Fifth Negotiation

[prodigious_mage]

[action]
[Oh, gosh.  How adorable.  Today, there is what looks almost like a lemonade stand set up outside 1448 Mitchell Road, complete with smiling, cherubic face shining forth underneath a large sign that reads . . . um.

WILL USE MAGIC SPELLZ TO IMPROOF LIFE FOR MONEE OR COOKIES

Whoever passes by will be treated to a little boy shouting:]

Heyyyy!

Comments

[true_mage]

[Nino stops in front of the sign and stands there for a long time. She regards it with her head cocked to the side, and sounds out the words very slowly.]

Will... use... magic...?

[prodigious_mage]

[Palom mistakes this as interest in his talents, because, naturally, everyone is interested in his talents.]

That's right! If you need something fireballed or turned to stone or just want to teleport around town without the trouble of walking, I can do all that and more!

I don't ask for much, either.

[true_mage]

Oh, is that what it says there?

But I can already do magic! I don't need somebody to follow me.

[prodigious_mage]

What, really? T-There are other benefits besides the magic, you know! I'm, um. Good at washing dishes and I can make brownies if Mia's watching me really carefully and sometimes I vacuum even though it's taller than I am and .... other stuff.

[true_mage]

Hm! Well, I can wash dishes myself... and I don't know what 'brownies' or 'vacuum' are. So I'm really sorry, but I don't think I need any magic help right now!

[prodigious_mage]

N-None of that was even magic! And what if I can do magic things you can't? I bet I can!

[true_mage]

Hm... Didn't you say something earlier about fireballs?

[prodigious_mage]

That's just the tip of the iceberg.

[Palom is now floating a jagged shard of ice in his hands. Haha. Pun.]

[true_mage]

[lol so clever. She looks enthusiastic about the magic, but not particularly impressed.]

Fimbulvetr? I can do ice magic, too! But it's really more like an entire storm.

[prodigious_mage]

I haven't regained Blizzaga yet, but this was just for demonstration, anyway.

How about this?!

[Zap. A bird flying by is suddenly a fat green frog splatting on the ground.]

Uh. Whoops.

[true_mage]

Is that what they call it back where you're from? Well, I don't have any of my books back either. So I can't really do anything right now...

[She blinks.]

Wow! I don't know anybody who can do that. Um... is that useful somehow?

[prodigious_mage]

Do you need books to do magic in your world, too? That's how Raistlin did it. I think that's a pretty neat idea, storing magic in something convenient like that.

[Palom beams at the compliment. Or, well, he takes that as a compliment.]

Yeah! I can do it to anything, really. So monsters when they're attacking or anyone who's being really annoying.

[true_mage]

Yeah! It's either books or staves. It depends on what kind of magic you use! You mean you do magic without books?

[She ponders this for a moment.]

Is it permanent? I wouldn't want to be stuck as a frog!

[prodigious_mage]

I use a staff to focus my magic, but I don't need anything to cast it. It just comes from the mana in my body.

[To answer her question, Palom aims another spell at the frog which transforms back with any seeming ill effects.]

[true_mage]

Oh! I can't cast magic without books... And for us anima mages, our power mostly from communing with nature, anyway. Casting magic from yourself seems more like a shaman, like Uncle Canas!

Ah! That does seem useful...

[prodigious_mage]

I don't know what those kinds of magic are. But it is useful, right? I can do all kinds of things you probably can't -- so you can still hire me, anyway.