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[Roboson]

+1 on haggling for a cheaper map.

As long as we heal the centaur first, we can see how much time we have left before the meeting.

Edit: and that bug is so worth a memory chip, so let's get one. Two even.

[Weirdsound]

Status:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Journeymage Shay Masters

Physical State: Lip slightly wounded
Mental State: Confident

Magical Capacity: Brimming with Magic

Memory Storage:
x7 Fear (Brother's Safety)
x2 Pride Memories (Helped Wor-Rippa give birth)
x3 Discovery Memories (Met Kitsune)
x3 Discovery Memories (Met Bone Dwarves)
x2 Flattered Memories (Flirted with by centaur)
x2 Shock Memories (Aghast at poor hospital conditions)

Inventory:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Full Body Leather Armor (Worn, Enchanted: Flame Resistant, Enchanted: Weightless)
Bonemetal Mail Shirt (Worn)
Hooded Surgical Mage's Robes (Worn)
Bonemetal Crisis-Helm (Worn, Enchanted: )
Utility Belt (Worn)
     -Crossbow
     -Pouches holding 35 Bolts
     -Pouch holding 5 Bolts (Enchanted: Explosive)
     -Coon Fur Pouch holding 5 Bolts (Enchanted: Instant Load, Gift from admirer)
     -Bonemetal Brute-Blade 'Shuhadaku' (Enchanted: Slay Human, Enchanted: Anti-Polearm)
     -Grapple Hook with 25 Feet of Sturdy Line
Surgical Mage's Bag (Slung over shoulder on stick, Enchanted: Extra Space, Enchanted: Refrigerated)
     -Surgeon's Knife Set (Enchanted: Self Sharpening, Enchanted: Painless)
     -Surgical Forceps
     -10 Bronze Needles
     -5 Thick Spools of Unicorn Hair Thread
     -20 Human sized doses of Slaver's Sand (Sedative)
     -Jar of Green Kracken Vennom (Hemotoxin)
     -Set of Steel Lockpicks (Not trained to use)
     -Steel Bone Saw (Enchanted: Self Sharpening)
     -Surgeon's 'Living' Cloth Wipe (Enchanted: Cloth consumes bodily fluids it absorbs to produce more of itself)
     -Journeymage's Diploma from The Lower Fenwick Academy of Surgical Magic
     -Final Letter from Brother Clancy
     -Dunn's faded blue Mage's Robe
     -Dunn's Spellbook

Magic Talents:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

General Mage Skills:

Subschool of Memory Manipulation (20)
Extract Memory - Extracts the power from a specific memory, forming it into a drop of magic the size of a poker chip that mages use to barter with. Using this spell removes the chosen memory from memory storage, but dose not actually make you forget anything.
Consume Memories - Burns the power of one or more memories to learn a new spell from a specific subschool. The spell learned will relate to the memories burnt. The amount of memories that must be burnt to cast this spell is listed in parentheses () next to the subschools' name under the magic talents spoiler, and increases each time this spell is used for a given subschool. Using this spell removes the chosen memory from memory storage, but dose not actually make you forget anything.
Read Memories - Burns the power of one or more memories to learn a new spell from a book/scroll/ect. To learn a spell this way often requires memories of a specific type, such as memories related to medical practice to learn a new surgical spell for example. You may also have to meet other requirements as well, depending on the book or scroll you are using. Using this spell removes the chosen memory from memory storage, but dose not actually make you forget anything.

The School of Surgical Magic:

Subschool of Diagnostic Magic (15)
Diagnosis Target Area - Cast with a weapon in hand and target in mind. Choose the type of injury you wish to inflict (broken arm, crushed brain, pierced heart, ect), and the spell will highlight the area you should strike, while guiding your next shot or blow towards that area for a bonus to accuracy. Can be easily cast in the heat of battle.
Family Diagnosis - Cast with a visible target in mind. The spell will look into the deaths of the target's ancestors going back ten generations, and highlight on the target any bodypart or organ whose failure was the main cause of an ancestor's death. Deaths on the target's mothers side will be highlighted in red, deaths on the target's fathers side will be highlighted in green. This spell makes no effort to differentiate between violent deaths and natural causes.
Tumor Vision - As long as you maintain focus on the spell, all growths, tumors, moles, ect belonging to anybody in your field of view are highlighted in your vision. A simple benign mole is highlighted in white, and the color darkens as the growth becomes more and more serious; Terminal cancer is highlighted in pitch black.

Subschool of Body Manipulation (10)
Replenish Blood - Cast with a visible target in mind. Target's blood supply is restored to normal levels, and minor injuries to the target's major blood vessels are healed. Draining to cast, especially if cast on self.
Set Bones - Cast with a visible target in mind. Targets bones are returned to their normal position, and small breaks are repaired. Spell is painful enough to make most targets pass out. Trying to set more than two bones at once, or repairing large breaks, is very draining, perhaps dangerously so.

Subschool of Transmutation (10)
Reconfigure Blood - Cast with a target in mind. Target's bloodtype becomes AB+. Target's immune system is completely reset, rendering the target prone to infection, but also ensuring that any organ you might have just put into the target is not rejected. Very draining.
Mutate Abnormality - Cast with a target tumor, growth, or infection in mind. This spell extracts the power of a chosen memory within your memory storage, and converts it into a powerful beam of mutagenic energy to be focused on the target. The target will mutate rapidly for weeks, often gaining interesting magical qualities related to the memory used. This spell is often a death sentence for the person carrying the target tumor, growth, or infection, but can be used as a last resort on already terminal infections or tumors. Using this spell removes the chosen memory from memory storage, but dose not actually make you forget anything.

You ask Hershel what the others have been up to. According to your apprentice, the Smith and his underlings brought some pearls and Bonemetal bars to trade for common metal trinkets that they may use in bonemetal production. Shork, Toogool's son and the other guard sent by the delegation, has been spending much of his time in the various taverns drinking heavily. You thank the Progenitors that Shork is only a guard and not a diplomat on this trip...

After pondering the situation for awhile, you decide that you are likely to have better luck helping out at the Centaur hospital tent than you would trying to convince an ogre at least eight times your size to stop drinking, so you pull up your robes and track down the injured scouts.

Strutting confidently into the hospital tent, you are prepared to offer your services to whomever is in charge, but quickly determine that no such person exists. There are three injured centaur in the room, each attended by 2-3 clueless centaur medics, most of whom appear to be hapless teenagers. Without announcing your presence, you step back and observe each patient from a distance.

The centaur closest to you also seems to be the one closest to death. It appears that he was mauled by some sort of beast with terrifyingly large teeth and claws. The wounds have all been stitched shut, but not before the patient had lost alot of blood. You doubt he will last another hour. You could try saving him with your Replenish Blood spell, but doing so is more than likely to just damn the patient to a slower and more painful death by infection; His wounds cover alot of surface area, and the equipment in the hospital tent that was used to patch them up seems far from sterile.

Far less serious are the injuries suffered by the second patient, whose rump and rear legs are covered in large spines, each the size of a dagger. The spines look like bigger versions of the ones that the porcupines back home would get the family dogs with, so there is a good chance that like those the busniess ends of these ones are barbed to make removal tricky. The two hapless kids taking care of the patient loudly debate the best method of spine removal, and you are aghast to hear that one of them is advocating just cutting them and the flesh around them out with knives.

You can't tell exactly what is wrong with the third patient, but it looks serious. He is unconscious and sweating, and judging by the stinky bucket nearby and the fact that his powerful legs are bound with ropes, must have been suffering vomiting and convulsions as well. This patients three caretakers seem as stumped as they are ambivalent, as they simply hang around the patient passing around a bottle of liquor and shooting the breeze.

+Shock Memory x2

How do you proceed?

[Roboson]

Loudly announce yourself and take control of the situation and the clueless medics. Stabilize the bloody centaur, if he dies to infection, he dies, but you're not going to leave him a guaranteed death by blood loss. Once stable, ask questions. What did this. Next move to the unconscious patient and do whatever you can based on the answer to the cause of the problem. Lastly the quilled patient, carefully remove the quills. If no sedative is available, use the slavers sand to sedate any patient who needs it.

[VoidSlayer]

Loudly announce yourself and take control of the situation and the clueless medics. Stabilize the bloody centaur, if he dies to infection, he dies, but you're not going to leave him a guaranteed death by blood loss. Once stable, ask questions. What did this. Next move to the unconscious patient and do whatever you can based on the answer to the cause of the problem. Lastly the quilled patient, carefully remove the quills. If no sedative is available, use the slavers sand to sedate any patient who needs it.

+1 and ask who/where the actual healer is.

[Xvareon]

First, whisper to Gnar to watch our back (if he can even fit in the room; if not, then Hershel), because possibly drunk centaurs might try to pull a fast one on an attractive female like us here.

It occurs to me that we, a healer mage, have no f***ing antibiotics. This is a big problem. First thing's first, after announcing ourselves to the medics, ask them straight up if they have any antibiotics handy, or know anyone who does, and make it FAST. If not, get that freaking alcohol from them and force-feed it to the wounded centaur after we Replenish his blood if we have to. If nothing else, it'll numb his pain, and might even help kill some of the infection by suffusing his blood with the stuff. At least until we can get some actual antibiotics to save the poor bastard's life.

What's that done, follow the rest of this suggestion:

Loudly announce yourself and take control of the situation and the clueless medics. Stabilize the bloody centaur, if he dies to infection, he dies, but you're not going to leave him a guaranteed death by blood loss. Once stable, ask questions. What did this. Next move to the unconscious patient and do whatever you can based on the answer to the cause of the problem. Lastly the quilled patient, carefully remove the quills. If no sedative is available, use the slavers sand to sedate any patient who needs it.

[Weirdsound]

Status:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Journeymage Shay Masters

Physical State: Lip slightly wounded
Mental State: Slightly drained

Magical Capacity: Brimming with Magic

Memory Storage:
x7 Fear (Brother's Safety)
x2 Pride Memories (Helped Wor-Rippa give birth)
x2 Pride Memories (Apprentice learned to apply stitches)
x4 Pride Memories (Aided 3 Centaur Patients)
x2 Arrogance Memories (Bullied a group of perverted centaurs)
x3 Discovery Memories (Met Kitsune)
x3 Discovery Memories (Met Bone Dwarves)
x2 Flattered Memories (Flirted with by centaur)
x2 Shock Memories (Aghast at poor hospital conditions)

Inventory:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Full Body Leather Armor (Worn, Enchanted: Flame Resistant, Enchanted: Weightless)
Bonemetal Mail Shirt (Worn)
Hooded Surgical Mage's Robes (Worn)
Bonemetal Crisis-Helm (Worn, Enchanted: )
Utility Belt (Worn)
     -Crossbow
     -Pouches holding 35 Bolts
     -Pouch holding 5 Bolts (Enchanted: Explosive)
     -Coon Fur Pouch holding 5 Bolts (Enchanted: Instant Load, Gift from admirer)
     -Bonemetal Brute-Blade 'Shuhadaku' (Enchanted: Slay Human, Enchanted: Anti-Polearm)
     -Grapple Hook with 25 Feet of Sturdy Line
Surgical Mage's Bag (Slung over shoulder on stick, Enchanted: Extra Space, Enchanted: Refrigerated)
     -Surgeon's Knife Set (Enchanted: Self Sharpening, Enchanted: Painless)
     -Surgical Forceps
     -10 Bronze Needles
     -5 Thick Spools of Unicorn Hair Thread
     -12 Human sized doses of Slaver's Sand (Sedative)
     -Jar of Green Kracken Vennom (Hemotoxin)
     -Set of Steel Lockpicks (Not trained to use)
     -Steel Bone Saw (Enchanted: Self Sharpening)
     -Surgeon's 'Living' Cloth Wipe (Enchanted: Cloth consumes bodily fluids it absorbs to produce more of itself)
     -Journeymage's Diploma from The Lower Fenwick Academy of Surgical Magic
     -Final Letter from Brother Clancy
     -Dunn's faded blue Mage's Robe
     -Dunn's Spellbook

Magic Talents:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

General Mage Skills:

Subschool of Memory Manipulation (20)
Extract Memory - Extracts the power from a specific memory, forming it into a drop of magic the size of a poker chip that mages use to barter with. Using this spell removes the chosen memory from memory storage, but dose not actually make you forget anything.
Consume Memories - Burns the power of one or more memories to learn a new spell from a specific subschool. The spell learned will relate to the memories burnt. The amount of memories that must be burnt to cast this spell is listed in parentheses () next to the subschools' name under the magic talents spoiler, and increases each time this spell is used for a given subschool. Using this spell removes the chosen memory from memory storage, but dose not actually make you forget anything.
Read Memories - Burns the power of one or more memories to learn a new spell from a book/scroll/ect. To learn a spell this way often requires memories of a specific type, such as memories related to medical practice to learn a new surgical spell for example. You may also have to meet other requirements as well, depending on the book or scroll you are using. Using this spell removes the chosen memory from memory storage, but dose not actually make you forget anything.

The School of Surgical Magic:

Subschool of Diagnostic Magic (15)
Diagnosis Target Area - Cast with a weapon in hand and target in mind. Choose the type of injury you wish to inflict (broken arm, crushed brain, pierced heart, ect), and the spell will highlight the area you should strike, while guiding your next shot or blow towards that area for a bonus to accuracy. Can be easily cast in the heat of battle.
Family Diagnosis - Cast with a visible target in mind. The spell will look into the deaths of the target's ancestors going back ten generations, and highlight on the target any bodypart or organ whose failure was the main cause of an ancestor's death. Deaths on the target's mothers side will be highlighted in red, deaths on the target's fathers side will be highlighted in green. This spell makes no effort to differentiate between violent deaths and natural causes.
Tumor Vision - As long as you maintain focus on the spell, all growths, tumors, moles, ect belonging to anybody in your field of view are highlighted in your vision. A simple benign mole is highlighted in white, and the color darkens as the growth becomes more and more serious; Terminal cancer is highlighted in pitch black.

Subschool of Body Manipulation (10)
Replenish Blood - Cast with a visible target in mind. Target's blood supply is restored to normal levels, and minor injuries to the target's major blood vessels are healed. Draining to cast, especially if cast on self.
Set Bones - Cast with a visible target in mind. Targets bones are returned to their normal position, and small breaks are repaired. Spell is painful enough to make most targets pass out. Trying to set more than two bones at once, or repairing large breaks, is very draining, perhaps dangerously so.

Subschool of Transmutation (10)
Reconfigure Blood - Cast with a target in mind. Target's bloodtype becomes AB+. Target's immune system is completely reset, rendering the target prone to infection, but also ensuring that any organ you might have just put into the target is not rejected. Very draining.
Mutate Abnormality - Cast with a target tumor, growth, or infection in mind. This spell extracts the power of a chosen memory within your memory storage, and converts it into a powerful beam of mutagenic energy to be focused on the target. The target will mutate rapidly for weeks, often gaining interesting magical qualities related to the memory used. This spell is often a death sentence for the person carrying the target tumor, growth, or infection, but can be used as a last resort on already terminal infections or tumors. Using this spell removes the chosen memory from memory storage, but dose not actually make you forget anything.

You consider the issue of antibiotics briefly. You know of some plants that can fight infection, but they are all native to your homeland of Fenwick, and you doubt any can be found around here. By tradition, most graduates of The Lower Fenwick Academy of Surgical Magic stockpile memories of loss and shame brought about by losing patients to infection. These memories are then fed en-mass to the Consume Memories spell in hopes of learning a magical means of dealing with harmful microorganisms.

There are two other ways that you could easily gain access to antibiotic magic. First, you could find an academy of medical magic and sign up for a High Mage level course that covers infections. The only such program at Lower Fenwick was the High Mage Plague Doctor Certification, but that was never an option for you; The instructor, Archmage Stone, maintains a strict 'men only' policy for admission.

The other option would be to learn from a spellbook of a Mage who has already acquired antibiotic magic. Most mages jealously guard their spellbooks, not wanting to give any competition a leg up, so the best way to go about this for most people would be aquire the book of a dead Surgeon Mage... but you have an alternate means of gaining access. You missing brother Clancy Masters is arguably the most talented living mage when it comes to matters of disease and infection, and since you are both kin and former apprentice to him, you have no doubt that he will let you browse his spellbook if you find him alive and in a decent state of mind.

None of this, however, is of help to you or the wounded centaur in the present moment.

"Alright," you ask confidently, drawing the attention of the 'medics', "what is going on, who is in charge, and where do they keep the disinfectant?"

The Centaurs all stop what they are doing to stare at the young human female in their midst. Less than friendly grins begin to spread across their young faces. "These scooots were investigating the claim that Cyrus' guard at Coarlite Village, just half a day down tha road, was lead by some sort o' beast master. Turns out the reports were true, and these poor fecks got their arses 'anded to em by lions, dire porcupines, 'n brimstone vipers."

"As fer whoos in charge," a second centaur chimes in, "I'm afraid its just you n' us lassie. Elder Thistle is working on somtin more important than a few dying scoots, and he don't trust us with keys to th' medicine cabinate ever since Jerkyguts here," he elbows the centaur standing next to him hard, "got in 'n huffed all the happy mist. Apparently that psychotic ogre Toogool sent delegates to meet with the herds higher ups tonight, and Thistle is oot prepping for tha meeting. Pity that. Means we can't drug ya up before we have our fun..."

The only reason your grin wavers as the horse people begin to close in around you, is that you have to purse your lips to whistle. Almost instantly, in response to your loud tweet, the flap to the tent opens, and Gnar crawls in on his hands and knees. The smaller Hershel walks in behind. Whatever perverted plan the centaurs had for you evaporates as they stagger back in fear and shock.

"As you can see, I'm aware of the Ogres. I am Journeymage Shay Masters of Fenwick, practitioner of surgical magic, and until that meeting begins or your elder gets back, I think I will be taking charge of this hospital. Any objections?"

Gnar lets out a loud grunt and contorts his face to a sadistic sneer. The centaurs remain silent.

"Good."

---

You hit the centaur dying of bloodloss with your Replenish Blood spell, and he stabilizes almost instantly. You then send a couple of your new 'interns' to fetch as much strong liquor as they can muster to wash out the patients wounds in hopes of averting infection.

Next you take the bottle that the lazy centaurs were already drinking, and add four doses of Slavers Sand (centaurs are much bigger than men, and thus require bigger doses) to what remains. You cover the hole at the top, and give the bottle a vigorous shake to mix the drug in, before ordering the interns to pour the contents down the throat of the unconscious centaur. The bite of a Brimstone Viper is long-lasting and agonizing, but rarely lethal. The best you can do for this patient is ease his suffering as best as you can.

For your final patient, the one stuck with dire porcupine quills, the worst suffering is sadly yet to come. Calling Gnar over, you instruct the ogre to apply brute strength to painfully rip each quill from the patient by hand. The spiny quills occasionally do quite a bit of damage on their way out, so you are forced to give this patient stitches on several occasions. As you work the thread and needle, you show your apprentice Hershel how it is done, and eventually get him to practice his needlework as well.

+Arrogant Memory x2
+Prideful Memory x4
+Prideful Memory x2

Work on the needled patient is slow, and by the time sunset rolls around, you are not quite finished. You leave Hershel and the 'interns' to deal with the last few quills, while you and Gnar head off to the important diplomatic meeting.

The meeting takes place at Grand Stallion Peperjack's private box at the racetrack, but the high leader of the Blackhoof herd himself could not be present on only a day and a half's notice. Instead, the herd is represented by his son Free Stallion Kalemane, his brother Elder Thistle (the medic whose tent you just hijacked), and Wildhide, the lowborn mayor of Dashing Winds.

Toogool's colony is represented by yourself and the smith Dun-Lo. To your dismay, the centaurs insist on giving the drunken guard Shork a seat at the table on account of the fact that he is Toogool's son. Introductions and opening small talk are taken care of quickly. You inform Elder Thistle that you helped out with his patients today, and although he thanks you, you can tell by the look on his face that the older centaur is not happy at being shown up by an uppity young human.

The meeting begins with Dun-Lo explaining that because the colony now has access to a mage in yourself, that they can have every able bodied ogre armed with bonemetal and ready for war in just over a month. Toogool wishes to use his newfound might to raid Cyrus' territory and take the villages of Coarlite, Fallharvest, Denver-upon-Ferris, and Tigerskull from him. Dun-Lo proposes that the herd aid him by providing 200 centaurs to help attack each village, and in return Toogool will allow the Blackhoof Centaurs to take control of the villages once his colony has had its way with them. Otherwise, Dun-Lo explains, Toogool intends to massacre and burn any village he takes from the slavers.

The centaurs consider the offer briefly amounts themselves before replying. Although they would like to take Coarlite, Fallharvest, and Tigerskull for themselves, they fear that the bustling town of Denver-upon-Ferris is too close to Cyrus' headquarters at Castle Despair for the Blackhoof Herd to actually fend off a counter attack from the salvers. Their counter offer is to send 200 Centaurs to help take Fallharvest as the Ogres request, but only 100 Centaurs and 50 human mercenaries each to help with Coarlite and Tigerskull, which they feel are less valuable towns to control.

Although you don't know the local map whatsover, you know that the play is to fire up the Centaurs with excess zeal and push them even deeper into Cyrus' turf with the eventual goal of taking Castle Despair. With this in mind, you might want to convince the centaurs to actually help with Denver-upon-Ferris, as if they did so, you would have more troops on the doorstep of Cyrus' headquarters. It might also be smart to try and negotiate for the Blackhoof Herd to share intelligence related to Cyrus, something that the rather straightforward Ogres failed to even consider.

On the other hand, there is merit to accepting the Centaur's counter offer as it stands now and leaving. The longer the meeting goes, the more likely the drunken Shork finds and opprotunity to do something... undiplomatic. Also, if you wrap up the meeting in the next few minutes, you will likely have time to return to the market and purchase bugs and/or maps.

How do you Proceed?

[Roboson]

Argue the importance of Denver-upon-Ferris. It will be much harder to hold any of the towns if it remains under Cyrus's control.

[VoidSlayer]

Offer to have some ogres remain as mercenary guards to help defend the larger town after it is taken.  For pay of course.

Ask for a military attache who knows about the centaurs and the enemy so that attacks can be better coordinated.

[Xvareon]

Ask for a military attache who knows about the centaurs and the enemy so that attacks can be better coordinated.

+1.  And someone who can provide us with intelligence on Cyrus and his men, not to mention other general information that may be of use:  prominent foraging & hunting spots; caves or good ambush areas; signal bonfires or watch towers that Cyrus may use as advance warning, and so on. Someone who doesn't mind working with ogres. I know that's probably slim pickings because ogres would take out humans if given the chance, but right now, the ogres are pointed at mutual enemies, not the humans under their protection. Besides, we're a human among ogres, so that should count for something, right? That would wrap up this issue of asking for intel nicely.

[Weirdsound]

Status:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Journeymage Shay Masters

Physical State: Lip slightly wounded
Mental State: Slightly drained

Magical Capacity: Brimming with Magic

Memory Storage:
x7 Fear (Brother's Safety)
x2 Pride Memories (Helped Wor-Rippa give birth)
x2 Pride Memories (Apprentice learned to apply stitches)
x4 Pride Memories (Aided 3 Centaur Patients)
x2 Arrogance Memories (Bullied a group of perverted centaurs)
x3 Discovery Memories (Met Kitsune)
x3 Discovery Memories (Met Bone Dwarves)
x2 Flattered Memories (Flirted with by centaur)
x2 Shock Memories (Aghast at poor hospital conditions)

Inventory:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Full Body Leather Armor (Worn, Enchanted: Flame Resistant, Enchanted: Weightless)
Bonemetal Mail Shirt (Worn)
Hooded Surgical Mage's Robes (Worn)
Bonemetal Crisis-Helm (Worn, Enchanted: )
Utility Belt (Worn)
     -Crossbow
     -Pouches holding 35 Bolts
     -Pouch holding 5 Bolts (Enchanted: Explosive)
     -Coon Fur Pouch holding 5 Bolts (Enchanted: Instant Load, Gift from admirer)
     -Bonemetal Brute-Blade 'Shuhadaku' (Enchanted: Slay Human, Enchanted: Anti-Polearm)
     -Grapple Hook with 25 Feet of Sturdy Line
Surgical Mage's Bag (Slung over shoulder on stick, Enchanted: Extra Space, Enchanted: Refrigerated)
     -Surgeon's Knife Set (Enchanted: Self Sharpening, Enchanted: Painless)
     -Surgical Forceps
     -10 Bronze Needles
     -5 Thick Spools of Unicorn Hair Thread
     -12 Human sized doses of Slaver's Sand (Sedative)
     -Jar of Green Kracken Vennom (Hemotoxin)
     -Set of Steel Lockpicks (Not trained to use)
     -Steel Bone Saw (Enchanted: Self Sharpening)
     -Surgeon's 'Living' Cloth Wipe (Enchanted: Cloth consumes bodily fluids it absorbs to produce more of itself)
     -Journeymage's Diploma from The Lower Fenwick Academy of Surgical Magic
     -Final Letter from Brother Clancy
     -Dunn's faded blue Mage's Robe
     -Dunn's Spellbook

Magic Talents:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

General Mage Skills:

Subschool of Memory Manipulation (20)
Extract Memory - Extracts the power from a specific memory, forming it into a drop of magic the size of a poker chip that mages use to barter with. Using this spell removes the chosen memory from memory storage, but dose not actually make you forget anything.
Consume Memories - Burns the power of one or more memories to learn a new spell from a specific subschool. The spell learned will relate to the memories burnt. The amount of memories that must be burnt to cast this spell is listed in parentheses () next to the subschools' name under the magic talents spoiler, and increases each time this spell is used for a given subschool. Using this spell removes the chosen memory from memory storage, but dose not actually make you forget anything.
Read Memories - Burns the power of one or more memories to learn a new spell from a book/scroll/ect. To learn a spell this way often requires memories of a specific type, such as memories related to medical practice to learn a new surgical spell for example. You may also have to meet other requirements as well, depending on the book or scroll you are using. Using this spell removes the chosen memory from memory storage, but dose not actually make you forget anything.

The School of Surgical Magic:

Subschool of Diagnostic Magic (15)
Diagnosis Target Area - Cast with a weapon in hand and target in mind. Choose the type of injury you wish to inflict (broken arm, crushed brain, pierced heart, ect), and the spell will highlight the area you should strike, while guiding your next shot or blow towards that area for a bonus to accuracy. Can be easily cast in the heat of battle.
Family Diagnosis - Cast with a visible target in mind. The spell will look into the deaths of the target's ancestors going back ten generations, and highlight on the target any bodypart or organ whose failure was the main cause of an ancestor's death. Deaths on the target's mothers side will be highlighted in red, deaths on the target's fathers side will be highlighted in green. This spell makes no effort to differentiate between violent deaths and natural causes.
Tumor Vision - As long as you maintain focus on the spell, all growths, tumors, moles, ect belonging to anybody in your field of view are highlighted in your vision. A simple benign mole is highlighted in white, and the color darkens as the growth becomes more and more serious; Terminal cancer is highlighted in pitch black.

Subschool of Body Manipulation (10)
Replenish Blood - Cast with a visible target in mind. Target's blood supply is restored to normal levels, and minor injuries to the target's major blood vessels are healed. Draining to cast, especially if cast on self.
Set Bones - Cast with a visible target in mind. Targets bones are returned to their normal position, and small breaks are repaired. Spell is painful enough to make most targets pass out. Trying to set more than two bones at once, or repairing large breaks, is very draining, perhaps dangerously so.

Subschool of Transmutation (10)
Reconfigure Blood - Cast with a target in mind. Target's bloodtype becomes AB+. Target's immune system is completely reset, rendering the target prone to infection, but also ensuring that any organ you might have just put into the target is not rejected. Very draining.
Mutate Abnormality - Cast with a target tumor, growth, or infection in mind. This spell extracts the power of a chosen memory within your memory storage, and converts it into a powerful beam of mutagenic energy to be focused on the target. The target will mutate rapidly for weeks, often gaining interesting magical qualities related to the memory used. This spell is often a death sentence for the person carrying the target tumor, growth, or infection, but can be used as a last resort on already terminal infections or tumors. Using this spell removes the chosen memory from memory storage, but dose not actually make you forget anything.

"If Denver-upon-Ferris remains in Cyrus' control," you interject, "he has one more staging area to use against the other towns we liberate for the herd."

"Hooman Maag makes good point." Dun-Lo agrees, "even if you no want to keep town, you should help Ogres burn it so Cyrus can't use it. Makes your jobs easier; You can collect same tribute from new towns, but they will be easier to defend."

Not terribly thrilled with the thought of a human town burning, you offer another suggestion: "You could also hire some of Toogool's ogres as mercenaries... If they can take they town, I'm sure they can hold it."

This suggestion makes Free Stallion Kalemane laugh. "Ogres, protectin ta humans? Bah. That would be like askin a fox to protect a chicken coop lassie, just a bad idea all 'round."

"Hey!" the Drunken Shork chimes in. "Ogres good for their word. You pay us not to eat humans, we no eat humans... well mostly. Might snick one or two tasty fat ones."

The centaurs all stare down Toogool's drunk son, and silence falls for a few seconds. Eventually Mayor Wildhide speaks. "Now I don't give a feck what happens to ol' Denver Village, but I am trying to recruit 'n arm s'more guards fer my town. I'll tell ya brutes what; Ya make em each a Bonemetal Weapon, and let the survivors keep em, I'll send ya 75 promisin' young Centaurs in leather armor for ta raid."

"Not great offer, but not bad either. If we take, raid will be delayed more to make weapons for Centaurs." Dun-Lo comments.

There is lots of debate back and forth for the next thirty minutes or so, but nobody in your delegation is able to secure a better offer for Centaur Troops to use against Denver-Upon-Ferris than the one presented by Mayor Wildhide. As for Wildhide's offer, the mayor informs you that it would take him only a few days to round up recruits, so there is no hurry to make a decision on the matter.

Next you bring up the matter of sharing intelligence, which the Centaurs agree is a good idea. It is quickly settled that the scout Gallopsparks will be sent to advise Toogool's ogres, once he recovers from the Brimstone Viper bite he received on his last mission. Goody. Looks like you will be getting to know one of your patients better.

---

As the meeting wraps up, you are approached by Elder Thistle, the brother of the herds leader and also the medic you have spent most of the day so far 'helping'.

"Ms. Masters, was it? Would you mind calling off yer guard brute 'n walking back to the hospital with me? I got a few things I'd like ta discuss with ya in private lassie. I promise none o' the funny busniess. Cross my heart 'n all that."

You suppose you won't be completely at the mercy of the Centaurs in the hospital. Elder Thistle doesn't know that your apprentice Hershel should still be there.

How do you proceed?

[crazyabe]

Might as well go with him... Who knows, we might be told we did a good job.

[Xvareon]

Sure. He promises no funny business, and that's well and good. But it might do to let him know what his apprentices tried to do to us earlier, until Gnar showed up. Can he speak for them? Ask Elder Thistle to make his promise to Gnar, as well, since he's in charge of us. If he does that, and Gnar accepts, we'll happily go with him. But if we aren't back within the hour or so, he should come running.

If we follow him, then first off, let's apologize to the Elder for working on his patients without permission. He may at least respect that we recognize his position and authority. Don't expect outright gratitude. We can get that from the patients we help, and that's what matters. We'll probably have a lot more healing to do in the future since things are getting serious, anyway, and I'm sure he realizes that; anything that happens to us will screw over this deal with the Ogres. But it's best to not get arrogant or overplay our hand right now, because he also realizes we wouldn't come to the centaurs if we didn't need their help.

Then we should probably also tell him that we left our own apprentice at the hospital, and we'll likely meet him there. Honesty is valuable. He doesn't have to know that Hershel's an ogre. Let his own prejudices help keep that card hidden for a little while.

Taste the air, look at the sky, etc. How close is winter? I imagine ogres would have a far easier time in it than humans would, especially since they'd need to get fodder for their horses and all.

[Weirdsound]

Status:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Journeymage Shay Masters

Physical State: Lip slightly wounded
Mental State: Slightly drained

Magical Capacity: Brimming with Magic

Memory Storage:
x7 Fear (Brother's Safety)
x2 Pride Memories (Helped Wor-Rippa give birth)
x2 Pride Memories (Payment for job well done at Centaur Hospital)
x2 Pride Memories (Apprentice learned to apply stitches)
x4 Pride Memories (Aided 3 Centaur Patients)
x2 Arrogance Memories (Bullied a group of perverted centaurs)
x3 Discovery Memories (Met Kitsune)
x3 Discovery Memories (Met Bone Dwarves)
x2 Flattered Memories (Flirted with by centaur)
x5 Flattered Memories (Offered the hand of a Centaur Elder's son in marriage)
x2 Shock Memories (Aghast at poor hospital conditions)

Inventory:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Full Body Leather Armor (Worn, Enchanted: Flame Resistant, Enchanted: Weightless)
Bonemetal Mail Shirt (Worn)
Hooded Surgical Mage's Robes (Worn)
Bonemetal Crisis-Helm (Worn, Enchanted: )
Utility Belt (Worn)
     -Crossbow
     -Pouches holding 35 Bolts
     -Pouch holding 5 Bolts (Enchanted: Explosive)
     -Coon Fur Pouch holding 5 Bolts (Enchanted: Instant Load, Gift from admirer)
     -Bonemetal Brute-Blade 'Shuhadaku' (Enchanted: Slay Human, Enchanted: Anti-Polearm)
     -Grapple Hook with 25 Feet of Sturdy Line
Surgical Mage's Bag (Slung over shoulder on stick, Enchanted: Extra Space, Enchanted: Refrigerated)
     -Surgeon's Knife Set (Enchanted: Self Sharpening, Enchanted: Painless)
     -Surgical Forceps
     -10 Bronze Needles
     -5 Thick Spools of Unicorn Hair Thread
     -12 Human sized doses of Slaver's Sand (Sedative)
     -25 Human sized doses of Powdered Lust Thistle (Sedative)
     -50 Medium sized wound doses of Beetle Casket Salve (Disinfectant)
     -Jar of Green Kracken Vennom (Hemotoxin)
     -Set of Steel Lockpicks (Not trained to use)
     -Steel Bone Saw (Enchanted: Self Sharpening)
     -Surgeon's 'Living' Cloth Wipe (Enchanted: Cloth consumes bodily fluids it absorbs to produce more of itself)
     -Journeymage's Diploma from The Lower Fenwick Academy of Surgical Magic
     -Final Letter from Brother Clancy
     -Dunn's faded blue Mage's Robe
     -Dunn's Spellbook

Magic Talents:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

General Mage Skills:

Subschool of Memory Manipulation (20)
Extract Memory - Extracts the power from a specific memory, forming it into a drop of magic the size of a poker chip that mages use to barter with. Using this spell removes the chosen memory from memory storage, but dose not actually make you forget anything.
Consume Memories - Burns the power of one or more memories to learn a new spell from a specific subschool. The spell learned will relate to the memories burnt. The amount of memories that must be burnt to cast this spell is listed in parentheses () next to the subschools' name under the magic talents spoiler, and increases each time this spell is used for a given subschool. Using this spell removes the chosen memory from memory storage, but dose not actually make you forget anything.
Read Memories - Burns the power of one or more memories to learn a new spell from a book/scroll/ect. To learn a spell this way often requires memories of a specific type, such as memories related to medical practice to learn a new surgical spell for example. You may also have to meet other requirements as well, depending on the book or scroll you are using. Using this spell removes the chosen memory from memory storage, but dose not actually make you forget anything.

The School of Surgical Magic:

Subschool of Diagnostic Magic (15)
Diagnosis Target Area - Cast with a weapon in hand and target in mind. Choose the type of injury you wish to inflict (broken arm, crushed brain, pierced heart, ect), and the spell will highlight the area you should strike, while guiding your next shot or blow towards that area for a bonus to accuracy. Can be easily cast in the heat of battle.
Family Diagnosis - Cast with a visible target in mind. The spell will look into the deaths of the target's ancestors going back ten generations, and highlight on the target any bodypart or organ whose failure was the main cause of an ancestor's death. Deaths on the target's mothers side will be highlighted in red, deaths on the target's fathers side will be highlighted in green. This spell makes no effort to differentiate between violent deaths and natural causes.
Tumor Vision - As long as you maintain focus on the spell, all growths, tumors, moles, ect belonging to anybody in your field of view are highlighted in your vision. A simple benign mole is highlighted in white, and the color darkens as the growth becomes more and more serious; Terminal cancer is highlighted in pitch black.

Subschool of Body Manipulation (10)
Replenish Blood - Cast with a visible target in mind. Target's blood supply is restored to normal levels, and minor injuries to the target's major blood vessels are healed. Draining to cast, especially if cast on self.
Set Bones - Cast with a visible target in mind. Targets bones are returned to their normal position, and small breaks are repaired. Spell is painful enough to make most targets pass out. Trying to set more than two bones at once, or repairing large breaks, is very draining, perhaps dangerously so.

Subschool of Transmutation (10)
Reconfigure Blood - Cast with a target in mind. Target's bloodtype becomes AB+. Target's immune system is completely reset, rendering the target prone to infection, but also ensuring that any organ you might have just put into the target is not rejected. Very draining.
Mutate Abnormality - Cast with a target tumor, growth, or infection in mind. This spell extracts the power of a chosen memory within your memory storage, and converts it into a powerful beam of mutagenic energy to be focused on the target. The target will mutate rapidly for weeks, often gaining interesting magical qualities related to the memory used. This spell is often a death sentence for the person carrying the target tumor, growth, or infection, but can be used as a last resort on already terminal infections or tumors. Using this spell removes the chosen memory from memory storage, but dose not actually make you forget anything.

"I trust you... but your medics did try some funny business earlier until Gnar here showed up. Promise him I wont be accosted, and I'll tag along."

Elder Thistle's face turns a bright crimson. "They did... oh. I'm terribly sorry 'bout that lass. Shouldnt'v happened. Centaurs will be Centaurs 'n all, but there is a time and a place, and during one's shift at a hospital is neither. I'll send em away while we talk, when I said private talk, I meant private talk. Your guard can stick 'round until they leave."

You nod, finding Thistle's concession satisfactory. "Fair enough. I left my apprentice at the hospital, so I'll have him leave as well."

---

After traveling back to the hospital, dismissing Hershel, listening to Thistle chew out and dismiss the 'interns, and sending Gnar away, you finally get Elder Thistle alone.

"So what's yer game, lassie?" he asks, "I know the government of Fenwick is propping up Cyrus, and I know ta name Masters is a highborn name o' there. What are ya playing at?"

"Oh." you blink, "You think I'm a spy? Well I can assure you that is not the case. I am trying to punch through Cyrus' slavers to reach Deltaport and search for my missing brother Clancy Masters, who went to that city to battle the pla-"

"Ah! Clancy's sister!" The Centaur beams, "I met that lad a few years back. He had some questions about the medicinal properties o' the local plants, n' paid me for answers. Good man. Missing you say?"

"Yeah..." Your guard drops a bit the instant Thistle mentions that he knew your brother. "He never responded to the letter I wrote telling him our mother died, and none of his associates in Deltaport I wrote could give me his whereabouts."

"Well thats a right shame. That he is missing. Not that you are his kin. Me eldest foal Mintleaf is actually in Fenwick now, studding at th' Saint Anise School for Explorer Mages. Yer uncle Jory is headmaster there, right?"

"His actual title is Supervising Archmage of the Sister Anise Memorial Academy for the Study of Exploratory Magics," you reply unable to avoid a condescending tone, "but yes, you are correct."

The Centaur laughs, "An impressive title indeed, Lassie, but not as impressive as I find you."

"Oh?"

"I was watching ya at the meeting. Ya were sittin at the same side o' the table as a bloodthirsty brute and a drunken bloodthirsty brute, and I could tell ya didn't have a feckin idea about the lay of the land you was bargaining about, but 'cha did a hell o' a job." The Centaur looks at you and smiles, "Ya be a natural leader, Masters. I can tell."

You can't help but blush a bit, but do your best to maintain your composure nonetheless. "Your point is?"

"Me brother, Grand Stallion Peperjack, an I want me boy Mintleaf ta stay in Fenwick after he earns his Journeymage's robes, an' pick up a High Mage's certifacation in Archaeology. There be some ruins n' caves in the north o' the herd's territory we want properly explored. Mintleaf isn't keen on staying in school that long though... 'Is classmates pick on him because he is the only Centaur they know, and they find his accent funny. Boy is sick of it. I figure we can solve his problems if you agree to marry him. That would make 'im the Headmaster's nephew, right?"

"Um... Wow... I... erm..." That came out of nowhere. The offer makes sense, at least; Most women of your station wind up marrying men they have never met, and as the only girl present for much of your time at Lower Fenwick, you can definitely understand the bullying Mintleaf is facing. Still, the arrangement would work out much better for him than for you. He'd be marrying up into one of Fenwick's most esteemed families, while you'd be marrying down into a race of hicks best known for a lack of sophistication and a propensity for sexual deviance.

Thistle seems to read your thoughts, and offers a response. "This will work out well for you lass. As it stands, Mintleaf's inheritance is small, but the way the maps are drawn, he will get much of what your ogres win from Cyrus. Most o' the treacherous little herds who pay tribute to the slaver and provide him troops are also technically me boy's vassals if they can be broken to serve us once again. Mintleaf is no leader though, and as I said we need him pokin' around ruins, so you could be in charge o' all o' that."

The Elder grins as he continues to build his case. He must read on your face that his offer is tempting. "Marriage be a human institution, not a Centaur thing. The union 'twould be little more than excuse to earn him the acceptance of your countrymen, and you the right to rule 'is lands. He would have other mares, and you could keep as many stallions as you wish... or mares o' your own if that be yer cup o tea. You would be safe from other Centaurs too; They wouldn't try anything silly if you belong to herd leadership. Ya have nothing to lose 'n everything ta gain lassie. I know if ya had inheritance of yer own, ya would would have been able ta afford more dependable allies than those Ogres."

Now that you know the facts, you consider the offer carefully. By accepting, you would likely be committing to remain in this part of the world for the rest of your days, but you would also gain great amounts of freedom and power over almost every other aspect of your life. Of course, if you were to hold out on marrying for now, and manage to overthrow Cyrus and take control of his lands for yourself, you would likely be entertaining even more promising proposals from the nobility of Fenwick, Terminal Woods, and perhaps beyond.

You could, of course, try to bargain a bit. Thistle and Mintleaf likely have troops of their own, separate for those of the herd at large, which they might be able to provide as part of the terms of the deal.

"Well... erm... give me a minute to think about it while I go over what I did for your patients... For the one that almost died, I used a basic replenish blood spell to..."

You quickly brief Thistle on the condition of each bedridden Centaur. Upon learning that you used some of your own drugs, and that you lack anything to fight infection yourself, the elder centaur pops open his medicine trunk to provide some payment. He gives you a bag of what he calls 'Powdered Lust Thistle', explaining that it can be mixed with water or milk to produce a standard sedative, or strong liquor to make an effect truth serum or date rape drug. You are also give a large tub of green salve, which Thistle explains is a disinfectant extracted from a local carnivorous plant called a Beetle Casket.

After accepting your payment, things fall silent. It is clear that Elder Thistle wants your answer to his proposal.

How do you proceed?

+Flattering Memory x5
+Flattering Memory x2
+Prideful Memory x2
+Beetle Casket Salve x50
+Powdered Lust Thistle x25

[Roboson]

Thank him kindly for his offer, but you simply cannot contemplate a marriage offer at this time, what with your brother being missing and you on a quest to search for him. Not to mention you may die in the impending skirmishes. Explain how you understand how the centaur feels and that your heart goes out to him, but with an impending war and a lost brother, now may not be the time for a marriage arrangement. Although, perhaps after the war and the quest you'd consider a proper offer from Mintleaf. In the meantime, write a letter to your uncle to see if you can get him to improve Mintleaf's situation there.

[Weirdsound]

Status:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Journeymage Shay Masters

Physical State: Lip slightly wounded
Mental State: Slightly drained

Magical Capacity: Brimming with Magic

Memory Storage:
x7 Fear (Brother's Safety)
x2 Pride Memories (Helped Wor-Rippa give birth)
x2 Pride Memories (Payment for job well done at Centaur Hospital)
x2 Pride Memories (Apprentice learned to apply stitches)
x4 Pride Memories (Aided 3 Centaur Patients)
x2 Arrogance Memories (Bullied a group of perverted centaurs)
x3 Discovery Memories (Met Kitsune)
x3 Discovery Memories (Met Bone Dwarves)
x2 Flattered Memories (Flirted with by centaur)
x5 Flattered Memories (Offered the hand of a Centaur Elder's son in marriage)
x2 Shock Memories (Aghast at poor hospital conditions)

Inventory:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Full Body Leather Armor (Worn, Enchanted: Flame Resistant, Enchanted: Weightless)
Bonemetal Mail Shirt (Worn)
Hooded Surgical Mage's Robes (Worn)
Bonemetal Crisis-Helm (Worn, Enchanted: )
Utility Belt (Worn)
     -Crossbow
     -Pouches holding 35 Bolts
     -Pouch holding 5 Bolts (Enchanted: Explosive)
     -Coon Fur Pouch holding 5 Bolts (Enchanted: Instant Load, Gift from admirer)
     -Bonemetal Brute-Blade 'Shuhadaku' (Enchanted: Slay Human, Enchanted: Anti-Polearm)
     -Grapple Hook with 25 Feet of Sturdy Line
Surgical Mage's Bag (Slung over shoulder on stick, Enchanted: Extra Space, Enchanted: Refrigerated)
     -Surgeon's Knife Set (Enchanted: Self Sharpening, Enchanted: Painless)
     -Surgical Forceps
     -10 Bronze Needles
     -5 Thick Spools of Unicorn Hair Thread
     -12 Human sized doses of Slaver's Sand (Sedative)
     -25 Human sized doses of Powdered Lust Thistle (Sedative)
     -50 Medium sized wound doses of Beetle Casket Salve (Disinfectant)
     -50 Doses of Memory Gum (Fuel for Secondary Magic)
     -Jar of Green Kracken Vennom (Hemotoxin)
     -Set of Steel Lockpicks (Not trained to use)
     -Steel Bone Saw (Enchanted: Self Sharpening)
     -Surgeon's 'Living' Cloth Wipe (Enchanted: Cloth consumes bodily fluids it absorbs to produce more of itself)
     -Journeymage's Diploma from The Lower Fenwick Academy of Surgical Magic
     -Final Letter from Brother Clancy
     -Dunn's faded blue Mage's Robe
     -Dunn's Spellbook

Magic Talents:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

General Mage Skills:

Subschool of Memory Manipulation (20)
Extract Memory - Extracts the power from a specific memory, forming it into a drop of magic the size of a poker chip that mages use to barter with. Using this spell removes the chosen memory from memory storage, but dose not actually make you forget anything.
Consume Memories - Burns the power of one or more memories to learn a new spell from a specific subschool. The spell learned will relate to the memories burnt. The amount of memories that must be burnt to cast this spell is listed in parentheses () next to the subschools' name under the magic talents spoiler, and increases each time this spell is used for a given subschool. Using this spell removes the chosen memory from memory storage, but dose not actually make you forget anything.
Read Memories - Burns the power of one or more memories to learn a new spell from a book/scroll/ect. To learn a spell this way often requires memories of a specific type, such as memories related to medical practice to learn a new surgical spell for example. You may also have to meet other requirements as well, depending on the book or scroll you are using. Using this spell removes the chosen memory from memory storage, but dose not actually make you forget anything.

The School of Surgical Magic:

Subschool of Diagnostic Magic (15)
Diagnosis Target Area - Cast with a weapon in hand and target in mind. Choose the type of injury you wish to inflict (broken arm, crushed brain, pierced heart, ect), and the spell will highlight the area you should strike, while guiding your next shot or blow towards that area for a bonus to accuracy. Can be easily cast in the heat of battle.
Family Diagnosis - Cast with a visible target in mind. The spell will look into the deaths of the target's ancestors going back ten generations, and highlight on the target any bodypart or organ whose failure was the main cause of an ancestor's death. Deaths on the target's mothers side will be highlighted in red, deaths on the target's fathers side will be highlighted in green. This spell makes no effort to differentiate between violent deaths and natural causes.
Tumor Vision - As long as you maintain focus on the spell, all growths, tumors, moles, ect belonging to anybody in your field of view are highlighted in your vision. A simple benign mole is highlighted in white, and the color darkens as the growth becomes more and more serious; Terminal cancer is highlighted in pitch black.

Subschool of Body Manipulation (10)
Replenish Blood - Cast with a visible target in mind. Target's blood supply is restored to normal levels, and minor injuries to the target's major blood vessels are healed. Draining to cast, especially if cast on self.
Set Bones - Cast with a visible target in mind. Targets bones are returned to their normal position, and small breaks are repaired. Spell is painful enough to make most targets pass out. Trying to set more than two bones at once, or repairing large breaks, is very draining, perhaps dangerously so.

Subschool of Transmutation (10)
Reconfigure Blood - Cast with a target in mind. Target's bloodtype becomes AB+. Target's immune system is completely reset, rendering the target prone to infection, but also ensuring that any organ you might have just put into the target is not rejected. Very draining.
Mutate Abnormality - Cast with a target tumor, growth, or infection in mind. This spell extracts the power of a chosen memory within your memory storage, and converts it into a powerful beam of mutagenic energy to be focused on the target. The target will mutate rapidly for weeks, often gaining interesting magical qualities related to the memory used. This spell is often a death sentence for the person carrying the target tumor, growth, or infection, but can be used as a last resort on already terminal infections or tumors. Using this spell removes the chosen memory from memory storage, but dose not actually make you forget anything.

After some consideration, you inform Elder Thistle that you don't feel comfortable negotiating marriage offers at the moment. The excuse you give is that your heart is too consumed by your brother's plight, and that you shouldn't be thinking too far ahead when you might die in battle soon, but you know deep down that is not the whole truth. 'Lady Masters' complete apathy towards the plight of her husband Clancy has left you rather sour on the whole institution.

The Centaur looks disappointed, but accepts your decision. He perks up when you offer to write your uncle a letter asking if he might intervene in Mintleaf's plight. Thistle quickly roots around in his desk to produce a quill, ink, and some parchment, and bids you to work. You spend the better part of an hour writing, and although you are not sure if Jory, who you have only met a handful of times, will heed your words or even know how to help Mintleaf out, you at least take soliiace in the fact that your gesture at least seems to make Elder Thistle happy.

Deciding that this service requires further payment on his part, Elder Thistle once more digs into his medicine trunk and hands you a large jar of pinkish brown gunk. "This is memory gum, Lassie. Tree sap, herbs, and memory chips from a mage. Lots o' the secondary magic praticioners in these parts use it as a power source, so you can sell bits o' it to them fer a higher price than ya could a straight chip."

You recall that the colony Shaman used memory gum to fuel his craft, and that having it on hand would allow Hershel to read fortunes and spew flames.

+Memory Gum x50

---

The following morning you are faced with yet another choice. The ogres are ready to return home, but somebody must wait behind to escort Gallopsparks, the Snakebitten scout, to the Treasure Caves once he has finished his recovery. Gnar tells you that he is willing to stay and protect you if you wish to be the one waiting on Gallopsparks.

There are a few benefits to staying; At the very least it would give you a chance to return to the market and visit with the cartographers and bug dealer once again, while also checking for new interesting deals. You also suspect you could squeeze both more drugs and useful herb lore out of Elder Thistle if you were to spend more time hanging around his hospital. You are also likely to make more energized memories hanging around town than you would falling back into a routine with the Ogre colony.

On the downside, you know Dun-Lo, his team of metal workers, and the enchantress all need you around to fuel their craft with memories. You suppose you could send them on their way with some memory chips in tow, but you have no idea exactly how long you will be stuck waiting. It could be as much as a week, and the colony has been burning through 4-5 memories a day. There is also the matter of the locals - the Centaurs have tried to assault you two times in as many days, and although you trust Gnar to watch your back, if he were to slip up you might be in serious trouble.

How do you proceed?