Making my way out of the tomb, I found that several hours had passed. Indeed, my stomach announced quite stridently that I had fought though much of the night, and had not eaten anything since I had eaten that lunch in Emeline’s igloo the day before. I’d simply been too busy, either fighting, or recovering my strength between bouts, or trying to find traps without getting myself cut into pieces to worry about eating. I’d had a few sips from my waterskin, sure, but a crypt, complete with the smells of death, did not do much for the appetite.

Seeing no reason to continue my inadvertent fast, I found a piece of bare ground, outside the barrier surrounding the tomb, and sat down. The rations provided by the Everlasting Rations were plain, but they were fresh, and provided for my needs, which made them infinitely valuable for someone traveling the wilds. Some would say that weapons and armor are the most important thing for any adventurer, but the Tribes had taught me that food and water were far more important. You could have the strongest sword in all the land, but if you were starving and thirsty, you would be too weak to wield it, and you would soon be dead, and the sword would do you no good any way.

When I had eaten the rations, and drank my fill from the waterskin, I packed my things away, and spread my wings once again. The flight was not long, but it was still past dawn when I found myself flying up to the gates of Sleetmouth once again. Not wanting to cause any ill-conceived misconceptions, I landed outside the gates, and folded my wings back. The guards on duty were the same as the first time I passed through the gate. I smiled as I saw Wilmot standing there among the rest.

“Well, well. Priestess Emeline told us that her new initiate was undergoing her trial, now that the barbarians have been given something to think on. Did you finish your task? Or are you returning to gather supplies and try again?”

I winked at him, and said, “Aye, Captain. As part of my trial, I was tasked with venturing inside the Frostbourne Crypt not far from town. The undead had taken over the old family crypt, but I was able to fight my way inside, and recover the relic Priestess Emeline sought, but was bound from attempting to gather herself. I cleansed the halls of undead, but the evils done there have tainted the land, enough that it will take some time for it to heal, now that the source of the corruption is gone.”

Wilmot laughed. “Hoh! Sounds like you had quite the adventure, then. Perhaps a tale or two to be told about it, then?”

“Oh, no doubt. But before I go telling the tale, I’d like to see to some things. Would you know where I can find scrolls, or some means to identify magical items? I could try things on and see what happens, but that strikes me as being profoundly stupid, considering where they came from.”

“Hmm. Well, old Aveis is the town wizard, a diviner, as the schools of magic go. Not the most powerful of sorts, naturally, given that most with arcane talents tend to go looking for areas with more magical happenings than the frozen tundra, but enough to offer some scrolls and cast some spells. If he knows you’ve got magic, he’s more likely to want to sell a scroll than cast the spell himself, to be honest, and it won’t be cheap. You can find him in his shop near the marketplace, marked with the crystal orb.”

I thanked Wilmot, and headed into town. Walking to the marketplace, I had to steel myself to not rush into some of the more tempting shops. I had a good deal of coin in my pocket, after all, and the urge to treat myself to something tasty, or to a new set of clothes, or to… Well, suffice to say that there were many temptations, but I managed to pass by them, until I got to Aveis’s shop.

I do not know what I was expecting from a wizard’s shop. A musty library filled with ancient tomes? A gaudy display of magic items throwing off their powers for all to see? But Aveis’s ‘shop’ was simply a nicely appointed (for the area, at least) sitting room, heated by a magical fire. My ability to detect magic showed that there was plenty of magic about, but little of it actually in use at the moment.

A man dressed in simple, but well-made, robes stepped out of the back room, holding a crystal ball. His beard was neatly trimmed, but his hair grew long. This had to be Aveis. When his eyes set on me, he smiled. “Ah, the girl from the Tribes, who brought news of why I detected such a surge of magic from the west. And then went to join Emeline in serving the Frostmaiden. Well, you’ve certainly stirred things up quite a bit in the last few days. So, what brings you to my shop, oh Twice-Souled?”

I smiled back at him, and said, “As part of my initiation, I delved into the Frostbourne Crypt. There were things that I recovered that I could tell were magical in nature, but I dared not simply put them on to see what they did, considering where I found them. I was told that you might have a scroll that I could use to identify the most interesting of these items.”

Aveis nodded. “Indeed, I do, and I’d be willing to sell one to you. I might even be convinced to offer a discount, if you allow me to have some of your time, when Emeline doesn’t have you in training, so I can ask you about the world you came from. The Twice-Souled are known to be souls reincarnated from other worlds, after all, and I would be a failure as a scholar if I didn’t take the chance to learn a bit when it was presented to me.”

I nodded. “I can agree to that. Though I will be leaving town with the first caravan from the south, though that will be a month, at least. As you said, I am Twice-Souled, and I’d like to learn more about this world than just the icy north.”

With that, there was some haggling, good-natured but fierce as we tried to get the better deal out of each other. Eventually, however, I handed over one hundred and ten gold coins to the wizard, and he handed me a scroll in return. I pulled out the magical monocle that I had found in the crypt, and set it on the table.

I took a breath, and then opened the scroll. As I read from the scroll, it felt as though the scroll was reading from me, drawing on my magic to power its enchantment. The scroll’s magic inks burst into flame as I invoked them, and disappeared from the page, not even leaving a scorch mark on the parchment when they were gone. But when the spell was complete, I knew everything about the monocle. It was far more than just a fancy seeing aid!

Artificer’s Monocle

Type

Face

Weight

None

This glass lens is rimmed with gold and has a fine gold chain attached to an ear clip.

Putting on a monocle is a standard action. While wearing an artificer's monocle, whenever you successfully use your artificer knowledge class feature to detect an item's magical aura or you cast detect magic and have at least 5 ranks of Knowledge (arcana), you can spend 1 additional minute studying the item. If you do, you can identify the abilities of that item as if you had cast identify upon it.

Aveis simply nodded when I described to him what the item did. “Yes, I thought as much, having seen them before, in cities to the south. But, as you said, one should never assume things like that when dealing with magical items from evil tombs. Though it does interest me to see what else you found in there.”

I’ll admit that I, too, wanted to know more about the items I’d found, so I slipped the monocle on my ear, and fitted the glass over my left eye, before taking out my loot, and scanning it, one item at a time. Some of them were welcome additions to my meager arsenal. Others… were frustrating.

Potion of Cure Light Wounds

Type

Tool

Weight

0

This common potion heals 1d6+1 HP damage when drunk.

Both potions turned out to be Potions of Cure Light Wounds. Considering that I’d been nearly killed in the crypt, and probably wound have been far worse off if I hadn’t drunk a potion, I was glad to have them. Though I still intended to find a proper group before I went dungeon diving again.

Wand of Cure Light Wounds

Type

Tool

Weight

0

This wand contains the Cure Light Wounds spell, allowing the user to expend charges to cast the spell as they normally would.

50 Charges

Caster Level 1

The wand was a major upgrade, as far as I was concerned. Well, in the grand scheme of things it was nothing, except some disposable healing. But for me, this meant I had a better chance of surviving without a healer backing me up, which was good.

Scroll of Sacrificial Skill

Type

Tool

Weight

0

This scroll contains the arcane spell Sacrificial Skill, allowing the user to cast the spell by spell completion.

1st level spell

Caster Level 1

Gains a +5 bonus on all Knowledge (Religion) checks made to conduct sacrifices

Scroll of Bless

Type

Tool

Weight

0

This scroll contains the divine spell Bless, allowing the user to cast the spell by spell completion.

1st level spell

Caster Level 1

Grants caster and allies +1 morale bonus on attack rolls and saves vs. fear effects.

Scroll of Chill Touch

Type

Tool

Weight

0

This scroll contains the arcane spell Chill Touch, allowing the user to cast the spell by spell completion.

1st level spell

Caster Level 1

Deal 1d6 negative energy damage to a touched creature. Creature must make a Fort save or take 1 STR damage.

Scroll of Sanctuary

Type

Tool

Weight

0

This scroll contains the divine spell Sanctuary, allowing the user to cast the spell by spell completion.

1st level spell

Caster Level 1

Foes who would attack you, even with ranged attacks, must make a Will save in order to attack you for the duration of the spell.

Scroll of Identify

Type

Tool

Weight

0

This scroll contains the arcane spell Identify, allowing the user to cast the spell by spell completion.

1st level spell

Caster Level 1

Identifies one magical item’s properties.

Scroll of Numbing Sphere

Type

Tool

Weight

0

This scroll contains the arcane spell Numbing Sphere, allowing the user to cast the spell by spell completion.

2nd level spell

Caster Level 3

Creates a sphere of intense cold that rolls up to 30’ a round, and deals 1d6 cold damage and 1d4 DEX damage to those it hits unless the creature makes a Reflex save.

Scroll of Eagle’s Splendor

Type

Tool

Weight

0

This scroll contains the arcane spell Eagle’s Splendor, allowing the user to cast the spell by spell completion.

2nd level spell

Caster Level 3

Gain +4 enhancement bonus to CHA for the duration.

Naturally, finding a scroll of Identify in the mix, after I’d purchased a scroll of Identify to learn that the monocle that I found had an Identify property was… vexing, to say the least. Or, to an outsider, amusing, if Aveis’s reaction was anything to go by. Still, most of these scrolls would be very useful to me. Aveis declined to buy the newly identified scroll of Identify from me, but I was sure that it would come in handy, eventually.

I stored my loot, including the monocle, in my bag, since I could always pull out the monocle if I needed it. After promising to return and have that conversation with him, I left Aveis’s shop, and turned my steps towards the shrine. It was time to tell Emeline all about my adventure in the crypt, and to hand over the cloak she’d sent me to find.