Kaelyn looked at the stone floor and suspected she could see where the old family table had stood.

Mama called out, “Colm? Daisy? I'm back, and I have Kaelyn with me!”

The door to the workshop opened and Colm came in. He was also in his early sixties, with white, thin hair, but a straight, tall posture. He wore a simple robe, with a cowl in a style that looked somewhat antiquated to Kaelyn's eyes, but seemed to fit his statue as a master healer.

He smiled and said, “welcome, Kaelyn. It's so good to meet the young woman that Davis told me 'is almost ready to take over his post'.” Kaelyn blushed, and wasn't sure what to say to that; she knew that the healer in her hometown had arranged this apprenticeship, and that she was going to be working with his former master, but she hadn't been privy to the letter that Master Davis had sent.

However, she was saved the work of coming up with a reply, because at that moment Daisy came out of the other door, the one that led to the bedrooms. Kaelyn's heart sank. Daisy was one of those girls. Tall, blond, shapely, tan, somehow both strong and feminine; she made Kaelyn look, well, less worth looking at. The only question was what kind of person Daisy was going to be.

“Oh, is this the other apprentice? Hi! I'm Daisy, It's so nice to meet you!” she said, her smile open and genuine. Kaelyn looked for any sense of mocking or any angle and didn't find it. That was better and worse. It meant that Daisy was going to be honestly friendly and it would be that much harder to resent her when Kaelyn felt like resenting her.

Kaelyn and Daisy made small talk as they carried Kaelyn's things up to her new bedroom. Daisy, Kaelyn was glad to find, wasn't a constant talker, although she was clearly happy to carry the conversation. But just below Daisy's voice, Kaelyn thought she heard Colm and Mama talking.

“I think they'll get a long like a house on fire,” Colm was saying, his voice kindly and wise.

“Perhaps, but they'll be some fireworks first.” Mama seemed to say.

Note: Please enjoy this sneak peek at the past. A past that really only got fleshed out this morning. And will probably be decidedly more interesting in the second draft.

Sonja looked up from the table where she had been working as Colm came in. His sandy hair was ruffled by the wind, and his expression dark.

“Any luck?” she asked. He sat down heavily on a chair and scowled. “What do you think? That foolish priest thinks we're making the whole thing up. He says that any reports of blood magic being practiced are just superstitious nonsense, that there's no source of power besides the Divine.” “Why we make it up?” Sonja asked. Her accent seemed to get thicker and she forgot more words when she was under greater duress. Colm shook his head. “It's just his way of saying we're idiot kids who should sit down and do what we're told.”

“If my magister tells me to sit, I sit. But she told me to seek, so I seek.” Sonja said.

Colm nodded. “Likewise. But Priest Aaron thinks that just because he's older than us—by three years, Aaron—and because he's a full priest already, he's smarter than us. So no, he's not going to help.”

Sonja was reading a large tome, bound in leather and wood, and gathering various items based on the list she read. She and Colm were sitting in a moderately low-population corner of the workshop that she shared with four other apprentices. Colm watched her weave between them, collecting a coil of copper wire here, a charged crystal there, a yew wand, and a...contraption. He had no idea what it was or did. Finally she returned to the workbench and started assembling all of these pieces based on the book.

“How do you find anything in here?” He asked. The workshop was crowded and busy, but never noisy, per se. Sonja's Magister believed in efficiency and hard work, and wasn't overly fond of high spirited fun on the job. She did seem to have a soft spot for Colm, thankfully, perhaps because he was quiet, hard working in his own art, and was one of the few people outside of the workshop who called her 'magister.'

“How long have you known Marion?” Sonja asked.

“Since we were children, really. We both grew up in the shepherd's valley near Strand. The harbor wasn't there yet, so it was really just us locals at the time. We didn't have a wizard here, although the druids would send traders to us a few times a year.”

Sonja's face revealed what she thought about druids.

“Don't be like that, Sonja. Druids are quite powerful in their own right.”

“They talk to trees and expect them to answer,” Sonja said, wrapping the copper wire carefully around the crystal.

“Maybe they do answer, and you and I just don't know how to listen.” Colm said. Sonja shook her head. She was too busy to argue.

“Anyway, Marion's mother was a druid, or half-druid, or something. Grew up in an enclave, anyway, and wanted to get out. She married a shepherd, least magical person she could find. Although she always said it was like magic, the way he knew each sheep and could tell the dogs what to do, almost without saying a thing. I liked her mom, she was warm and loved to bake.” Colm smiled.

“Marion says she's learning her mother's recipes, which is hard because her mom only wrote down the parts she thought she'd forget. So her recipe for bread just says, 'let sit on the north wall, only in the afternoon' and nothing about, you know, which ingredients should be in the bread.”

Sonja looked up, head to one side. “Recipe as an aid to memory, instead of a teaching tool. Marion's mother was a master, not a magister.”

“I suppose you're right.”

Sonja nodded again, her dark hair falling over her eyes. In some ways Sonja looked like Marion, especially when they were studying. They both got that intense expression, entire face soft and passive except for their quickly moving eyes. Or perhaps Colm was just missing Marion and was glad to have Sonja there as a friend.

“What about you, Sonja? Is there someone special back home?”

“Ha! No. Not really for me. They think that my desire to study magic is scary, too much power for one person. My family fishes. All the families in my village fish. Nobody reads, nobody casts spells, nobody studies. My father saw I wanted something different, learned pearl diving so I could afford to travel, find a different life.”

“Your father harvests pearls?” Colm said. Sonja nodded and reached into a small pouch on her belt, and pulled out a black pearl, larger than any Colm had ever seen.

“Gave me this when I left. Largest black pearl he's ever found. Told me it's only to buy my passage home, if I need passage home. Otherwise it's a reminder of him and my family. I will go home, but I won't trade this pearl to do so.”

“Sonja, that's beautiful.” Colm said. Sonja nodded.

She fastened the copper wire to the...contraption...and let the crystal hang freely below it. She then sketched out some runes around the edges of the...contraption...and sat back with satisfaction as the crystal began to glow softly.

“Glad this works. Takes weeks to charge these crystals, and wasting a charge always feels terrible,” Sonja said. The crystal started to move gently in circles, then in a long oval, then the oval collapsed slowly into a line, swinging back and forth along a single axis. On one end of the axis the glow in the crystal changed from the deep purple that Colm thought of as “arcane color” to a light, sky blue.

“Okay, Dove, we have your direction!” Sonja said.

“I asked you not to call me that!” Colm objected.

“Why not? It's your name, but in normal words.”

“I know but it sounds so...soft.” Colm replied.

“You're a healer. You're supposed to be soft.” Sonja said.