A strange Apprentice

The company of the Green Mountain was making ready for
battle. Their first plan was to ambush the small group of
Zhentish agents they wanted to stop but Allendir, a Helm
paladin, would not have it: "I will not attack from behind a
bush like a common criminal! It is not honorable!" and they
already knew that when honor was involved, Allendir would
never listen to reason. "OK, sure" said Pall, a cleric of
Tymora "We'll stand with you here on the road and just wait
for them and trust our luck, won't we Marius?" "Sure ", said
Marius, the party's mage, and winked slyly to Lora, the
beautiful half-Elven ranger. She smiled back and, drawing
her bow, disappeared into the thicket at the side of the
road. "Here they come," said Pall. The Zhentillar were on
their way to infiltrate the purple dragoons of Suzail and
maybe assassinate Azoun IV, king of Cormyr. The company
happened upon this information in a crowded bar from a
drunken Bane priest, and, having pledged themselves to the
good causes in the Realms, decided to stop them. And here
they came, around the bend in the road and they seemed an
even match for the company. There were four of them - the
leader, wearing heavy armor and carrying a large two handed
sword, behind him two men wearing black leather armor and
carrying two short swords each. The one in the back wore no
armor and a long staff was slung to his saddle. "Watch the
wizard," said Pall to Marius as they drew their weapons and
prepared their spells.
"In the name of Helm you shall not pass!" declared Allendir
in his usual pompous way. The Zhentish leader caught his
eyes in his and said softly "Please move from our way",
Allendir barely managed to notice the strange glint from the
warrior's eyes when he felt his will start to waver and a
wave of friendliness to the man wash over him. He
concentrated with all his belief on bringing before him the
unblinking eye of Helm. His belief in his god proved
stronger than the attempted charm and he replied bravely:
"No! You shall not pass!" Anger washed the smile from the
Zhentillar's face - "Die then!" he said, and battle ensued.
Lora released her arrows before he even finished his
sentence and both found their target - the wizard, who's
surprised cry of pain raised a smile on her lips "Magic
arrows, you bastard" she thought. Allendir saluted with his
sword. The blade of which was burning with a bright white
flame and was nearly blinded by the blast of the fireball
Marius released. The two black clad rogues seemed badly
burned, but neither the wizard nor the leader seemed much
concerned. The Zhentish leader flailed his huge sword before
him and closed on Allendir. The rogues went around them to
get to Pall and Marius, one of them was seconds later held
by a spell cast by Pall and his horse, feeling no one in
control, bolted away taking him with it. The Zhentish
wizard, still raging about Lora's arrows, drew a wand from
the folds of his robe and sent a spear of flame that hit
Marius square in the chest throwing him off his horse, which
bolted sideways and, crushing the bushes around Lora exposed
her in plain view of the angry wizard. Allendir and the
Zhentish leader clashed together and the swirling of black
and white, silver and gray, steel and horses was soon all
that could be seen from the evenly matched warriors. Lora
released two more arrows at the wizard, missing one, drew
her sword, and was halfway to the ground to roll closer to
him when another fiery bolt hit her in the shoulder,
stopping her movement suddenly. Luckily, it wasn't her sword
arm, so she got up from the ground and charged him.
Meanwhile, the warriors were circling each other a little
more slowly and carefully, both with small cuts now and
looking for an opening for a real hit. The remaining rogue
approached the two spell-casters warily; in doubt which of
them to attack. Before he decided he was hit by three magic
missiles from Marius, still on the ground, and seconds later
a deftly thrown war-hammer hit him on the head and he fell
senseless. Marius and Pall looked to see if they could help
their friends, but the battle was coming to an end. A quick
cut from Lora's long sword slashed open the wizard's throat
and he fell, choking on his own blood. The warriors were
still circling each other and the three friends approached
to look, but they knew better than to help Allendir unless
it was his very life at stake. Two minutes passed with no
remarkable change and then, a tired overhead swing of the
black two-handed sword was blocked by Allendir's shiny
shield and he thrust his sword under it into the
Zhentillar's breastplate, and his heart.
"I think we'll call it a night", said Sam. "What about
experience and treasure?" asked Jill, Lora's player, George,
the DM, was barely stifling a yawn. "I'm too tired, let's
leave it for the next session, what do you say, Hans,
Jimmy?" Hans, a Gallant Knight just like his character,
quietly answered "Sure, whatever you say, George" but Jimmy
wasn't really listening, he was already contemplating ways
in which Marius could have finished the battle without that
tough wound from the wizard's wand. "What? Oh, right, next
session it is then, see ya" he said absentmindedly. He
collected his dice, character sheet and pencil and left,
still deep in thought.
It was about a five minute walk from George's to Jimmy's
aunt's but it took him more than half an hour to reach "That
place" like he always called it. Never "home" or "my place"
just "that" or "their place". Jimmy had been living with his
aunt and uncle since his parents died in a car accident when
he was ten years old. It's been six very tough years for him
since then. His relatives didn't like him, they had three
children of their own and always regarded him as an extra
weight. They seldom talked with him and then usually to
scold him for things he didn't do or did do only to get at
them. Jimmy discovered Fantasy Fiction and Role-Playing
Games at the age of twelve and was almost addicted to that
imaginative world in weeks. He had an excellent memory and
he filled it with information on the strange worlds and
things he encountered in game sessions and books. Of all the
campaign worlds he loved the Forgotten Realms the best and
Magic was what fascinated him more than anything else. That
special Art or science or whatever that enabled all those
fictive characters to do magnificent wonders with a word and
a wave of their hands. Jimmy memorized by heart whole spell
lists, descriptions, statistics, material components,
everything. He was a walking magic encyclopedia, when he was
around, his friends rarely needed to open a rulebook,
especially where magic was concerned. It was his life.
Jimmy reached "their" house, he pressed the handle and the
door was open, as usual, he opened it and entered with his
head down, ready for the usual 5-minute lecture of "Why did
you come so late?" As he passed the doorway he thought he
saw from the corners of his downcast eyes a flicker of
blue-white flame.
Suddenly his senses were swarmed by strange sensations. Heat
was emanating from his left, the sounds of many people
talking and even shouting, the heavy smells of unwashed
bodies, combined with the aroma of roasting meat, frying
potatoes and baking bread, and the sight of himself - his
sneakers, jeans and t-shirt were gone, he was barefoot and
wearing worn leather pants and a coarse woolen shirt. Jimmy
raised his head and saw what his imaginative part recognized
immediately but his logic refuse to accept as a common room
in an inn, in which farmers and travelers sat and ate and
talked. "This is impossible" he whispered to himself, barely
managing to stop the smile that was coming onto his lips.
"I'm dreaming" he tried to blink it away, to no avail, then
smacked himself hard on the face, "Ouch" that hurt. Dazed,
he turned around and, pushing what now was a heavy oak door,
stepped outside. The skyscrapers of the modern USA city were
gone, so were the electric wires and the asphalt roads and
white streetlights. He was standing in a small dirt square
with a couple of stone buildings around and three dirt roads
going from it out into a small rural town (village?).
Looking up he saw no constellation or star he recognized,
until his gaze met with the moon and the bright stars that
seemed to follow in its wake. "The Tears of Selune! I'm in
the Realms!" and he sat down where he stood and started
laughing and crying tears of joy. A couple of minutes later
he stopped, wiped his eyes and thought "Got to get myself
together and find some place to stay the night and maybe a
job, to get some food and earn the money I need to start
traveling. Wow, there's so much to see, I wonder where in
the Realms I am..."
"Hey boy!" he heard suddenly, he lifted his head and saw a
quite old man, leaning on a large staff, approaching him.
"Yes, you there, near the inn". Jimmy jumped to his feet and
faced the old man, he was shorter than him, had almost no
hair and a small pointed goatee. "He looks almost like them
pictures of Lenin from the history books" Jimmy thought "And
he's wearing a robe! Shit! This could be the town wizard!!"
"What's your name boy?" the old man asked when closer "Eh,
Marius" said Jimmy, using the first name that came to mind
in the situation, his next thought being that he never
imagined the common tongue would be English, but then again,
neither did he think otherwise. "I hear you need a place to
stay" the stranger said "Yes" Jimmy said before he thought
"but I have nothing to pay with, kind sir" he added. "Never
mind that, we'll talk about it in the morning", said the old
man, "now come on, let's get you and some warm supper into a
warm bed, you seem to be falling asleep on your feet". Jimmy
nodded and followed him, after all, it was almost dawn by
his biological clock and the excitement was draining what
was left of his energy.
"Wake up you lazy boy!" was the sentence that jogged Jimmy
out of his sleep. When he opened his eyes, waiting to see
his uncle with his hating look, he saw a nice old man he
didn't recognize at first. Then he looked around and
remembered and the smile came back to his eyes. "It wasn't a
dream then..." he said without thinking. "Oh, you dreamed
enough for both of us I'd say! And slept for four! It's
almost noon now and you've been sleeping since yester eve!
Now, come get some break-fast and let's see what I can do
with you..." after a good jug of milk and a loaf of fresh
bread with a good cheese on it, which he wolfed almost
without breathing, Jimmy sat back and looked at the old man
who was looking at him silently seeming deep in thought.
"So, what did you say your name was?  Marius, right?" he
began before Jimmy had a chance to start asking questions.
"Let's see, where do you come from? Never mind, you'll
probably just lie or tell some crazy story. Bottom line is -
you got nothing, no money, no place to stay, no clothes
except those you wear, right?" Jimmy, startled by the direct
approach, could do no more than nod. "Well, it so happens
that I'm getting old and need someone to help me with the
house work and such. I propose food and lodging, and if you
behave well and prove worthy, I might teach you some useful
stuff." "You mean m...m...magic?" Jimmy could not keep the
excitement from his face. "Yes, that too, if you prove good
enough". "I'll be happy to accept your proposition kind sir,
just tell me what to do, but first, what is your name sir?"
"In the meantime" the old wizard said with a smile "Master
should be good enough for you" "Yes Master" Jimmy replied
with a smile of utter happiness.
Time passed swiftly as Jimmy worked for the wizard, doing
all kinds of works like chopping wood for the fireplace,
carrying the food his master bought to the house, cleaning
the house, moving furniture... He had to clear one room from
the junk that must have accumulated in decades and then
moved in a bed and a large wooden box, and it became his
room. His Master bought him some more clothes and simple
leather shoes when winter approached. Meanwhile, Jimmy
concentrated on two things - first, to think of himself as
"Marius" (the first days it had taken him a couple of times
to realize that his Master was calling him), second - he
wanted to learn his surroundings and the way of life there,
because life, simple life, wasn't something they paid
attention to when role playing characters - only fighting
and magic and adventures and much less where they ate,
slept, or where in the hell were the toilets (- In the yard,
a hole in the ground). Quite fast Jimmy learned that his
Master's name was Londrous (although, of course, it wasn't
his true name), and that the town was Essembra, not far from
the Standing Stone. And that was important, because now he
knew exactly where in the realms he was, and, as he has
studied the maps quite well, he knew exactly what was in the
area and where were the important places around.
Almost six months passed and then one day the Master called
Marius (he already thought as himself by that name and
considered Jimmy to be his true name) to his study - one of
the two rooms Marius was never yet allowed to enter (The
other, Marius surmised, must be the Master's Lab)."Today",
said the Master, "I am going to start teaching you. You work
well and deserve some bonus. We'll start by learning to read
and write, I hope you'll cope with that well since
everything else pretty much depends on that". "Eh, Master,"
said Marius "I believe I already know how to read and
write". "Do you now?" the Master sounded skeptic. "Let's
see..." He took a book from a shelf behind him and handed it
to Marius. "Start with the title". Marius took the book,
almost expecting to see strange runes or Cyrillic letters,
but it was the good old A-B-C, written in a beautiful
flowing script ("of course" he thought "there's no
printing...") he started reading the title: "AZOUN I - III,
A HISTORY OF THE CORMYRIAN ROYAL HOUSE." The skeptic look on
the Master's face turned to surprise and then to a happy
smile. "Very good, now see if you can write down a sentence
or two" It took Marius a couple of tries to get used to the
quill instead of a ball-point but he managed and wrote a
half page of nonsense phrases his Master bombarded him with.
"That's extraordinary!" the wizard exclaimed. "Now, take
this book and memorize the first chapter, by heart, tell me
when you're finished, all right?" "Yes master!" Marius
answered with a smile and took the book.
For many other kids, the task set upon Marius that day, and
similar ones he got in the days that followed, would have
been very hard and demanding, but, as we already said,
Marius had both talent and training in memorizing things by
heart, and when it was in his path to learning Magic he also
had a lot of motivation. A week later his Master started
training him in memorizing phrase hand movement
combinations, to which was added shortly what he called "a
mental image of the desired effect". Two weeks after he
started learning Marius was standing in front of his Master
in the study and there came the words he so wanted to hear:
"Today, Marius, you are going to learn your first spell".
Marius was ecstatic. "Actually" his Master added, "It's not
exactly a spell but a lesser form of Magic called Cantrip.
I'll tell you the words you'll need, they're not in the
common tongue, but in the much older Language Of Magic.
Commit them to memory without speaking and then concentrate
on the Weave of Magic from which you'll draw the energy for
the spell. Do you know what the Weave is?" Marius nodded,
listening intently as if trying to memorize every single
sound of his master's first and so important lesson about
Magic. And the lesson continued: "The words you'll use to
tip into the part of the Weave you need, then picture in
your head the effect and use the somatic component I'll show
you to release the Magic." The Master showed Marius both the
verbal and somatic components for the Cantrip (which were
quite simple although strange) then he said: "Now try for
example to blow the dust from this book". And he took an old
tome from one of the shelves. Marius spoke the words
steadily, concentrating on every phase of the spell just as
the Master explained, and as he finished a small puff of
wind blew the dust from the tome - it worked!
Suddenly Marius felt tired, drained, and he almost fell on
the floor.  "Go to rest, we shall continue tomorrow" said
the Master, and he stumbled to his room, asleep almost
before he hit the sheets.
For several days Marius continued practicing Cantrips,
managing the drain of energy a little better each day. After
two weeks the Master noticed he started using them sometimes
to help him in the house chores. He called Marius to his
study and said; "You are now ready to start learning Magic.
You are advancing much faster than I anticipated and I have
a feeling you'll make a wizard yet. But first, before you
can study spells you need to be able to write them down in a
book and for that you'll have to learn writing in the
Language of Magic". Now Marius got a real challenge. First
he had to study all the runes, how they're written and what
sounds they stand for. Then he had to learn what quill to
use and how you make the special ink needed to write spells.
Then one day, after the best part of a year since he arrived
was gone, Marius learned his first spell...
"Try to read the title," said the Master and handed Marius a
heavy, leather and silver bound tome. Marius did, and
immediately felt dizzy and light headed, it passed when he
took his eyes off the tome. He tried again, with the same
results. "One of the special traits of the Language of Magic
is that it can't be read unless written by your own hand.
So, what you need is" "Right, a Read Magic spell" Marius
interrupted him excitedly, the Master was nearly stunned
with surprise "That's right, but how could you...I think the
time when stories must be told is coming near, but never
mind now, let's continue, I'll dictate to you every detail
of the spell, words, movements, anything - you shall write
it here" And he took from one of his desk's drawers a
smaller book with paper and binding exactly like the tome
but with nothing written in or on it. "My first Spell Book"
Marius mumbled, awed by the moment and the present. "Right
again, then arrives the hard part - studying it." The rest
of the day they spent dictating and writing and it took
Marius two whole days (in which he continued with his other
chores, of course) to study the spell. In the evening of the
second day he knocked shyly on the study's door and when
called inside said only "I'm ready". "Let's see," said his
Master, he put the same tome they started with in front of
Marius, who tried not to look at it. "Cast the spell" the
Master said solemnly. Marius recited the words exactly,
using the mental images and movements indicated in his book.
Then he looked down, the words shimmered for a moment and
then became readable "Spell Book I" he mumbled and sat down
heavily on the floor, his legs refusing to support him
anymore. "Good" said the Master "Go to sleep now, tomorrow
we shall start studying Magic".
Marius started learning simple spells, defined as Level I.
The first one or two took him longer because the casting of
the Read Magic spell left him tired, but quite fast he got
used to it. What's more, he didn't have to learn the
technical details and exact effects of the spells, since he
already knew them. When his Master understood what was going
on, he called the boy to his study one evening.
"Listen Marius" he began, "I want you to tell me what you
can of where you've come from and how you got here, but
first I want to tell you something: The night you arrived,
about a quarter hour or so before we met, a voice called me
from my crystal ball and so it said: "A boy, a stranger,
stands this minute just outside yer inn, ye shall take him
in as your apprentice and teach him the rudiments of Magic,
I believe he will make an excellent student." It took me
several minutes to recognize the face, as I only saw it
once, when I was a little older than you are now. It was
Elminster of Shadowdale, great sage and probably the
greatest wizard in Faerun, the instructions of which none
will easily question. So I went out and found you, and the
rest you know, now, tell me, please, who are you?
Marius was surprised, "Elminster, interested in me? Cool" he
thought. Then he calmed down and started telling his story
"This will probably sound insane to you, " he began...