The Howling Delve - Jaleigh Johnson [79]
Dantane was not imptessed. He turned to the encroaching maggots and hissed a spell. His hand glowed brightly, spitting sparks that hissed as they stmck the mud-coveted bodies. The Wtaiths halted their charge and scatteted to the far sides of the alley. No mattet how hungry or desperate they were, none of them wanted to battle a wizatd.
Eddricles waited for him beside one of the beet wagons, scowling fiercely when a plump-faced man tried to offer him a sample. He stood examining a belt strung with multiple gold chains. He wrinkled his nose critically.
"Paint is never going to conceal the fact you've only gold enough to make half a belt. I suggest you reduce the number of chains-twelve is hopelessly gaudy-or sell belts to starv-ing ladies." He tossed the belt back at its red-faced owner and rounded on Dantane. "I detest charity work," he said, by way of a greeting. "Speaking of which, you, my boy, are fortunate I'm in a good humor. Walk with me, but not too close. I don't want anyone to think I like you."
Dantane reluctantly fell into step beside the moneychanget. It was said Eddricles could determine the value of a gem without the aid of a glass. Dantane suspected the man's extraordinary vision was due more to the fact that he was also a wizard, but he'd never asked Eddricles to confirm or deny the theory. In the moneychanger-wizard's presence, one tended to listen, plead, or weep. Dantane listened.
"The next time you send me a missive, please don't bother to include the words: magic, portal, sorcerers, or Morel-gods, especially Morel. Do you know what they're saying about the whelp?" He didn't bother to let Dantane answer. "They say he employs a wizard, a wizard who murdered a bard at the man's own party and blew the top of one of his towers off." He whirled abruptly, forcing Dantane to sidestep. "Do you happen to know what fool wizard is begging from Morel's table these days? What a bountiful feast it must be!"
"No one knows who I am," Dantane said calmly, speaking for the first time.
"They'd bloody well better not!" Eddricles stormed. The normally aloof moneychanger was as agitated as Dantane- and perhaps the whole of Faerun-had ever seen him. "You and Morel have been rutting all over the lives of respectable wizards in this city. We haven't been able to meet in safety since Morel returned."
Eddricles and several other Keczullan wizards met often in secret to share magic and discuss their craft without threat of molestation. Dantane knew they feared their own activities coming to light in the wake of Morel's string of tragedies.
"I did not murder the bard," Dantane said as they resumed their walk. "And you should know the woman was not a bard, nor a woman at all, but a powerful merchant's son, one who dabbled too deeply in magic he did not understand."
"Hells, Dantane, you've just described every young family in Amn. They're all delving into business they shouldn't be."
Dantane scowled. "I was not aware the merchants or the Council of Six made any exceptions where their hatred of magic was concerned."
"Oh, they don't, and neither did those young hotheads like the one you scraped off Morel's floor. Not at first. When the corpses were still cooling from the plagues, the families who'd lost all were ready to grab any wizard and tear him to pieces. Likely some of them did too. Publicly, the grudge against the arcane still stands. But much as Amn would like to live in a comfortable, xenophobic nest, wider Faerun encroaches. The Sythillisian Empire is a reality, and the truce will never last. Amn needs power and allies, and these allies will scoff at the notion of a society fighting wars without using killing magic-as well they should.
"But more than that is the inevitable cycle of time. These young merchants and theit children ate fascinated by the things their parents have forbidden them. It will be many more years before the plagues are forgotten, but I wager you're seeing the start of it right now, with these magic items."
"Do you know where they're coming from?" Dantane asked as they passed in the shadow of