Elves and Orcs do not approach magic academically. As such, their arcane might will never meet that of the Empire.
High Magus Luther
Solomon walked the rows of the repository with purpose. He'd waited a few more days before using it, making sure that Inquisitor Song had actually left and that there were no more eyes on him. He found himself savoring the walk, he'd missed it. He moved through to where he’d found the Paternal Protection spell and then began searching around it. In the past he’d found a scroll with a spell written in ancient elvish as well as one written in modern orcish. They were beyond his ability to translate at the time, but now that he’d spent the last several weeks brushing up on the languages and even improving his abilities he was more confident that he’d be able to decipher them.
After finding each scroll he made his way back to the desk his uncle had left behind and rolled out the orcish one first, placing paperweights in each corner to keep it from folding itself. He began to look through the scroll carefully, finding the formatting odd in comparison to the spells that had been in Drakthic. He recognized the words for darkness and enshroud as he had before, but with his newfound knowledge of orcish he was able to further decipher it.
Cloak of Darkness
One must find a source of shadow in which to perform the spell, otherwise there will be nothing to form the cloak. One must ask the darkness to shape around oneself by saying, “Dark I ask that you walk with me,’ while offering the requisite mana in exchange. If the shadow responds, it will enshroud you. Offering the shadow a piece of dark cloth is a good way to entice it. The cloak will keep one obscured from their enemies. It will not make one invisible though, remember to keep your feet light and quick.
Along with the spell description was a diagram of hand motions to be used when casting the spell. The spell seemed very strange. They were asking the darkness to participate, as if it was a living thing. They also didn’t list the spell as components and instructions, but more as a single long description, almost as if someone is explaining it out loud. Solomon reviewed the spell and practiced the gestures a number of times, using Perfect Recall to firmly implant the entire scroll in his mind for reference. This one would almost certainly prove useful.
He carefully removed the paperweights from each corner and placed the scroll to the side, unraveling the elvish one next. The text was gold, which was very attractive to the eye, unfortunately it was also very hard to read on the pale paper. That along with the ancient elvish dialect having more accent marks and flourishes meant it took far more time to decipher than it would have otherwise.
The art of tree walking.
Mark the trees with the runes of transport
Activate the rune with blood
Move between the trees
The further the trees, the greater the price
Be wary. Not all forests welcome travelers.
Below the instructions were the symbols for transport. He guessed that they would need to be carved into the tree, but the scroll was unclear on that point. Given the massive woods around his property he was certainly glad to find this particular spell. He’d need to test it of course, and make sure of what distances his mana could handle, but given the pool he had to draw from he wasn’t too concerned about making it from his estate to the mine, or from one end of Moonfallow to another.
He took the time to again cast Perfect Recall on the rune as well as the other instructions. Reviewing and then re-reviewing it to ensure he didn’t miss anything. Once he was done he folded that scroll as well and placed it next to the other one. It would return to its shelf after he left. He considered searching the repository for another spell to work on, but decided against it. He didn’t think it would be wise to divide his focus.
He re-entered the wax filled coffin he’d emerged from and found himself standing back in the hidden study. He took a moment to stretch and work the stiffness of standing at the orb out of his arms and legs. Then he walked back into the main hall of the study, stepping over the god's corpse without even looking at it.
He walked carefully to his desk. He didn’t have any slips of dark cloth with which to practice the cloak of darkness spell, nor were there any trees underground with which he could experiment. Instead he moved to the scroll for summoning Agog as well as the letter he’d received from The Devil. He reviewed them for near the hundredth time and considered again attempting the spell. He had been reviewing old stories about deals with demons, both those where the protagonist had failed to properly prepare and those where they’d fooled the demon. Trying to determine how best to approach everything.
He felt relatively prepared to perform the spell and negotiate with the demon. That said he had a more immediate logistical concern. Where was he going to get a goat? If he got a goat how would he bring it to the study? He could perhaps attempt to find a warehouse or other area in which to perform the ritual, but even that was a nightmare. He tapped his chin with his walking stick, unsure of when he’d picked it back up. The letter didn’t say it required a goat, just that a goat would suffice. Perhaps he should seek larger game.
Solomon walked out of the study, giving his growing army of homunculi a salute as he walked by and out into the library. He gave the empty suit of armor a nod as well as he moved and then made his way through the halls of the manor until he came to the sewing room. Felicity was humming a light tune that he could hear from the hallway and he saw her hard at work mending some of the knife cuts from the assassination attempt. Many nobles would simply throw the clothes away, but he felt that would be a waste of good material. He knocked gently on the doorframe to keep from startling her, but she startled anyway, nearly dropping the needle she was holding as she turned around. Once she realized it was him she curtsied neatly.
“Felicity, I was hoping to make a request of you,” he said simply.
“Ye-yes lord?” she asked, managing to move her eyes up to almost meet his.
“I need some new handkerchiefs. I know they’re typically white, but I was wondering if you could sew some in black, or other dark colors. Preferably of a thin material. Could you do that?”
“Yes lord,” she replied. “There’s some black cotton over here that was left by the former lord of the manor,” she approached a bolt of cloth in the corner and pulled it out. Solomon walked toward it, feeling it between two fingers. He gave the corner a tug and a small piece came off.
“Hmmm,” he hummed. "That'll do nicely, Felicity. Thank you."
“Y-yes lord." She curtsied.
He nodded, placed the small corner of black cloth in his pocket and left Felicity to her work. She was still very nervous, but given their experiences in the Black Wood he thought she was handling herself very well. He walked out to the atrium, nodding at a few maids as he walked until he saw Melissa speaking with Barnabus and Regis.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
Melissa turned and nodded. “Yes, they were just giving me an update on the ballroom.”
He nodded and turned to Barnabus.
“Have you taken the time to meet with Dr. Isaacs yet?” he asked.
“Yes sir. He’s drawn out some diagrams that I have taken to the local smith.”
Solomon nodded. “Let me know when you have a price. If I’m unavailable, Melissa can give you the money. Understood?”
“Yes sir,” said Barnabus with a deep nod that his brother matched.
“I’ll be walking the grounds if you need me.”
“Okay Solomon,” she replied with a nod. The use of his first name caused Barnabus and Regis to raise their eyebrows, but he ignored it as he made his way outside. He did a normal lap around the grounds, checking in on the status of the garden with Poth, and seeing how the local hires were doing before gradually making his way to the edge of the woods. Once there he waited patiently for a few moments, peering out of the dark woods to make sure he hadn’t been followed. He’d made it a habit to disappear for chunks of time so the servants rarely questioned his absence.
Certain he wasn’t being followed he walked deeper into the woods until he found a well shaded clearing. He took the small scrap of black cloth from his pocket and moved his arm in a wide arc with his hand open, reaching for a nearby shadow as if he was attempting to gently pull it toward himself.
He spoke in orcish, “Darkness, I ask with respect that you walk with me.” He pushed his mana outward as he spoke and the shadow he’d been reaching for. He watched as the shadow moved toward him, flowing across his arm as if it was water. It moved up past his shoulder and then slowly down and across the rest of his body until he was entirely covered in it. He looked at his right hand, seeing it covered in smooth blackness. He moved it into another shadow and saw it nearly vanish as it entered.
“Thank you,” he said in orcish, gradually lessening the magicka until the shadow was completely removed from him. The feel of the spell had been very different from what he was used to. It felt almost friendly.
He moved over to a nearby tree, pulled a small knife from his coat. He used Perfect Recall to bring the image of the elven transport rune to the forefront of his mind and superimposed it onto the tree, carefully carving the symbol into it. Once he was done he walked across the clearing to another tree and carved it again. With both of the symbols wrought he opened a vial of his mana infused blood and placed some on his palm before placing it on the transport rune.
He fell. Far faster and further than he’d expected to. He found himself surrounded suddenly by hundreds of pillars of darkness all around him. Behind those pillars were living things. Some were bright, others swathed in darkness, and all moved too swiftly in his vision as he fell for him to fully understand what they were. He saw a single mote of light a short distance from where he was falling and recognized the rune he’d just carved. He reached out a hand toward it and projected his mana in its direction. His trajectory changed quickly and he was launched toward the rune with incredible speed.
He was back in the clearing, and moving far too quickly through the air. He spun through the air until he slammed hard into a tree. His spine would’ve been broken had there not been a homunculus taking the damage for him back in his hidden study.
He panted, sensing that he’d used far more mana then he’d needed to, or wanted to, and he started pulling some leaves from his hair and a branch from his coatsleeve as he pulled himself to his feet. The tree walking spell would require more practice it seemed.