The team pondered Miles sitting on the floor; he tried to get up, but couldn’t keep his balance.

“Just stay there,” Gregall advised. “And finish your beer. Let the potion do its work.”

“For how long?” Miles groused.

Gregall’s smirk returned. “When you can stand up again, that’ll mean it’s finished.” He turned to Rikki. “Thanks, kid. I needed a good laugh.”

“That’s not all we brought!” he gushed. “Show ’em what we found, guys!”

Lorarona opened up the purse of holding and withdrew the wand, handing it to Gregall. He twitched as he took hold of it. “What the…? That was weird.”

“What is it?” Rikki asked nervously.

“That will become apparent soon enough.” He twiddled the fingers on his free hand; they lit up with a glow. He put them together, and the glow soared upwards in an arc, falling upon the wand with several shimmers and fizzling sparks.

“See?” Noninja told Clancy. “Now that’s a ‘detect magic’ spell! How come yours don’t look like that, huh?”

Clancy twiddled his fingers; a black ball formed inside them. “How would you like a magic missile up your nose? How’s your spell resistance, huh?”

“Knock it off, you two,” Lorarona chided. “Stop acting up in front of company.” Both stared sullenly as the black ball in Clancy’s fingers dissipated.

“Oh, no,” they heard Gregall mumble. They turned to see him rub his forehead, a concerned look on his face. “This can’t be.”

“What is it?” Rikki pleaded. “Don’t leave us hanging!”

Gregall smirked. “Apt words, kid.” He flashed a worried look at the magical device in his hand. “Evidently, this is a Wand Of Great Expectations; it’s a variant of Mass Suggestion. I haven’t seen one of these in years. Where did you find it?”

The team summarized the events of the previous evening; as their explanation proceeded, he looked more and more shaken.

After taking a deep breath and exhaling, Gregall walked to his front door, looked both ways outside, flipped the sign to “Closed”, then closed and locked the door. Somehow looking older than before, he walked behind the counter to what looked like a small break room. “Come on back, kids; have a seat.” They joined him.

Gregall wiped his brow with a cloth before continuing. “The symbol on that wand was something I hoped I’d never see again. It belongs to a long-banned bard’s guild.”

He looked up slightly, his eyes sporting a thousand-yard stare. “I remember seeing their work when I was a child. I and my friends used to attend their performances on the weekend; it only cost half a copper for an entire afternoon of shows.” He chuckled to himself. “I realize now that the shows weren’t very good – lots of bad acting, implausible situations, and cheap illusions – but it was just fine for me and my friends. The way the shows ended with cliffhangers, and how the plots continued the following week, kept us hooked.”

He looked at the team and shrugged. “Eventually, our parents demanded that the shows be banned, on the grounds that it was warping our fragile little minds. We never heard from them again.” He looked around his shop for a moment; though crowded and disorganized, it bore copious evidence of his genius and skill. “And who says it’s bad to have a warped mind?” He guffawed loudly at his own joke, then quickly stopped.

“It seems they’re trying to make a comeback. Or maybe someone has discovered their techniques and are trying to use them. Either way, this is a mortal danger to the theater.”

Rikki clapped his hands to the side of his head. “Oh no! That’s terrible! We have to do something!”

Gregall chuckled quietly. “Not me…my rambling days are over. I’m too old for this stuff. But maybe you kids can have a shot at it.” He swept his hand into the air with a flourish. “It sounds like it could be a grand adventure!”

Rikki clapped gaily. “Yaaaay!” Then he pouted. “But where do we go from here? How do we find these people?”

Gregall pondered. “I have an old friend named Tintso; he still has a workshop down in the bard district. He’s made a lot of strange devices and special effects for the theater. If anyone knows who’s been messing with this old magic, it’d be him.” He quickly jotted down an address on a scrap of paper, and handed it to Rikki. “You can find him here.”

Rikki rose to his feet and shook Gregall’s hand. “Thanks, great uncle! We’re on our way!” He moved to leave.

“Wait…” Clancy interjected. Everyone turned to look at him. He shuddered from the sudden attention. “Um…I just wanted to ask…” he added, looking around the shop. “Are you taking any apprentices?” The color returned to his cheeks. “This place looks like my dreams come true!”

Gregall looked him up and down, then smiled sadly. “I don’t think you’re ready for what I have to teach.” Clancy’s shoulders hunched as his face fell.

“Hey, don’t take it so hard!” Gregall chided, flashing a bright smile. “I’m sure you’re well on your way to super wizardry! Talk to me after you’ve gained a few levels.” Clancy returned his smile, then looked down shyly.

“Besides,” he continued, “Tintso tends to have apprentices, even low-level ones. He always seems to have more work than he can handle. So check with him!”

“Thanks!” Clancy gushed. “I will!”

“OK, wizard,” Noninja chided. “If you’re done with the hero worship, we need to get going.”

Clancy suddenly pointed to the door. “Is that Shijoku Hawazaki, the senpai of the Five Winds Temple?”

Noninja’s eyes bolted in that direction. “Huh? Where? What’s he doing here?” He looked around frantically.

He slowly realized everyone was staring at him, smirking. “Made you look,” Clancy crowed.

Noninja growled as he bolted for the exit. “I’ll get you back for that.”

Clancy raised his hand as if he was about to cast a spell. “I’ve still got a magic missile with your nose’s name on it.”

Noninja swore under his breath and stormed out of the shop.

“Nice work, kid!” Gregall exulted. “You’ve passed your first test.”

A shy smile bloomed over Clancy’s face as he hurried for the door.

Before long, they found themselves outside of City Hall. A roving newsboy walked by them, hawking the latest edition; Rikki lit up. “It’s the daily entertainment sheet! This could be the news we’ve been waiting for!” Rikki handed the newsboy a few copper pieces, took a paper, and began to read it. Suddenly, he stopped, looked at the team with a wide grin, walked purposefully to a nearby fountain, and sat down to read. “Look at this, everyone! Lyle’s atrocity made the news!” They crowded around to look.

They all skimmed the article. It revealed that a private party at the Medochre mansion turned to terror when a ghostly apparition interrupted the performance. In addition, many in attendance found the play to be boring and pretentious, and the rest of the audience suspected that some sort of compulsion magic must have been used on them, but they had no evidence. The article ended by saying that no member of the Medochre family had any comment.

Rikki was practically bubbly. “Isn’t this great, guys? That jerk Lyle’s been taken down a notch! Now maybe he’ll stop beating me up.” He looked around uneasily for a moment, then forced himself to look stoic. “OK, you guys go check this place out. I’m going to keep busy on my end, trying to find out more.” He walked away, looking a bit distant.