The Power of Words.

The Power of  Words.

    Cambio loved to read.  Before his parents died of the fever, they had sent him to a tutor every day.  When they died he was forced to fend for himself and turned to theivery.  He turned out to be very good at it.  He was small and agile and could worm his way through the smallest hole.  He could also climb like a monkey, so there was almost nowhere he couldn't get into.  His loot almost always included some sort of reading material.

    Now his heart was pounding as he stood just inside a window.  This was no ordinary burglary, he was breaking into the house of the Town Mage!  He had watched from concealment as the Mage boarded a carriage and rode away.  This seemed like the chance of a lifetime. someone like that should have lots of valuable stuff to steal.

    Cambio carefully cracked open the shutter of his dark lantern to allow just a sliver of light.  He saw somethig lying on the table that looked like a small book..  He flipped it open, then leapt back.  The opened book glowed on its own!

    He crept forward and peered at it.  It had no pages, he saw, just the front and back.  On one side was written the word ILLUMINATE.  On the other was a word that was incomprehensible to Cambio.  This must be a portable spell book!  One side named the spell and the other gave the magic word needed to cast it.

    Cambio flipped the book shut and slipped it into his pouch.  Then he looked around for more potential loot. Nearby he saw a cabinet that looked like it might contain scrolls.  He moved to it and examine the latch.  This was not exactly a smple hook and eye, but niether was it very complicated.

    Cambio reached for the latch using a small knife that was more tool than weapon and then he was on the floor clutching his ears.  Ther must have been an intervening time, but he didnt notice.  The cabint was emitting a raucus screech that felt rather like being stabbed in both ears at once.

    Completely unnerved, Cambio raced down the stairs and out the front door.  As he left the house, the screeching semmed to stop.  Now that he was finally able to think clearly, it occurred to Cambio that leaving through the front door was a bad idea if you were a burglar; especially in circumstances like this.  He looked around, and sure enough far down the street were two city watchmen looking in his direction.
    He dropped his head and began to stroll away from them.  To run would only confirm their suspicions.  They would raise a hue and cry, and even more watchmen would converge on him.  A few paces down the road he came to a hay wagon parked in front of a livery stable.  He ducked behind it and peered back.  As expected, the watchmen were moving steadily toward him.

    Cambio's mind raced. He could not see a quick means of escape.  Then he remembered; the spell book!  If he could figure out how to use it, maybe he could find a usful spell.  He opened it, and this time it displayed the word , LIGHTNING.  Well, that wasn't what he'd had in mind but it wuold have to do.

    He reached around the cart and pointed toward the watchmen, then pronounced the word on the other page.  He was immedately rewarded with a blinding flash of light and thrown back a body length or so.  There was an odd smell that he eventually identified as burnt hair.  Both of his eyebrows were gone.

    He looked up and saw that the hay wagon was afire.  He jumped up and ran down the street.  When he finally risked a glance back, he saw that the watchmen had forgotten about him and were trying to stop the fire from spreading to the surrounding buildings.

    The next day Cambio sat in his safe place trying to figurh out how to control the spellbook.  Each time he opened it it displayed a different word.  First COW, then BRING.  Finally he opened it to the word FLY. That looked like it might be useful.  There was one window opening on his little courtyard. He knew it belonged to a little used warehouse.

    He walked over to the wall under the window and read the word.  At first nothing seemed to happen.  He gave a little jump to get himself started, and as he did he put his hand against the wall to brace himself.  To his surprise, the hand stuck, and he found himself hanging several spans above the ground.  He soon found himself crawling up the wall like an insect.  He quickly arrived at the window, and it was the work of amoment to flip open the latch on the shutter and let himself in.

    This was exciting, but it did not help him understand the book.  He opened it again and saw the word GOLD.  Whatever it did, this was one spell that must be remembered.  He repeated it several times to try to memorize it, then saw a pen and paper on a nearby desk.  As he picked up the quill pen it began to turn yellow, starting where his fingers touched it, and grew much heavier

      Surprised, he dropped it and it landed on the desk with a clink.  Wonderingly, he picked it up. It had turned to gold.  As he considered the implications of this, a flea bit his scalp.  He vigorously scratched, trying to get at the beast...


    A few days later, the Captain of the City Watch ushered the Town Mage into the room.  The Mage examined the strange statue, tapping it with a small rod and listening intently.  "I don't think it's solid gold.", he said.  "It's probably just a thin layer over...well..."

    The Captain pointed to the glowing book on the desk.  "We figured it must have something to do with that.", he said.

    The Mage picked up the book and concealed it in his robes.  "Yes, that belongs to me.", he said,"But it could not do something like this.  It is indeed magical, but all it does is present a word on one side,  and on the other its equivalent in the Seylan language, which I am trying to learn.