“Through the study of natural philosophy, we delve into the concept of the universe, and the synthesis of all that is within it. As I journey beyond the barrier, it is my hope that I shall return with a greater knowledge of these concepts, so that I may bring enlightenment to those who walk the path beside me.”

Gently closing the worn leather cover of the journal, I placed it into the drawer of the wooden desk which sat within the central room of the high priestess’s quarters. The rooms of the high priestess’s personal residence were filled with the remnants of my predecessor, from the books which lined the shelves, to the instruments in the private laboratory.

All the books found inside the high priestess quarters appeared worn with age, and many were written in different languages, some I’d never seen or heard of. Fortunately, most of the books had been translated, courtesy of the former high priestess. Something I was grateful for, as I dreaded the thought of undertaking the task of translating the hundreds of books which lined the shelves.

According to the documents I’d discovered, the books were the original copies of those placed in the public parts of the temple, many of which were found by the temple’s ‘Scholars’.

The Scholars of Philosophia, were from what I understood, Trismegistus’s version of a paladin. Sent out on various quests by the high priestess to find items such as books, rare herbs and according to one document, to seek out rumors of a hidden passage through the barrier that separated the continent of Salvia from the rest of the world. It was this passage, which led to the disappearance of the former High Priestess Hemera II, and the Priest Egenor Barothlas.

As documented in Hemera II’s journal, the pair left for the passage, intending to seek out a temple shown to the priestess in her dreams. Hemera II, believed this temple would lead to greater advancements with the discovery of knowledge thought lost.

That journal entry was the last one written, and I felt a strange sense of guilt as I read it. As I knew Hemera II would never be returning from her quest to seek greater knowledge.

“Caw.”

The low croaking cry of Zosimos, followed by the crow landing on the back of the chair I sat in, brought a smile to my lips, as I turned to see the stem of pale white flowers held in the bird's beak.

“Where did you get these? Were you able to get out of the city?” I asked, taking the sprig of snow blossoms from the crow, and getting a soft caw of affirmation in response to my query.

That was surprising, considering we’d been barricaded within the temple for a little over a day now. The city guards stationed on the platform leading to the temple refused to allow us to descend into the city, or to let anyone access the temple from outside. To make matters worse, Kip, and the others weren’t able to re-enter the city when I’d called for them to come back.

I’d expected to receive a visit from the city chancellors after the opening of the temple. But so far no one had appeared at the temple doors, with the exception of the guards. Attempts to communicate with the guards were met with insults, and threats of violence. Yet, despite the threats, they’d not made any moves to enter the temple.

The few direct disciples who were in the city, prayed asking why the temple was not permitting anyone entry, and when I’d informed them it was not, they’d informed me the guards would allow no-one onto the ninth level platform, stating the temple was off limits. I suspected the Dreadmere guild was behind the actions of the city, but locked within the temple there was little I could do beyond wait to see what would unfold.

If they intended to starve us, they would be waiting for a long time, as all I’d needed to do in order to get food was assign Taurie a quest. Bron was all too happy to prepare us a month's supply of rations, which Taurie sent to me as an offering in order to fulfill the quest.

Rising from my chair, I offered my hand to the crow, who stepped onto my wrist, before maneuvering itself up my arm to settle on my shoulder. Entering the private lab attached to the study, I set the sprig of blossoms down on the counter I’d designated for ingredient preparation.

“Now, let's see what Tolzat said for preparing Snow blossoms shall we?” Humming softly, I picked up the book which held my notes on alchemist Tolzat’s frost elixir.

Gather a quantity of Snow Blossoms when freshly budded, and beginning to whiten. Be sure to harvest as night falls, before the flowers bloom in the moon's light. Chop the plants into pieces and crush them in a mortar. Put them in a glass cucurbit, and make sure it is well sealed. Then set it to distill in the water bath with a fire no hotter than a spring day until the water comes out.

Draw the residue, and finely grind in a marble mortar, then return it to the vessel together with its water. Distill the matter in the water bath until pearlescent water emerges. Continue to separate the matter from the water, by distilling it in the water bath with a slow fire. The quintessence, which will float over the matter, should be distilled very slowly so that it becomes perfect and pure.

“He does not even state which part of the blossom to use, is it just the petals? The whole plant? Only the stems?” I sighed, clicking my tongue as I read over the notes for a second time.

“Caw.”

“Caw? Caw what? Just the petals?” I asked, glancing at the crow who turned its attention to grooming its wings.

Seeing I would receive no aid from the bird, I eyed the blossoms pondering what to do. Zosimos only brought one sprig of the blossoms, so there wasn’t enough for me to prepare it each way. Tolzat says chop the plants, not the petals, so perhaps he is referring to the blossom, and stalk.

As I chopped the stalk along with the blossoms, I kept an eye on Zosimos, watching for any signs the crow may give that would let me know I’d been wrong in my assumption. When the crow continued to preen without pause, I set the plants into the mortar, working them into a pulp.

With the cucurbit sealed and placed inside the water bath that was filled with tepid water, I watched closely for any reaction. Tolzat gave no instruction as to how long it should be distilled for, and I was uncertain if I’d gotten the temperature for the water correct.

How did one measure the warmth of a spring day within a fantasy world, where you’d not yet experienced spring? What climate was this alchemist Tolzat from? The warmth of spring would be different depending on the region a person lived in. How could I be sure of the temperature with such ambiguous instructions?

Fetching a worn leather bound book, with the title ‘Mimic’s boon or bane’ from the study. I settled onto a chair at the bench where the cucurbit sat in its water bath, so I could observe the changes as I read.

Little is known about the creatures known as mimics. First appearing in the tombs of the Kemet, these gluttonous creatures share many physical properties with that of the slimes, however they possess abilities far beyond their simple minded brethren….

Separation of the mimic’s core elements show signs of necromantic energies, similar to those found in the cores corrupted by death magic. It is my belief that these creatures may be born of a slime core corrupted by the dark energies found within the Kemet tombs. How the slimes came to be in an environment so unsuited to their physiology is unclear…..

My attempts to recreate the mimics have garnered no success. However, the corruption of a slime core through exposure has resulted in……remarkable….more research…other…

After many failed attempts……successfully…..mimic….merge the mana…nature of…

“Merge? Merge with what,” I grumbled, closing the cover of ‘Mimic’s boon or bane’ with a huff. “Why does it have to be so faded, and damaged?”

Checking the cucurbit which was now in its second round of distillation, I searched for any signs of the pearlescent liquid Tolzat spoke of, but so far the water I could see was clear, with a fine layer of plant matter visible in the bottom of the glass vessel.

Even after distilling for almost ten hours, I was yet to see the signs of the snow blossom quintessence, and as the hours continued to pass by, I began to doubt I would.

“Do I continue distilling, or has this been a failed endeavor?” I wondered, staring into the cucurbit, chin resting on my palm as I watched condensation drip down the sides of the sealed glass vessel.

As the drop I was watching reached the liquid pooling at the bottom of the cucurbit, it did not flow into the liquid as I expected it to, but floated atop it, as oil did when meeting water. More drops of condensation rolled down the sides of the cucurbit, and I smiled as the amount of water lessened as the pearlescent liquid took its place.

“At least I didn’t waste my only snow blossoms, now if only I could get my hands on a Glacies Bufo.” I murmured suggestively, glancing over at the crow who was sleeping with its head tucked under its wing.

“Oh blessed, and glorious priestess, I call to thee.”

Rolling my eyes, I turned my focus inwards, seeking out the presence of the annoying dwarf who was making no attempts to hide the mockery in his tone as he prayed.

“What do you want?”

“Honored is me, for the glorious priestess has spoken. Priestess, this poor disciple has arrived in the town of Bovia, at the mountain range's base. In this town, we find refuge.”

“Cut the bullshit,” I hissed, wishing he was here so I could burn him. “How’d you all get to Bovia so fast? I thought you said it normally takes two days.”

“It’s been a little over that, Foxy. Are you losing track of time again? We also managed to move a lot faster by locking up the wheels, and hammering on some boards to make the wagons into big sleds. Wish we’d thought of it on our trip up the mountain, would have made things so much easier.”

“You better not be damaging my wagons, or you’re the one paying for the mana crystals to repair them.” I warned, a mental picture of Pia sitting atop one of the wagons cheering as it flew out of control down the hill, forming in my mind. “Are Leo, and Arion doing okay?”

“They’re both fine, Leo is still sleeping for the most part. Rainy has him all snuggled up with hot water bottles, and he’s in front of the hearth in her room. The rest of us are all fine as well, thanks for asking.”

“No trouble after you left?”

“None, not even a monster attack on the way down. Anything on your end yet?” Kip asked, and I shook my head in response before remembering the dwarf couldn’t see it.

After letting Kip know that there’d been no change, I reminded him they were to remain in the town, and keep a low profile. Bovia was the closest town to Airus, and I didn’t know how far Dreadmere’s influence was spread.

While I would have preferred the others to stay closer to the city, sending them to Bovia was the best choice in the current circumstances. I didn’t know when things would be resolved here, and leaving them camping in the snow for an extended period when there was a town nearby would have been cruel.

As Kip's mental presence faded, another flared to life within my mind, and I listened in amusement to Corvus’s exaggerated tale of my brother's demise at the hands of a Leosaur pride. I’d requested the lion bakeneko, who’d remained behind in the desert with my brother, to shift the hunting expedition's focus onto Leosaur's while they waited for the fire drakes to repopulate, giving detailed instructions of the parts I wanted harvested. So far they’d managed to locate three prides of the reptilian felines, but it seemed my brother had gotten cocky, and attempted to fight an entire pride alone.

And they think I’m the impulsive one. I scoffed as I broke off the connection to Corvus. Though, if I thought back on it, my behavior recently had been rather impulsive.

“Caw.”

Zosimos’s croaking cry broke through my wandering thoughts, and I looked over to where the bird was peering into the cucurbit. Right, that's right… I was doing something, wasn't I?