Almazur
In Almazur, Our Heroes spend two weeks in training.
Fiamma spends time amongst the invisible servitors of the Wizard Jafar and learns Light, Armor, Charm Person and Detect Magic. Some evenings she casts Light for the amusement of her friends. She also tries DetMag, to discover that Orlando's sword ("tooth pick") and her scroll-from-the-ogre's-den are magical and that Orlando himself radiates faintly magical - presumably from the shrinking potion still active in him. Realizing that she will need some supplies - most particularly a spellbook - in the upcoming travels, Fiamma turns over the semi-precious stones she recovered from the ogre's den to Shadya and Nasir for sale.
Nasir claims to be "known widely as Nasir the Haggler" - to which Shadya raises an eyebrow - and is allowed to negotiate a price for the gems, while Shadya and Fiamma wait outside. After being forcibly ejected, Nasir has rather more success at the next shop he tries, and Fiamma now has a small bag of 40 pieces of silver.
Shadya has arranged tutoring for Nasir in the Healer's Guild so most of his time is taken with that - despite his attempts to make Shadya's saddle shine like silk and the harness bits, like gold.
Ahadya and Orlando study chess together as a means of learning strategy and tactics. Orlando also takes up a part-time career as a slayer of rats - "Just call me FERRET!" he grins - and earns a silver piece for his trouble. Then he has trouble with the silver piece and comments that he wishes this culture had discovered paper money. Paper money?
As time comes to leave, Shadya expresses some doubts as to the Party's next destination. She tells her eastern bird/hot glass lake dream, and Fiamma suggests that they consult Jafar to see if such a place truly exists. Jafar informs them that, indeed, such a lake exists directly to the north, abutting against the mountains that mark the border between the desert lands and the next kingdom. The lake is 50x1000 miles in dimension and such hot air rises from it that not even birds willingly cross it, although Jafar believes that some of the locals occasionally venture out onto its surface. Others, he says, have believed that there is something in the center of the lake (as indicated in Shadya's dream) but no one who has returned has brought back proof thereof.
Obviously, if that is to be the Party's goal, protection from the lake's heat must be sought. Given the "glass lake" nature of the area around the Fire Spirit pit, Orlando elects to go talk to the hermit who has talked to the Spirit, to see if at least something useful will be gained in venturing the Spirit itself. This is a long uneventful journey through "mild" desert: skirting the ocean, visiting the Lake Where Rocks Float (due to salinity). Fiamma practices with her Armor spell and has Shadya wondering at the quality of padding from the shop Fiamma apparently visited. Fiamma had made it very clear in Almazur that she would like some leather armor.
On to the City of the Renegade Prince. The city walls are decorated with carvings featuring stories of the city's original prince who, with his favourite, was somehow murdered by one of his other wives and sunk into the Lake Where Rocks Float. "A warning to choose one's loves carefully?" wonders Shadya, briefly.
The Party seeks directions to the Hermit of the Fire Spirit from the city guards.
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