I lose track of time as I get in to reading about magic, the history of it and this world. I have pretty much moved in to the library and study. Which amuses Jason a little bit. Getting me to talk about anything other than magic and history is a little bit of a chore, I am excited about it all really. I am learning so much and the fact that my learning disabilities are gone really adds to my joy of learning.

In fact I only learn it's been a couple months when Count Norstrom comes face to face with me in the hall outside the study.

I have my nose in a book and almost did not recognize him. He is amused. It turns out that he and his learned what happened to me a couple weeks after I disappeared. But he had his own problems and worries and while they did what they could to look for me, he had to look after everyone who was left behind and all the horses and everything. Yes my horses are fine, they are here to. The Emperor made sure of that and helped get them all, with the High Judge in tow, to the capital.

I know why Henry is here, I know why the Count is here to. Lots going on, lots of stuff I been mostly ignoring while being followed around by my new dwarven body guard. He is an ok person, and a good guard, but his heart is in to music. I have listened to him sing, he has a good voice, deep of course. But his choice in music is choir type things and religious, which I don't follow to well. But I teach him a couple songs from home that don't praise any one religion persay. He is happy with that. Joy to the World being his favorite, with a slight modification to fit with his faith. He likes that my songs take very little to change to make them fit with others faith.

Off topic -

The Count was looking for me specifically. He has by now been told that the spell I did to stop the assult on the St Micheals people affected the whole nation. He tells me he was very surprised by that. He knew I was a powerful magician and all but to affect an entire nations worth of traitors and invaders, wow.

On his side of things, he has been home, which is in the center of the Empire and got to take care of a few things there. Saw to his own people and such before taking a teleporter to here. He was again surprised that the teleporter brought him to this city in one jump. He about fainted when he was told that was do to My finding work arounds to the old limits on the teleporters. The new command phrases I brought from my worlds magic worked beautifully here and improved allot of older spells effectiveness.

This is the cover story really - saves face for the other two mages, who are still around and have done a lot of good, when their own greed does not get in the way.

Rafeal tells me that when Gabriel learned that the 'outsider' he had ordered be taken in chains to the capital prison had been set free and raised in rank. Well he about had kittens. Then well he got demoted after an inquiry found he was poisoning the minds of his recruits and teaching them things that were not true and laced with his own fears and bigotries. He is still a knight but no longer a teacher and was reassigned to a different post. He hates it despite it being a good post.

Charles and his family are doing well and back on their estate. They are not planning on traveling anywhere for a while after this last misadventure. Peter on the other hand is in the Capital, charming all the ladies, which is normal for the young man. He bounced back from the ordeal better than any of them, seeing as it turned out so well and all.

Afrel is alive and has formed an army of rodents at his command. Seems he stumbled on to a group of weremice so despite his tiny size they show him great respect.

Gall is still as flighty as ever, still turns to prayer when ever something upsetting or highly emotional comes up. Her lack of self confidence is an interesting problem for the beautiful priestess I find. The few days I knew her I barely got 5 words out of her and almost no work. Others could get her to actually help out, but if I tried, well she ended up on her knee's praying in her own language. Which I have not learned yet.

Count Rafeal informs me that she has a crush type affection for me and her praying was her asking for advise as she got so flustered when I spoke to her. I put her mind set at 'young teenager' really. Like Rose, I am very much aware of Rose's attraction to me. She was obvious, but there is something about the girl than I find off and well she is still a child in my eyes. Locally she is of marriagable age, but no suitable persons have been found for her. Its a peerage kind of thing there. Also till recently she has been in school. They were on a family vacation celebrating her graduation when they were grabbed. It was only luck the other two were in the same set of cells as they each had been taken from different places.

Given whom I tend to worship, I have no problem believing that.

Of Selline and the other mages. She is with the Count still, her home was destroyed by those St Micheal bastards and so she is staying with his group, looking for a new home. He left her in the grand hall, with a few of the Palace mages who were eager to meet someone who had the pleasure to learn from me in my 'early days'. She is really the only mage I can recall by name to. The others had really hard to say names and as such they did not stick in my head well. But each of them came back to their homes on the journey and stayed there. Taking what I taught them and sharing it with their own people. I am fine with that.

The halfling, they learned his name and that he is an adventurer. Gall Finally got a useful spell, Tongues, so they could talk to him. She was thrilled on that as it was the first spell of that level she had gotten.

His name is Gordie and he is a lv 5 warrior - rogue. His being there was just bad luck on his part. Wrong place, wrong time. Walked in to them grabbing one of the others and tried to stop it from happening, only to end up in the same fate. He is sad as he had a nice magic sword before that happened.

Gordie is still with him. He is studying the local language and can speak some. He has attached himself to the Count and seems to think he is a body guard or something. Rafael does not mind really, as his own guard handed him over to the St Micheals people, so having one he knows is not in league with them is something of a relief to him.

I nod to that and point out my dwarven shadow. "He is the same way. Though Jason got him to work as my body guard. He is actually a singer pretending to be a Paladin."

Mythol heard me, "HEY! I am a Paladin of Dorian and proud of it." he states firmly, "My hobby is singing is all." nods to that.

Count Rafeal grins, "I have know Rob here for about a week. In that time I have gotten a bit used to his way of speaking and his teasing way of dealing with the world."

I shrug, "I prefer to face life with humor. While you sir Dwarf face life with a song in your heart and a strong faith. It's just the way we are."

He nods to that, "Good point, but calling me a singer Pretending to be a Paladin." he bobs his head around "Ok I can see how you would think that given what I was wearing the first time we met and all."

I look at Rafeal, "Costume armor, he was organizing a choir group to sing some epic songs and they had tin armor to make it easier to move around on stage. It's an all dwarven group to. I go to their weekend rehersals as they all have normal day jobs as well. They got some good music. Some songs they really don't do well as there is not one Tenor in their group."

Rafeal, grinning, nods. Knowing what I am talking about, some songs just do not work with the dwarves naturally deep voices. Does not keep them from trying to sing them though.

That was all he wanted from me at that point. To get me caught up on everyone and let me know things worked out in the end.

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Me, now knowing Keen and Richard are there, well I head out to see them. I Finally got the spells I need to get them set to rights.

Richard I find is dozing in a stall while Keen is trying to flirt with the lady horses.

"Hello Keen ?" I say with a smirk. He jumps a bit and then looks bashful, "Ah Rob. Well pretty ladies and all um." I shake my head and sigh. The fillies shake their heads and wander off to the other side of the paddocks.

He looks a bit embaressed, "Well being a horse and all with no way to be returned to my own self and all."

"How do you mean ?" I ask curiously.

"Well I been talking to others who have been transformed and they all tell me that the spell can't be reversed. Has to do with mass conversion." he tells me.

"Your telling me, the master of Size alteration about Mass Constraints ? Really ?" I tease, "Keen, I already got the spells worked out to change you back. If that is what you really want. I found the spells in the libraries here at the Palace. I even found a room here with the needed runes so I don't have to make up a new group on the fly. It is however a level 7 spell, so that is part of why it's not done much."

He slowly nods, looks wistfully at the fillies and sighs, "Well I struck out with the ladies. They think I am wierd."

"You are wierd, all mages are wierd, its part of being a mage." I point out to him, "Which is why I am a Mystic. Mystics are mysterious as opposed to wierd." Huge Grin.

Keens head drops and chuckles at me.

From the side yard, "No your just as wierd as most mages Old Man." Curry, shark grin in place says as he comes around the building.

I look at him, "Hello Curry, what are you ... why ?" I let out a breath as I can't decide which question I want to ask him. I have not seen much of him lately and now he just shows up here, with a speak to animal spell going apparently.

"I had heard you could speak to animals with out using a spell and honestly I was curious if you could or if you were just a touch crazy, but it seems you can." he states in his humourous way.

Keen looks at me, "Who or what is he ?"

I chuckle at that, "Keen Sight, this is Master Randolph Curry, high priest of Jro-Daan, local god of death and beurocrats."

"Record Keepers, not beurocrats." Curry corrects.

"I have dealt with Death Gods before, trust me, most of them are Beurocrats. They love all their forms and document Everything and getting anything out of them is a nightmare of such things. Only one I never had that problem with is Mortality, I think it's because the other gods do it all for him really." I sigh.

Curry looks confused, "Who is Mortality ?"

Keen surprises me by answering, "He is the embodiment of Death who stands above all the lesser Death Gods. Sometimes called Mort or the Grand Reaper."

Curry makes an Ah face, "I know him by the Grand Reaper title." nods a bit.

"Mortality is interesting. Does not care if someone is reincarnated, raised of even becomes immortal be it from undeath or becoming a god. As he says, they all come to him in the end, eventually." I state, "Given the number of times I have been reborn." I sigh, "And Curry, ALL Lost Ones are Reincarnates. That is why we can't go back to where we came from. We Died in our own worlds, only the mind and spirit come here. Then some god or force reincarnates us, puts in the things that make us special before letting us out to wander in this world."

He looks like I just filled in a huge puzzle piece for him. Something he had pondered about but did not know till just now. Also I think my insight on the Grand Reaper is helping him understand some other things to.

Curry ask, "I know from my talks with the Emperor that in your world they don't have mages and Mystics is not a normal classification. So I was actually wondering what your class was there."

I nod, "Don't have classes the way you do here. Totally different system in use. Most people are classed by the kind of job they have, or level of education they have recieved. Though I was an exorcist in training during the Incident your refering to. Otherwise I was listed as a Parapsychologist as that is where my training was. Job wise, I was in retail, clerk when young, was a prep cook and dishwasher to. I did such jobs while putting myself through school. I had other jobs but the words for them do not exist in your language. Um, I lost you at 'Parapsychologist' didn't I ?"

He nods, "That is a word from your language." Curry confirms.

"Ah, sorry. A Parapsychologist is a type of investigator who looks in to supernatural occurances, from spirits, to demons, to unexplained natural magical occurances or extra dimensional happenings. Most of those last ones are impossible to prove or disprove really. But that is the gist of it. I specialized in Spirit phenominon."

He nods "Ah I see. That makes a great deal of sense. Not a paying job though."

"No not really. Considered to be a hobby by most. Not many people in the main stream believed in magic, ghost, or any of that stuff. Not enough at any rate for me to make a living at it." I sigh, "But it helped with my real job of protecting my world till I got very sick in my mid 20s and was forced out of it. Occaisionally I would train someone enough to protect themselves or do small jobs but I was to sick to really be useful for much of anything else in that area anymore. Still I kept up with my research and documenting things. The gods who put me here removed all the ailments I was born with or developed do to other illnesses or injuries After I was 20 years old. So nearsighted, over wieght and the lame leg all were from things from Before I was 20. I was put here cause I know things that may be of help to this world in what is coming. All my decades of research and documenting things actually worked to keep certain forces from my world as I shared it with others in my field. Most of what I knew is now in their hands and that left me free to come here."

He slowly nods. He understands that much. He is also figuring out I am a great deal older than he originally thought and not as much an innocent either. But still a researcher, which is much like what he has seen of me here. I research, and learn, and then take what I know to those who can make use of it best. The rest as the Emperor told him is just life and my triing to hide from some greater responcibility as I am not yet ready to deal with it. I have more to do and learn before That can come to pass.

I turn from Curry as I smell something nasty coming from the stables. I walk in there and find some 'hand' trying to feed something to Richard. The smell is coming from him. I reach out with my mind and pin him in a tk 'body suit' effectively paralyzing him. Then I check the feed bag. Grain with some kind of black worms in it. Curry, being curious comes over, I show him the bag, but he does not know what they are either, other than something you don't feed to a horse.

I move him back and do a couple of seeking spells. Richards body is Full of these worms. They are killing him and like the poisons someone tried to feed me, resistant to magic. Well Normal magic at any rate. My Psion powered magic they are Very subsebtible to. I prove that by combining my psion, mutant, and magical powers to remove these nasty parasystes out of Richard.

Then I turn and find them in the handler and several other horses around us. I extend my power, pulling in the needed energies and casting a wide net. Removing these 'demonic worms' from everyone so affected by them. Then I work a different spell that finds the source of these things and ENDS it. Closing several portals and well the Gods of Balance, Harmony, and Life all help me erase these Diseased creatures from the world.

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Jro-Daan watches as these fell things are pulled from the world, he looks through his priest eyes with wonder at the Balances Agent, working to ease the bane from this part of the world. He has known of these things but been powerless to do anything about it, other than record what was happening. He is not really a death god. He is a high level Clerk, but keeping track of the names of the dead and the deeds of their lives is part of his job. What the Hero is doing is making his job a great deal easier. Many fewer deaths from the hands of one of the Demon Gods of Disease.

He informs his priest that the Hero just thwarted a rather nasty plan from the Demon Lord of Disease Flraggoon. Seems he was trying to poison the meats of all animals used as food sources as well as undermine the Empire as the Empire is hated by the Demon Hordes. The Hero's wierd luck has struck again and done another hidden service to the world.

Jro-Daan thinks Curry should befriend the man as he is making the world a better place. New magics that are not limited to mages, but to the priest set as well.

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It's rare for Curry to hear anything from his God, so he is surprised as well as impressed with what the annoyed Mystic is doing. Removing these 'demonic worms' from the world and stopping Demonic Mischief with a New Spell. Something purely from the Priestly order. He is not sure he could do it, but he wants a copy of that prayer spell.

Me I am focused on my friend. Even with the worms removed from him he is weak and needs proper care. He would not survive the transformation now in his present state. I am miffed and the evil demon worshipper is now in my grasp and not likely to enjoy what I will do to the scum.

"Old Man, remember, Mystics don't kill." Curry says, seeing the look in my eyes.

I nod, "True, but it's amazing what a person can live through and with my powers, I can keep him alive a very long time." Keen nods, "I was almost dead and he brought me back from that, reversed a gelding and made me 60 years younger. All that with out using more than a light wounds cure prayer."

Curry nearly gives himself whiplash looking back at Keen, now just getting some idea just how powerful I am. Sure he knew about the telekinesis and the elemental stuff but the power over life and death, that is something he can respect and even fear a little bit.

The Hand of Disease tries to kill himself via the old poisoned capsule gimik. I just Will him back to life, smiling at him, "Sorry but you don't get to die till I say so and I am not going to let that happen for a good long time."

I don't have to do much as I actually have control of his nervous system. So everything he is going to feel is pretty much illusions I will be working on his body.

I look at Curry, "How long do you think this coward will last before he tells me everything he knows ?"

Curry looking quite neutral, "Given your powers and all, maybe 3 days tops. Jro-Daan states he will live about 10 years more, but will not be a good time, something about him dying of old age."

I nod, "Aging someone forward is easy. Making someone younger is pretty hard, doable but difficult. Like compairing a level 2 spell to a level 8 spell type thing." I explain to him, "But this fellow just volenteered for me to fine tune that."

The look of absolute terror in the man's eyes is very evident.

Curry states, "These are his horses and you tried to poison them with your foul worms. Those worms by the way were just removed from this reality, all of it, cause you were unfortunet to be caught by the same person who turned St Micheals army in to mice sized people. He is arguably the single most powerful Holy Mage in the world of this era. So your people's plot is done."

I nod, "don't really need him to tell me who his compatriots are. It will be very evident shortly. I know some very very old magics that will make it so everything this one suffers from will be suffered by everyone in his group to." My smile makes a shark look friendly. Curry adds in his patented evil smile, and the meat pisses itself.

I knock him out, kind of by accident. Over loaded his ability to feel pain. I look at Curry, "Oh well, to much to soon, he fainted. So what should we really do to him ?"

Master Curry smile in place, "The royal dungeons has some lovely rooms made to really play with a persons fears."

"Got any of those mirrors that gives false images ? Those can work really well in psychological torture. Also they aren't against any of my vows." I think his evil smile went up a notch.

"I like the way you think." he tells me, as he leads me to those same dark and nasty dungeons I was in originally.

The Keeper of the Keys (head guard / warden) is informed who this miscreant is and what his crime is and that he is part of a conspiricy to poison all the food in the Empire. We managed to stop it in the early stages but some harm has already been done. The Keeper knows as his steak last night was full of magots. He is more than happy to help us with our endevor to break this punk. Find out who his cell mates are, then expand it from there. Evil Religions tend to work in cell forms. Small groups connected by their dark priest. Find the priest, break them, find more priest till eventually you find the center. Then stomp out the center.

I tell Master Curry later I am not at this time allowed to really do Evil. To much evil in the world, so I need to balance it some. BUT I can threaten to do evil, make people believe it and all. But in the end, cause of the rules I live under, it's all play acting with me. He understands that, he does that himself quite a lot. Tells me the Emperor is Really good at that to. I have seen him angry and can Easily imagine it. It helps that he is nearly 7ft tall to. I am 6'6" and he towers over me. Very intimidating presence when he wants to use it.

Mythol is very relieved I am not allowed to Be evil to. He about had a heart attack when I went all Dark on that man. He understands it to some degree, the horses are my friends and well he was warned about my temper. The Emperor told him all the horror stories and that his job is more to keep me from frying someone who goes prolonged stupid in my presence. So far that had not happened, till today. Today he got a glimpse of what I am capable of. I can be a very scary person when I want to be.

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Shadows appears before the Emperor in his office, "Well the Hero did it again. Accidently found a conspiricy then Fixed it. Seems one of the Demon Lords of disease was going around via it's faithful, spreading some kind of demonic worm in to the local animal population. Basically poisoning our food supply and animals. Richard, the horse the Hero thinks is a transformed man, was infected and the worshipper who worked in our stables was caught in the act of trying to feed all the horse food laced with those worms. It did not go well for him. Master Curry was there for this and they managed to scare the man so badly he fainted. But that was After the Hero removed every single Black Cancer Worm from this world. I do believe he found his level 8 priest spell. I will reiterate this, none of your spirit workers or troops will go against that man as we are sure he could come up with a worse fate for us than you ever could."

Jason stares at his agent, "I don't want you to go after him either. He is to good for us and seems to like us. Also finding a way to reward him that will not make him leave is hard. The man would panic and run if I did what I normally would do. Make him a noble."

The spirit sighs, "Actually he would not. He would drag his feet and moan about it but his sense of responcibility is very high. Do you know over the last couple of months what he has been researching in your library ?"

Jason shakes his head, "Not really. Well a little bit as he tells me and anyone who will listen about new things he has discovered. But not beyond that."

"How to reverse a permanent transformation. He has been researching How to return his friends to their human forms. Also how to reverse his shrinking transformations. He has figured it out to. Says its a level 7 spell, to our understanding. Pure mage spell to and its an Old Spell, he found in one of those Grimiors your Grandfather Collected. The ones you kept locked in the magical library you gave him access to. The one no one knew where the keys for them were. He found the keys."

Jason is stunned, then starts to chuckle. Tymor warned him about the mans luck, but he really did not understand it. Still doesn't but really he is ok with the Super Genius finding those books. Books taken from the dark mages who served the last Demon King. His father hid the keys to keep anyone from being corrupted from the dark magics in those books. But leave it to Rob to find them, likely by accident, as that is how his luck works. Accidentally. His luck seems to find ways to make things happen by happenstance and accident. Strange Luck indeed.

"Oh of the agent of disease, they took him to the Imperial prison. Turns out the Warden knew something was wrong as all the meat they have gotten in their last shipment was infested with maggots. But he found a very nice deep dark cell to put the man in. Master Curry and the Hero went in to the vault of the cursed and retrieved some cursed mirrors. The kind that show twisted versions of reality, and rigged them to slowly change possitions where the prisoner can't help but see his reflection in them. As a form of psychological torture. The man is incidius, and I don't mean Master Curry."

Jason looks thoughtful and nods "What of the meat situation ?"

"While the Hero's spell ended the source of the threat it has been going on long enough to put a hurt on our food supplies. It will take months for the affected animals to be well enough to be used as food. Also many humans were affected as well, from eating the contaminated foods. The Hero's spell fixed that side of it, but their health is still low and will take time for those affected to recover. But as it stands he stopped a full on plague that would have occured otherwise. He also forced all related demons from this world for the next decade. So we have that long to find all their cells and weaken those enemy forces."