Albertus: Out of the frying pan, into the fire.

After having narrowly avoided the lynch mob in Oakhaven (the villagers seem to take exception to old men falling from the sky in green flames) I found myself in another backwater town called Mordayum, it seemed a pleasant and quiet town and I looked forward to staying for a few months so i could get my bearings and learn a bit more about the place.

A stranger here (in more ways than one) I needed time to reacquaint myself with magic, my powers had been tested severely on my journey here, and what was needed was a little period of recuperation, peace, Destiny conspired against this.
I decided to go and have a look at the Tavern (the social hub of any small town) and sat myself in a corner, over the course of the evening I got speaking to fellow travellers, strangers (the stares of the villagers said more than their hushed whispers).
Among the farmers and traders sat what some ancient texts call a Drakespawn (though he referred to himself as Dragonborn), his features and colouring marked him of the lineage of the Bronze flight, a most noble line.
A sultry and exotic woman who called herself Ulalume, she carried a few too many blades for my liking and I have learned to be wary of someone who carries a dagger in their boot (I have met her type before, and they are always trouble).
A half elven woman that carried the mark of the wild places about her, the kind of person you want at your back when trouble comes.
And finally a rather aloof female that bared the mark of the Abyss, to my eyes she bore a hideous birthright, no doubt the result of some great and hideous crimes committed by an ancestor, but it is not unknown for even the darkest of beings to find redemption, I will watch that one closely.
Things seemed to go quite well, my new friends and I swapped stories and talked for many hours until the peace was disturbed by a great commotion outside, screaming!
People rushed to the door to find a sobbing woman cradling a child, upon examining the poor child It was obvious, the dark eyes, the blackened veins, the fever, this was dark magic, suddenly more women came bearing stricken infants, i could see this situation getting very bad very quickly!
A hasty meeting was organized in the tavern and the town elder tried to calm down the troubled citizens, Myself and my new friends attended the meeting and the worried people resolved to action, but these people were farmers and craftsmen, not warriors, and it was decided that help was needed.
my Friends and I offered our services to the townsfolk and after much debate a reward of 100 gold coins of offered for our help in this matter and we followed the Elder to his home to discuss things in more detail.
The town elder expressed his grave concern at this situation and offered a further 50 gold pieces, as father the wellbeing of his child was worth more to him all the gold and jewels of the world, and we gladly accepted, he spoke of concerns and suspicions he had, a local mine had recently been abandoned due to unexplained disappearances (never a good sign) and a caravan had recently come to town, it seemed likely that the darkness that had fallen upon the town was linked to one of these events and so we resolved to investigate.
By consensus it was decided that we would begin our work in the morning, well rested and fresh for whatever awaited us at the mine or the caravan, i spent much of the night in meditation and contemplation, magic seems strong here and powers that i could upon only in finite measure back in Skyr Brynn seemed almost effortless here, and though limited by experience of these strange new laws of magic, it seemed I could call upon these forces at will.
We arranged for transport to the mine and while this was prepared we decided to pay a visit to the caravan, people of this kind could be a mixed bag, i have met merry and jovial gypsy folk who laugh and play the fiddle by the fireside, and dour and grim travellers whose traditions were old and mysterious, Ulalume approached the caravan and went inside, a bright flash followed and we were saw upon entering the caravan a gypsy man engaged in scrying, the sphere awash with colour and light, and trembling as though a great force was being exerted on the crystal.
A blast from the crystal sphere shook the caravan and sent the lithe Ullalume and Aeilbeth hurtling back out the door, the sturdier Dragonkins weight prevented him from being knocked far and my staff was the only reason I was not threw from the caravan.
The shaken seer told us of his desire to come and warn the people of approaching troubles, he spoke of omens and signs that all was not right in Mordayum, his warning however fell upon deaf ears when he spoke of these matters to a local wizard, Marvin the magnificent (The self aggrandizement immediately set of alarm bells as to the type of individual) and we resigned to pay the mystical presence a visit.
We arrived at Marvins home a shopfront bearing a sign reading 'Marvins magnificent menagerie', I have seen places like this before in many great cities, accursed places where magic is prostituted for coin, where the deep mysteries exploited for the greed of selfish and petty mages, magic should be a gift, given freely and never sullied by the exchange of something as vulgar as coin, this place looked typical of such places, upon entering his shop I was greeted by the usual mix of ornate but utterly worthless baubles designed to attract the ignorant and foolish, and the genuine articles, objects that shine with an aura only the wise can see.
Despite my distaste at entering such a place and having to bring my companions out of their rapture at the shiny things with a few sharp taps of my staff, we had work to do and a wizard to speak to.
Marvin the magnificent...pah...an incompetent hedge wizard, a rustic simpleton, I have seen farm animals with greater wisdom than this charlatan!
I hoped that this rather pathetic figure would redeem himself with his compassion and dedication, I was disappointed, he was nothing but an apathetic blaggard, who shirked the duties that all men of magic should observe, with great power comes great responsibility! as wizards we should use our magic for the protection and benefit of our fellow beings, but this petty minded fool could think no further than his coinpurse and was content to watch children and whole families suffer, My Dragonkin ally snarled "Mercenary" and I could not but agree, If we had not more pressing matters I would have given this greedy upstart a lesson in humility and responsibility.