My visit to the summoner’s guild hall was one of the easier ones. It was located in the southeast section of the Round and mostly surrounded by grass and gardens. Despite its manicured surroundings, their guild hall was the most bland and basic. It took up less space than the other halls, being only a couple of hundred feet wide and twice that deep, although it was five stories high.
I was met at the guild hall entrance by a chatty adept who was about to graduate and become an apprentice, so she was full of questions about classes and preparation for the trials. I answered as best as possible, but since the trials were very different for each guild, there was not much I could say to her that she couldn’t get from an older student in her guild.
Enchanter trials were more like a seminar review, while elementalist trials involved battling summoned creatures. There was quite a range among mage guilds, and I was glad to be on the softer side of those trials.
When the adept finally let me in after grilling me for ten minutes, I understood the reason for the plain exterior. It was designed to contrast the phenomenal interior that was unlike any other guild hall I had visited, and they all had some amazing, magical features.
The interior of the summoners' guild hall was enormous. The entire Round could have plopped down inside the atrium with room to spare. Looking up as I walked across the open space of the atrium, I saw that there had to be at least a dozen levels accessible from somewhere, but I could not tell where yet. I could see no stairs or visible means to get from level to level, but I assumed they must be hidden near the back beyond the welcome and administration desk.
The adept escorted me to the front desk and seemed indifferent to the wondrous interior. As luck would have it, the wife of the emeritus guildmaster I was here to see, Master Edward Longbrow, was the guild administrator, and she hustled me into a nearby meeting room.
“He is having a good day, so I will send him right down to you.” That was all she said, and I worried anxiously about what that comment could mean for me.
About ten minutes later, a slightly disheveled and distracted-looking mage entered wearing the faded gold robes of a summoner. He walked over and offered me his hand. “You must be Glen.”
I had never had a mage offer to shake my hand before. “Umm, actually, it's Gwydion Master Longbrow.”
“Oh, so sorry, I was supposed to meet with Glen this morning.” And he turned and started back toward the door.
I just stood there silently, trying to figure out what to do. However, Mistress Longbrow was still there waiting. “It’s not Glen, dear.” She sighed with a smile, turned him around, and brought him over to a nearby chair.
“Now that you two have met, perhaps, dear, you could share a story with the young enchanter. He is Master Corwyn Glimmerblade’s apprentice.
“Oh?” He said cheerily. “I knew a young mage with that name years ago. But he is far older than an apprentice today.”
Mistress Longbrow looked like she was about to gently grab his arm and help him back out of the chair when the mage’s body language changed subtly.
He relaxed, sat back in the chair, crossed his legs, and looked up at his wife. “Thank you, Lilly. I can handle it from here.” He turned to face me with a glint in his eye and said, “Just what secrets do you want to know about the summoners guild, my boy? We summoners, and you enchanters, are closely tied, you know.”
Mistress Longbrow hesitated for a moment longer, turned to me, and said, “If the time comes for you to depart, please stop by and let me know at the desk before you exit. I’ll help at that point.” She stared at me knowingly.
“Of course, Mistress,” I replied.
Master Longbrow gestured impatiently for her to go and then told some exciting tales about summoned creatures, the role the guild has played in magical summonings across the past couple of centuries, the role of traveling circles, and the many realms out there, all of which were full of dangerous creatures.
He was very entertaining and informative. Our conversation was lively, and he treated me more like an equal than an apprentice. But his manner suddenly changed around an hour into an extraordinary story involving blue crystal and a magical castle. He drifted awkwardly into a story about a local tower built of the same material. That quickly changed into weather patterns and blue skies, which led him to birds and their anatomy.
After offering my apologies, I stood, bowed, and exited. He continued to talk in the empty room as I hurried to the front desk.
Mistress Longbrow stood up in alarm. “Is he alright? Are you alright?”
“Yes, mistress. But I think that time that you spoke about has arrived.”
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She frowned. “That is too bad. He had such a promising morning. Did you ever get to ask him for your favor?”
“No, Mistress Longbrow. But that is okay. He had some wonderful stories about summoning and a blue magical castle, and I have learned more about your art in the past hour than in any class over the past several years.”
“That is kind of you to say. Here, let me help by proxy. I think he intended to give you a Summoner’s Mark on one of your objects.”
“Thank you. Could you, by chance, cast it on one of my single-use rings for use later?” I asked.
“Perfect. And that way, the object will attune to you, saving me an extra step.”
“What, umm, level is it?” I asked as I pulled out one of each ring type.
“We call our levels attunements, dear, and the spell will be at the fifth attunement. It is called the Doktur’s Summons Mark. It will allow you to mark something important and summon it to you no matter where it is in our realm.”
“Wow! I mean, thank you, Mistress Longbrow.” I said, trying to calm my excitement and give a good impression of my enchanter’s guild.
She laughed. “No problem. Does that help you know which ring to give me?”
I handed her a gold ring, fully primed and ready for the spell.
“I always liked the enchanter's Single Use Spells. They were handy in a pinch, allowing mages to share across guilds.”
“I have other rings that I crafted and primed. Would you like them for your own use, mistress?” I asked.
She cast the Doktur’s Summons Mark spell and returned the gold ring to me. “That is very kind of you to offer. Tell you what, give me two of each, and I’ll fill up one set and keep the others for my use; how’s that?”
“Thank you!” I said, not expecting to get more spells. I handed her two sets and explained the spell levels for each.
“Hmm.” She said after I handed her the rings. “I would not normally even consider giving an apprentice a seventh attunement spell, but since you are about to go on journey and based on Corwyn’s conversations, there is one that could save you or your companions. It is called Unsummon Greater Summoning, and it has a very good chance of unsummoning or banishing a spirit, elemental, or shadow creature that appears through some act of summoning. It is very powerful but purely defensive. That will be your platinum ring spell.”
She thought for a moment. “For your gold ring, I shall grant you the fifth attunement spell, Limited Group Teleport. It allows you and up to six companions to travel to a prearranged, safe place you have visited. For instance, the Grand Fountain in the Round would be a good choice. It must be a location that has been prepared for transportation. Your guild likely has a summoning circle of its own. That would also work nicely.”
She tapped a finger on her chin as she thought out loud. “For your silver ring, I think I will give you the third attunement spell, Limited Teleport. It works the same way the other does, but will just work for you. You might as well have a quick way for yourself to escape danger as well as with your traveling companions.”
“That could be really helpful!” I said, smiling from ear to ear.
“Let’s see, what to give you for the copper ring?” She mused out loud. “I am torn between a second attunement spell called Lesser Sending that would allow you to send a spoken message to anyone you know, or a first attunement spell called Lesser Safehouse, which provides an extradimensional shelter for up to twenty-four hours.”
I waited, knowing that both could be incredibly useful.
“Since I can’t decide, I will give you both. I will need a second copper ring, sir apprentice.”
I retrieved another copper SUS ring and handed it to her. She cast the spells and gave me the rings back.
She smiled and said, “I’ll just head back in and gather up Edward. I’m sorry you were not able to spend more time together. I think you would have hit it off well.”
“I think we did, mistress. Maybe I could revisit him sometime and pick up where we left off.”
She smiled sadly. “That would be nice, dear, but I’m afraid he won’t remember your visit today, so you may end up hearing the same stories all over again.”
I bowed to her and said, “It would be my honor.”
She patted me on my shoulder and turned to leave. Before I also turned, she paused and said, “Did you say Edward spoke with you about a blue castle?”
I recalled the story, or at least what was the start of one. “Yes, mistress. He began to talk about a blue crystal magical castle.”
“Did he say where it was located?”
“Near the Escarpment, but he was not more specific than that. He mentioned that there was a tower in the city built of the same material. He did not say which one, but it must have been the mage tower in the city's northeast corner. My mother would take me on walks along Wall Street when I was younger, and I had passed it dozens of times. She said that a summoner and an alchemist lived there.”
She turned fully around to face me. “I don’t know how I could have failed to make that connection. Yes, Lord and Lady Everclear’s tower. I knew Thomas well; he was one of my students. His wife was distantly related to a Mer royal family. They have a son who is, or was, studying to be a sage.”
Her face saddened. “Both Thomas and his wife passed away not that long ago. I don’t recall how, although Thomas’s wife departed first, I think.”
She looked off into the distance and seemed lost in her memories.
I gave her a few moments before asking, “Was there something special about the crystal castle, Mistress Longbrow?”
“Hmm? No, I guess not. It’s just that his memory loss abruptly got worse, and he was never able to complete whatever research he had been doing. It comes to mind because he had been so excited about something that he would not talk about, and then his health declined.”
Sensing more than mere coincidence, I asked, “His health declined?”
“Yes, he had a terrible influenza and a dangerous fever. We had him healed by a cleric friend, but he was very weak for several days. His memory weakened and then began to fray apart after that. The cleric believed that the fever may have harmed him beyond the skills of their healers. He is not a young man. Neither of us is that young, really.”
“Oh. So Master Longbrow was seen by a healer, then?” I thought he may have had a magical disease that affected him.
“Oh, yes. He was checked out and found to be without disease or magical curses. As mages, we learn to look for such things. I even cast a counterspell over him, just in case.” She seemed to realize that she was sharing very personal things with an apprentice, and her smile returned, but she drew distant.
“Thank you for your concern, Gwydion. I will fetch him and take him back to our chambers. I’m sure he greatly appreciated your time and interest.”
I bowed again. “It was my pleasure, my lady.”
She nodded and walked toward the meeting room.
I waited until after Mistress Longbrow entered the meeting room before I made my way across the massive atrium and exited the guild hall.
Memory illnesses are unfortunate, especially for those accustomed to using their minds like the summoner did daily. For some reason, they resisted healing spells and were just a product of advanced age. It seemed unfair, especially to someone friendly and kind like Master Longbrow.
While today’s meetings with mages were unusual, it was nothing compared to my next destination.
