Today's magic lesson is from the sorceress and Jhereg Cariss on the decisions that need to be made for an unusual spell to create an energy-filled greymist using elder sorcery. Mario speaking to Cariss: "'How much power can you summon?' 'Power?' 'Yes.' 'The question is meaningless.' 'Excuse me, it is not.' 'But...power to do what?' 'Nothing.' 'Power to do nothing?' 'Exactly.' 'I do not understand.' 'I am not surprised, for it is unlikely anyone has ever before asked such a question.' 'Then you much explain.' 'Attend me.' 'I am attending.' 'The pure power through which sorcery works, the power which the sorcerer shapes and controls in order to work the changes in matter that the sorcerer desires--that is the power I wish to summon at a certain time and a certain place. But it is important that there be a great deal of it, hence, I wish to know how much of it you can cause to be summoned.' Cariss considered. 'Well, you want to know how much undirected power can be pulled through the Orb--' 'Not through the Orb.' 'Not through the Orb? But how else--' 'Elder sorcery, of course.' 'Elder sorcery?' 'Exactly.' 'You know more than I would have thought, young man.' 'It is necessary for me to know a little of everything. Yes, I am speaking of elder sorcery.' 'Such a thing would be illegal.' Mario gave her a look impossible to describe. 'If', she said at last. 'you would explain exactly what you are trying to do--' 'No,' said Mario. A look impatience crossed Cariss's features; Mario touched the pouch into which he had put the bill; Cariss shrugged. 'I will tell you this much,' said Mario. 'I need to be able to summon an immense amount of power, using elder sorcery, and I need to put it into a certain area and keep it there, through only for a few seconds.' 'You speak of power as if it were a glass of water that you could simply put somewhere.' Mario set his glass on a table near his elbow. 'Well?' he said. 'This power will do nothing,' said Cariss, shaking her head. 'That is what I wish.' 'And you want to do it yourself?' 'Exactly.' 'Even more difficult.' 'I am not offering a small sum of money,' said Mario. 'Nor are you unskilled.' 'Are you attempting to flatter me?' 'No, madam, I am attempting to purchase your services.' 'To do what?' she said, beginning to sound a little vexed. 'To fill an area with power,' said Mario, who was, himself, becoming annoyed at having to repeat himself. 'Is it possible?' 'Possible? Anything is possible. There would need to be a medium, and--' 'A what?' 'Something upon which to lay the power.' 'Would the air not work?' 'Too insubstantial--too thin.' 'What then?' 'Thick air.' Mario frowned. 'I do not understand.' 'Fog. Mist. Air with a great deal of water mixed in, so that the energy can attach itself to the water.' 'How much energy can you supply?' She shook her head. 'You still do not comprehend--it doesn't matter how much, because it won't be doing anything.' 'Good,' said Mario. 'Then I wish for a great deal of power. A great deal.' 'If your wish is to attract the attention of every sorcerer in a thousand-mile radius, well, I assure you there are easier ways to go about it.' 'That is not my wish.' 'It will happen, nevertheless.' 'Then let it.' Cariss stared at him, as if trying to see into his mind to discover the use to which he intended to put this unusual spell. Then she sighed and said, 'Does it matter what form it takes?' 'I do not understand.' 'The spell must be invested into an object if you, rather than I, are to use it. Does it matter what object?' 'No. Something small.' 'Will you be setting it off, or will another? If it might be another, I will instruct it to release upon a word or a sign. If it is to be you, then we can arrange for it to respond to your will. Or, if you prefer, I can arrange it so you simply open it like cracking an egg.' 'That would be best.' 'That is how it shall be.' 'Then you can do it?' 'I can do it.' 'How much power?' 'There is no limit to the amount of power available, only to the amount one person can control. When the energy isn't doing anything, it need not be controlled.' 'And so?' 'And so we will summon more power than, I think, has ever been seen before in one place--and all of this power will do nothing except to exist, alerting ever sorcerer for a thousand miles in all directions, and then it will be as if it had never happened.' 'Excellent.' 'How long do you wish it to hold together? A few seconds is easy; after that, I must find power to hold it together, and this power can only come from the Orb, or from itself; and I have no wish to attempt to control that sort of power even for something trivial--especially for something trivial.' 'Ten seconds would be good, five seconds may well be enough.' Cariss considered for a moment, then said 'Eight seconds, then; or perhaps a little more. I can do that safely enough.' 'So be it. Eight seconds. How, precisely, will it work?' 'It will be a small glass ball. You will shatter the glass, and the area--how big an area?' 'A fifty-foot diameter will be sufficient.' 'Very well. The area will fill with fog--' 'How long will it take to fill?' 'Do you wish it to happen quickly?' 'Yes.' 'Less than the drawing of a breath, then.' 'Very well. 'It will fill with fog; and each particle of this fog will be charged with immense power, which will do nothing, and everyone within the circle will be bathed in power, which will do nothing, although,' she frowned, 'it may feel a trifle odd, I don't know. In any case, after eight seconds, the power and fog will dissipate, and nothing will have changed.' 'Good. That is what I wish. Apropos the fog--' 'Yes?' 'Can it be made thick, so that a person might hide in it?' 'That is easily done. It can be made so thick you will not be able to see your hand, though it be six inches in front of your eyes.' 'Perfect.' Cariss shook her head, as though resigning herself to remaining mystified. 'When do you need it?' 'When can I have it?' 'You can have it in an hour.' 'Then that is when I need it.' 'It will be ready.' 'I will wait here.' 'Very well. Oh, have you a preference for the mist?' 'A preference in what way?' 'Its color. Black, or red, or grey, or--' 'Grey,' said Mario. 'The color of death. Let it be grey.' 'It shall be grey,' said the sorceress." Five Hundred Years After, Chapter the Twenty-ninth, page 461-465 Hi, I think the word ever should be every "and all of this power will do nothing except to exist, alerting ever sorcerer for a thousand miles in all directions," I thought it was interesting that after Cariss says "'You speak of power as if it were a glass of water that you could simply put somewhere.' Mario set his glass on a table near his elbow. 'Well?' he said." page 461 His glass had or contained water. Also the bill: "'The bill,' said Mario, 'is negotiable, in whole or in part and can be drawn on the Jhereg treasury.' 'So I perceive. It is not a small amount.' 'I require but a tenth part of it; the rest can be yours.'" It was a "small piece of paper." page 460 What is it? A cashiers check? I assume Mario did not have this little bit of incriminating evidence on him when he was in the palace earlier. Perhaps the Jhereg were planning on getting this piece of paper back before it was found or cashed by anyone else. 'It will be a small glass ball.' I thought why did Mario not ask Cariss if she had a pearl to use. But then what if Cariss was the person who put the spell on the pearl and then she might have put two and two together. So it was better not to be so ironic. Bye. Linda G.