“The oldest of our cities are still connected by Gates. They are the artifacts of immense power, built aeons ago from materials found in different Planes. Sadly, both knowledge about those Planes and the art of creating the Gates is lost to us nowadays.

Travelling through the Gates is akin to walking through a complex network of ever-changing arteries, a dark maze of tunnels. It is crossing a Demiplane, its parts infested by strange beings from different realities. They allow faster travels, yet are also making them far more dangerous.

It wasn’t always like this.

In days gone by, the Gates were one of the pillars that supported our culture; connecting not only cities of Isvaarheim but also other elven civilisations scattered throughout this Plane. One could easily visit his kin, be it or winged breathen, Aéito Sidhe or those who beloved depths of the oceans, Aigéin Sídhe.

The changes began with a corruption of our closest brethren, known as Daimon Sídhe nowadays. At first, the changes were intangible, but before we knew other beings invaded through their Gates. We tried to push them back, yet Daimon Sídhe fought alongside them, rejecting all the ties they had with us.

Thus, the Warren Wars began.

Throughout ages many deadends emerged as Gates has been destroyed, numerous paths forgotten as those who knew of hidden Gates died without sharing their knowledge. As if Fate turned against us, whenever we gained the upper-hand in a Demiplane, we suffered a blow on the Main; Aéito Sidhe almost completely destroyed by dragons, Nelroddirians pushed back by vicious serpentfolk, Sea Elves threatened by leviathans… even amongst us, some tried to embrace the same path that Daimon Sídhe once took, beginning countless internal conflicts.

Ultimately, the wars subsided and an uneasy truce was made. With time, new inhabitants of the Demiplane multiplied and turned against both us and Daimon Sídhe alike. As travels between elven nations became even harder, we drifted further away from each other.

Still, the Gate Guard stands vigilant, sweeping the outer parts of the Demiplane in search for immediate threats to our cities. Even if a secure path is maintained between some of them, it’s just a shadow of the former glory.”

- Aetherna University Lecture – Isvaarheim: Part II

“You want me to do what?” Ion shouted.

He spent most of the evening and night in the inn, studying scrolls provided by Orryn. Even if he still wasn’t so sure about this whole plan of stealing the schematics back, he couldn’t find in himself the resolve to say no to an opportunity of learning new spells.

Next morning, almost as soon as he woke up, Sae gathered them all in the room; only Lyssa was missing; after meeting with the smiths yesterday, she went to a local monastery as apparently it was expected from a visiting cleric to live here.

Sae shared her plan. The plan in which Ion seemed to play the far greater role than he expected.

“They are really desperate to find wizards. It is a great opportunity, we would gain an access to their estate, could see where the schematics are hidden and how well they are protecting them. You will just pretend to be deciphering it. Maybe with a few hints from Darmud, we could even give them some wrong ideas to thwart their efforts. I will play a role of your assistant and think about the best way to actually retrieve the plans. Moreover, we would also get paid by them!”

“Couldn’t you just steal the schematics when they show them to you?” Ciros asked.

“I doubt that they leave us alone with the plans; as they can’t simply duplicate them since they are magically encrypted and the copy would be completely unreadable, we will probably be observed all the times. Also, I would like to make it look as if some other family took it. They will easily believe that, as after Silverfords allied with Swiftglades trying to attain a position rivalling that of Houses, they can't really expect other nobles remain idly watching...” Sae answered.

“But back to the topic. I’ve already spread a few rumours around the town that a powerful wizard recently arrived here. He is interested in researching old ruins in the mountains. A shady type, willing to cooperate with fiends just as much as with humans; from what I gathered Silverfords don’t worry about dirtying their hands, so in their eyes rumours like this will only add to your creditability. Tell me about spells of the highest circle you are able to cast. With that, we will make up the best background story for you.”

Seeing the young wizard unconvinced, Sae gave Ion the ‘puppy eyes’ look.

“That would be a 3rd circle. Apart from Create Shelter you gave me, I also know Counterspell, Dispel Magic and Vampiric Touch…”

He sighed; he still considered the number of spells he knew to be pathetic.

“Is this all?” To Ion it seemed as if Sae shared his opinion.

“Yes... well, there is also Animate Dead, but I doubt that it will be of any use. Your plan won’t work…”

“Heck?” Thaleus spit his drink, “Can you resurrect someone?”

Both Crios and Dorian also seemed surprised.

“Of course. Just as a mindless zombie, he would surely appreciate.” Ion responded with a sarcasm.

“…and you can create those black rays sapping strength… or burning fiery ones... that fearing spell…”

“Aww!” Sae suddenly grabbed Ion’s head and started looking at his face from various angles.

“A bit of a mascara here, an eyeliner there… If I make you a little paler, you would make a fine, dark necromancer…”

“What? An eyeliner? Can’t we just cast an illusion? And why do you want to make a necromancer out of me?”

“Oh, we will use an illusion, but I expect them to be competent enough to look through it. Mundane methods are still the best. Should you learn Alter Self, we would later cover you with it, and then again with Disguise Self.

“But…”

“And it’s your choice of spells, so it’s not my fault! But don’t worry, you won’t be just any necromancer, we would make you a 5th circle one! With rumours in the correct ears, nobody would even dare to question it…”

“…”

“Don’t make such a face! How many wizards of that level could live in that town? Two or three at most, and even if, as Silverfords are still hiring, those spellcasters surely have better things to do than to support them.”

Ion couldn’t find any words to answer. Did she really expect him to proceed with this plan?

‘How could I even fool anyone into thinking that I am a 5th circle wizard?’

“So what colour of the eyes I should use for today’s disguise…” Sae wondered as she left the room.

Ion stared at the rest of the group with a sulky expression.

“Why have you not stopped this foolishness?”

They looked at each other.

“Why should we?” Dorian finally answered. “If you play it well, her plan might really work.”

“You just need to get a hang of this haughty attitude of older wizards and nobody will tell a thing,” Thaleus supported.

“And Sae has made a good point. Your choice of spells is steering towards darker regions… couldn’t you focus more on researching different branches of magic?” Ciros said leaving, not waiting for Ion to answer.

The young wizard sighed.

‘It’s not as if I had control over what spells I’m able to recreate from dreams… and buying spellscrolls gets really expensive; I would have to pay tons of gold to get my hands on those scrolls, if not for Orryn’s help.’

He wondered from how the gnome went into possession of scrolls he had given him. A magic that could be used for espionage wasn’t one that was openly traded in Rikse.

‘One more reason to really try to help them. I have a debt to repay.’

****

Ion took a break from studying the scrolls and decided to wander streets of Leisha’s Crossroads for a while.

Having sent a letter to his father, Ion hoped that Gerard will be able to receive it soon.

‘Yet still not soon enough for me to receive an answer, probably. However, I asked him to send an answer to Grasshaven, so I will pick it up on our way. Even if we don’t continue with the first caravan, this route gives the most opportunities…’

On the streets, people were saying that the army was currently marching through the deserts, some even claimed they were heading directly to Hakzokh. If rumours about soldiers encountering only scattered pockets of orcish defence were true, it was reasonable to think that the army’s commanders wished to be remembered by the history as the first to ever capture the orcish capital.

“Our vengeance is near!” many people were invigorated by news, still remembering atrocities caused by orcs after they breached Fallpoint.

Ion continued to markets, looking at the stalls.

‘Sae was right, everything is so expensive there,’ he sighed. ‘At least it was fairly easy to sell potions I carried with a profit. I earned 7 gold on reselling them, almost doubling what I have invested; it’s a pity I have brought only fifty.’

He went past a group of servants.

“…people are disappearing on the south.”

“I heard that some of the wizards responsible for destroying a waystation are in the city.”

Ion frowned, looking at the gossiping people.

“They say that the one who summoned demons is here…” one of the girls said. “Moreover he’s been rising undead servants recently.” She added in a confidential whisper, eliciting scared gasps from the group.

‘Is this…’ For a moment Ion could swear that the girl winked at him. ‘Nah, time to go back to learning spells… Invisibility, here I come!’

**Sae**

Sae was bored. She laid on a rooftop of one of the warehouses overseeing the entrance to the tavern. Finally the man she looked for left the building. She followed him for a few streets, taking the advantage of a dim evening light, before deciding to approach him.

“My master has an offer you might be interested in.” The man had quick reflexes, drawing his knives from under the greatcoat as soon as she spoke first words.

“And what that offer might be?” He seemed to relax a little, yet still stood in a position that could allow him to attack or dodge immediately should the need arise.

“The wizard I serve to recently arrived at this town. He is planning an expedition southwards and will require some backing. No, no, I don’t mean funding…” She weaved a hand dismissively “…but connections with the people willing to do their job without too much questioning, who would be able to obtain some unusual items using the right channels…”

“Why should we be interested?” He tried to sound indifferent, but Sae knew that the man had a hard time containing his excitement.

“I have no idea.” She shrugged. “He just ordered me to wait here until I spot a man dressed like you. Wizards and their divinations… He is willing to meet with someone of importance in the 'Hook & Plot Restaurant'.”

It was a known place where merchants discussed their businesses in a confident manner.

“Tomorrow, just before the sunset. Ask for Mr Evans.”

She disappeared in the alley.

**Ion**

Ion managed to cast Invisibility on himself for a first time. He still needed to concentrate on guiding the light around himself, yet to his surprise after the initial effort of casting, the mana seemed to guide the light almost on its own accord, not requiring too much of his own attention to upkeep the spell. At least when he stood still, it required far more efforts when he moved.

The young wizard stood before the door to the room he was renting and wondered.

‘Will the door disappear too when I touch it, similarly to items and clothes I carry? Will the spell require more mana to be maintained? Or would it just end?’

Of course, he could simply find out by trying to open the door, yet where would be the fun in that? And just knowing the final effect didn’t mean that one could understand why it occurs; he wanted to come with a theory on his own before finding out whether it was a correct one.

After few minutes of pondering he reached to the doorknob.

*bang* The door opened with such an impetus that Ion instinctively covered himself with Shield to prevent it from hitting him.

‘It seems that casting another spell interferes with the flow of mana. I wonder whether it could be improved…’

“Aww! It hurts!” The door bounced back and hit Sae. “Was this some kind of a trap?”

She looked around, massaging her forehead.

“You know that people usually knock before entering, right?”

“Yeah, sure. Wear this,” she threw a pile of clothes at him. “We have some things to do this night.”

“What kind of things?” He looked dubiously at the robes. “I think that you gave me yours…”

“Spreading rumours could only get us so far. Now we need to give townsfolk a way to confirm them. As for clothes... Ion, just think for a moment. Dorian claimed that you’ve managed to learn Alter Self after our morning conversation, so it won’t be a problem.”

“But those are woman’s clothes!”

****

“So you’ve also managed to learn Invisibility, great. Hide here for a moment, I will prepare a way forward.”

Sae guided Ion to the part of the city he didn’t know. Which wasn’t that hard anyway, as he only wandered between markets and their inn.

A cold night wind blew, messing with his long hair. He angrily put them together to uncover his eyes. Bits of his body still felt weird, weight on the front of his chest just one of the examples. The form he created with the spell turned out to be quite similar to Arde. Ion had no idea why Sae seemed to be annoyed seeing the result; it was her idea to have him wear those clothes. His were similar to an outfit she currently wore.

‘Where in the Realms had she found this? A black halterneck mini dress with a hem tailored to resemble a bat wing. Is this her perverted fantasy of how a vampire should look like?’

He covered himself with a cloak, hoping that nobody will ever learn about this trip. He was so embarrassed that he decided to upkeep Invisibility all the times.

‘And where, by the Nine Hells, are we going?’

Seeing Sae waving he sighed and went towards her. The iron gate was open. As he passed through it he found that two bodies were lying behind the wall.

“Did you…”

“Nah, they are just unconscious. We must hurry now. Help me with tying them, it’s not like they would stay like this longer than a few minutes. Such things only happen in bard’s tales.”

Ion ignored her and casted one of the spells he learned from Vision-he. It had a lengthy cast and could be easily shrugged off by unwilling targets, but if someone was already unconscious it allowed to extend the time one stayed in this state.

“It should give us two or three hours. Unless someone finds and tries to wake them up earlier, but tying them wouldn’t help either in case like that.”

“Great, it fits a wizard’s work better. This should give us enough time, let’s move.”

She headed towards a stone building not far from the wall. Ion looked around, the walled area was mostly grassy, some sculptures around. Few stones were planted on the ground. He casted Darkvision and gasped from a surprise.

“Is this a graveyard?”

“Of course! You are an evil necromancer, don’t you remember?” Sae answered, and urged him to hide. “Where is your Invisibility, there seem to be two more people.”

Ion mentally cursed curling behind a tombstone. Casting any other spell interfered with Invisibility, dispelling it.

“Wait here a moment,” Sae whispered and blended into the shadows. Even with Ion’s Darkvision he barely saw her as she moved.

He heard a sound of a body collapsing.

“Nate?” the second guard unsheathed his sword looking in Sae’s direction. “Shit, you…”

Before the man finished speaking, he was affected by Ion’s Hold Person and swiftly knocked down by Sae.

“Well, those two were more vigilant, why would one place so many guards on the graveyard?” The rogue wondered as Ion chanted the same spell he used on the guards from earlier. “Well, at least they had some coins! Let’s share them later.”

She proceeded to the door of the guarded building and picked a lock quickly.

They entered into the little room, only glimpses of starlight passing through small windows on the ceiling. Inside, Ion spotted a dozen of tables, most of them occupied by corpses. Bells were strung to them. It was said that if one was accidentally deemed dead, he could ring it to gain the attention of people walking outside. Or as an early warning that someone might become an undead.

Sae proceeded with cutting the ropes.

“What are you waiting for? Raise them.”